Scripture Reading: Gen. 2:7-9; Rev. 2:7; 22:14; John 1:4; 14:6a; 10:10b; 6:35, 57, 63

DAY 1 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 2 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 3 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 4 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 5 Outline　MorningRevival

DAY 6 Outline　MorningRevival

«　WEEK 1　DAY 1　»

　　Gen. 2:8-9 And Jehovah God planted a garden…; 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.

　　God’s way of accomplishing His purpose was first to create man as a vessel to contain Himself as life and then to place him in a garden before the tree of life, indicating that God’s intention was for man to partake of the fruit of this tree. However, along with the tree of life, Genesis 2:9 and 17 mention the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Therefore, we need to consider very carefully the significance of these two trees.

　　Although God wanted man to eat of the tree of life, He did not force him to do it. Neither did God put the tree of life into him. Instead, God gave man free will. God created man with freedom of choice. Why did God do this? God is great. He is not small. Only a small man forces people to accept his opinion… If you are a great man, you will never force people to accept you. (Life-study of Genesis, p. 159)

　　If God had not given man a choice, He would have forced him to take the tree of life. God is too great to do such a thing. God is honorable and attractive. In order to display His greatness and prove His attractiveness, He needs the second tree.

　　God is the same today. He never forces anyone to accept Him. When the Lord Jesus came, He did not coerce people into following Him. He presented Himself to people, but always respected their freedom of choice. The Lord seemed to say, “If you like Me, you may take Me. If you don’t like Me, you may forget about Me.” Some of us may feel that we have been compelled by the Lord’s mercy to believe in Him. To a certain extent, I feel the same way. His mercy has conquered us, persuading us to receive Him.

　　The same principle operated in the garden of Eden when God placed Adam before the two trees, which denoted two sources. God wanted man to choose Him as the tree of life. The tree of life was a symbol, signifying God as the proper source (cf. Psa. 36:9; John 1:4; 10:10b; 11:25; 14:6; 1 John 5:12; Col. 3:4). If we only read Genesis 2, we will be unable to understand the meaning of the tree of life. However, the Gospel of John reveals the life denoted by the tree of life in a concrete way. John 1:4 says, “In Him was life,” and John 15:5 tells us that the Lord Jesus is a vine tree. If we put these two verses together, we will realize that Christ is the tree of life. Jesus, the embodiment of God, is the tree of life. Therefore, the tree of life in Genesis 2 is a symbol of God as the source of life.

　　Besides this source, there is another tree, another source in the universe—death. However, this tree is not called the tree of death; it is called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. There is such a tree in this universe. These two trees oppose one another, the tree of life denoting God as the source of life, and the tree of knowledge signifying Satan as the source of death. As God is the source of life, Satan is the source of death. Therefore, in Genesis 2 we find two sources signified by two trees. (Life-study of Genesis, pp. 160-162)

　　The thought of God being man’s life runs through the entire Bible from Genesis to Revelation…God’s creating of living things indicates that God is the God of life. God’s action in creating man in His own image (Gen. 1:26-27) indicates that God wants man to have Himself as man’s life so that man can express Him… Man can express God only by having God as his life. The tree of life (2:8-9) is a symbol of God as life…Therefore, when we take the tree of life, we take God into us as our life…Therefore, the tree of life can also be called “the tree of God.” (CWWL, 1990, vol. 1, “The Triune God to Be Life to the Tripartite Man,” pp. 237-238)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1981, vol. 2, “The History and Revelation of the Lord’s Recovery,” ch. 8

«　WEEK 1　DAY 2　»

　　Gen. 2:16-17 And Jehovah God commanded the man, saying,… Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, of it you shall not eat; for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.

　　Heb. 2:14 …The children have shared in blood and flesh, He also Himself in like manner partook of the same, that through death He might destroy him who has the might of death, that is, the devil.

　　The first of…two choices was the tree of life, which denoted God Himself as life. The content of the tree of life is life. It is life, simply, purely, and absolutely. The nature of this tree and the result of this tree are also life. Life is the content, nature, and result. Everything is life…What is the principle of the tree of life? Its principle is dependence. We all must be dependent.

　　The second choice was the tree of knowledge (Gen. 2:17), which was the opposite of the tree of life. Note that this tree was called the tree of knowledge of good and evil, not simply the knowledge of evil. Both the knowledge of good and the knowledge of evil come from the same tree. It does not matter whether knowledge is the knowledge of good or of evil. As long as it is knowledge, it does not belong to the tree of life. It belongs to the tree of knowledge.

　　Although the tree of the knowledge of good and evil signifies Satan, it does not signify him directly. It first signifies everything apart from God, and then it signifies Satan indirectly, because Satan is hidden at the back of the things that are apart from God. Satan likes to conceal himself. Thus, the tree of knowledge represents him indirectly: (Life-study of Genesis, pp. 162, 165-166)

　　God is very frank and always comes to the front. Satan, however, is subtle, always staying at the rear. If Satan wants to trouble you, he will not do it openly and frankly. He will do it subtly, acting through your wife or through a part of the world, such as a department store. Sometimes, Satan even utilizes the Bible, operating through the letters of the Scripture to harass you. Remember how the Jewish religionists, the Pharisees and the scribes, used the Bible to condemn the Lord Jesus to death (John 19:7). Because Satan is subtle, the tree of knowledge does not signify him directly. It signifies everything apart from God, including good things, scriptural things, and religious things. Regardless of whether a thing is good or evil, as long as it is not God Himself, it can be utilized by Satan.

　　The things apart from God fall into three categories: knowledge, good, and evil. Suppose you have the intention of doing a certain good thing. Deep in your spirit, however, you have the sense not to touch it and not to do it… Do not employ the principle of good and bad, but cooperate with the principle of life. If you do not have peace within, it means that the Spirit of life does not agree with what you intend to do. You need to cooperate with Him. If you do, you will receive life. Have you not had this kind of experience repeatedly in the past? Whenever you acted according to the good, you were killed. You experienced death. However, when you acted according to the inner life, you received more life.

　　The nature and result of the tree of life are both life because it is a tree of life. But the nature and result of the tree of knowledge of good and evil are both death because knowledge, good, and evil are all of death and bring in death… Actually, the tree of knowledge of good and evil is the tree of death; yet it is not called the tree of death, but the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Death is not only behind evil; it is also behind knowledge and good. The title of the tree of knowledge of good and evil is subtle because Satan always likes to conceal himself. Satan has the power of death (Heb. 2:14). Since the tree of knowledge of good and evil is actually the tree of death, it signifies Satan. (Life-study of Genesis, pp. 166-167, 169)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Job, msg. 37; CWWL, 1969, vol. 3, pp. 411-417, 425-432

«　WEEK 1　DAY 3　»

　　John 15:5 I am the vine; you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.

　　Rev. 22:2 And on this side and on that side of the river was the tree of life, producing twelve fruits, yielding its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.

　　Nearly everything in Genesis 1 and 2 is a seed of the divine revelation. The two trees are such seeds…These seeds grow in the following books of the Bible and are reaped as a harvest in the book of Revelation. In Revelation 20:10 and 14 we see that death is cast into the lake of fire. In Revelation 22:2 we see that life abides in the New Jerusalem. At the beginning of the Bible we find death and life, and at the end of the Bible we again see death and life. Between the two ends of the Bible two lines are set forth—the line of death and the line of life. Both lines begin in the book of Genesis and end in the book of Revelation. Death begins with the tree of knowledge of good and evil and ends with the lake of fire. Life begins with the tree of life and ends at the New Jerusalem. Before we were saved, we were on the line of death. After we were saved, we were put on the line of life. (Life-study of Genesis, p. 162)

　　The tree of life signifies God as life to man…The tree of life issues in a dependent life… If man would take the tree of life, that would issue in a dependent life in man… All the matters related to life are matters of dependence. You cannot graduate from any matter of life. Eating is a dependent matter. You cannot say that you have eaten the best food and that you have eaten more than enough, so you do not need to eat anymore. The matters of drinking and breathing, of course, are also dependent matters from which we do not graduate.

　　This shows that to take God as our life issues in a dependent life. Knowledge, on the other hand, issues in independence. God is not knowledge to us. God is life to us. We take Him as our life, and this divine life right away issues in a kind of dependence within us. We have to depend upon Him all the time. He is the vine, and we are the branches. The branches have to abide in the vine (John 15:5). Apart from the vine, the branches become dead… All the branches depend upon the vine’s life.

　　Before we were saved, we were altogether independent of God. But when we repented to God and believed in God, we became dependent. Whenever we have been independent, that was the time we lived by knowledge. Whenever we lived by our spirit, by life, we were altogether dependent upon God. Thus, these are two kinds of principles issuing from two kinds of lives. The divine life makes us dependent, and the satanic life makes us independent. To be independent means to be rebellious. To rebel means to be independent from God.

　　God wanted man to receive Him as life by the way of eating…Eating is the unique way to receive nourishment organically…What you eat becomes your organic nourishment… Eating is the unique way, and God is the unique food to man… All the physical food we eat is a shadow. God is the reality of our food [cf. Col. 2:16-17]…To receive God by eating Him is to have God assimilated into our being metabolically… His new element replaces what we are, and our old element is discharged. (CWWL, 1979, vol. 1, “Basic Lessons on Life,” pp. 488, 490-491)

　　Eating indicates dependence. That God is our food, signified by the tree of life, means that we must depend on God continually. We must come to Him in order to feed on Him again and again… Taking the tree of knowledge makes us independent of God. In the eyes of God the greatest sin is independence. We must learn to depend on God continually. (CWWL, 1990, vol. 1, “The Triune God to Be Life to the Tripartite Man,” p. 233)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1978, vol. 2, “Life Messages, Volume 1,” chs. 26-27; CWWL, 1965, vol. 3, “The Enjoyment of Christ,” ch. 1

«　WEEK 1　DAY 4　»

　　John 10:10 …I have come that they may have life and may have it abundantly.

　　Rev. 22:1-2 And 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. And on this side and on that side of the river was the tree of life…

　　The principle of the tree of life and the principle of the tree of knowledge of good and evil are realized throughout the whole Bible. All the negative things in the Bible are on the line of the tree of knowledge, and all the positive things are on the line of the tree of life. I call the first line the line of knowledge and the second line, the line of life. If we follow these two lines, they carry us through the entire Scripture.

　　Man was induced to eat of the tree of knowledge. As a result, man fell. The descendants of fallen man did not depend upon God at all. They relied upon their knowledge… Strictly speaking, the line of life began with Adam, who was fallen and redeemed, and continued through Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and so many Israelites. On this line of life we have the tent of Noah, the tent of Abraham, the tabernacle, and the temple. The line of knowledge began with Cain and continued through all the ungodly people. On the line of knowledge we have the city of Enoch, Babel, Sodom, the treasure cities of Pharaoh, and Babylon, which captured the things on the line of life. (Life-study of Genesis, p. 172)

　　We find the same two lines in the New Testament. Although the Old Testament and the law were originally on the line of life, the Jewish religionists treated them as mere knowledge and put them on the line of knowledge… When the Lord Jesus came, the religious leaders were altogether on the line of knowledge. Only the Lord Jesus Himself was on the line of life. Then He brought His disciples to the line of life. On the day of Pentecost, His disciples put many other people on the line of life. Thus, at that time, there was the Jewish religion on the line of knowledge and the church on the line of life. However, not long afterward, the church was degraded, falling from the living Christ to dead scriptural knowledge, and became Christianity. The church was on the line of life, but Christianity was on the line of knowledge… The overcomers among the Christians through all the centuries never have shifted from the line of life to the line of knowledge. They will remain on the line of life until the end when it ultimately issues in the New Jerusalem. The great Babylon and all things apart from God will be swept away by the stream of fire (Dan. 7:10) into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:10, 14-15; 21:8). All the positive things in the Bible throughout the ages will be carried on by the river of the water of life (Rev. 22:1) into the New Jerusalem… At the end of the book of Revelation we find the harvest of the seed of the tree of knowledge and of the tree of life.

　　In many of the Christian books we are given ways and methods of doing things… For example, regarding the matter of being crucified with Christ we are told by the books to reckon ourselves dead. If we make this merely a way or a method, it belongs to the tree of knowledge… Knowledge or religion means to be good and to do good, to worship God or to work for God without having the living presence of God. Anything good done for God without His presence is religion. A certain thing may be both life and knowledge to us. If we experience the presence of the living God while doing it, it is life. However, if we do it without God’s presence, it is simply dead knowledge. No way or method can help us. We need the living God.

　　Life is God Himself… The principle of life is to be dependent on God for everything. If you depend on God, everything is life. (Life-study of Genesis, pp. 173, 176-177)

　　Further Reading: CWWN, vol. 56, “Two Principles of Living,” pp. 418-432; CWWL, 1950-1951, vol. 3, “The Path of Our Growth in Life,” ch. 1; CWWN, vol. 8, pp. 25-35

«　WEEK 1　DAY 5　»

　　2 Cor. 11:2 For I am jealous over you with a jealousy of God; for I betrothed you to one husband to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.

　　Psa. 119:147-148 I anticipated the dawn and cried out; I hoped in Your words. My eyes anticipated the night watches, that I might muse upon Your word.

　　The Lord Jesus is not a doctrine; He is not a set of gifts or a power; He is a person who needs our love, our appreciation, and our affection. How we need the sweet affection and love toward the Lord Jesus!

　　We may talk about Christ being our life, but if we do not have the real love toward Him, He is only life to us in doctrine…If we would enjoy Jesus as life, we must love Him. As long as we love Him, even if we do not know the term life, we will enjoy life. We will not know a doctrine, but we will enjoy Jesus, a living person, as our very life. We may have many teachings with all the gifts and power, and yet we would not take the personality of Christ. The Lord Jesus… needs someone like Peter to love Him, someone to tell Him, “O Lord Jesus, I love You! I follow You. I take You as my person. I take Your personality as my personality. I take Your will as my will. I take Your desire as my desire. I do not care for teachings, gifts, and power. I just care for You. I love You, and I follow You, taking You as my person.” (CWWL, 1972, vol. 1, “Life and Building as Portrayed in the Song of Songs,” pp. 234-236)

　　In John 21 the Lord asked Peter if he loved Him. Peter told the Lord, “You know that I love You.” Then the Lord answered, “Feed My lambs,” and “Feed My sheep” (vv. 15, 17). To speak is not only to edify or to teach but also to feed the lambs and to feed the sheep… For us to feed the Lord’s sheep, we must love Him. We should tell the Lord, “Lord, I love You, so I like to speak You forth to others.” The more that we love Him, the more we are qualified, equipped, and even perfected to speak.

　　We also must enjoy the Lord in the Word every day early in the morning to have a new start each day (Psa. 119:147-148). According to God’s principle in His creation, He ordained to have a new year, a new month or a new moon, and a new day. Within every year we can have three hundred sixty-five new starts. If we failed for three hundred sixty-four days, we still have one more opportunity to have a successful day. We may have failed today, but thank the Lord tomorrow is still here waiting for us. Tomorrow morning we will have another chance to have a new start. Within every twenty-four hours, there is a new chance for us to have a new start and be renewed.

　　To have a new start is not hard. It is so easy. Just rise up a little earlier and say, “O Lord Jesus. O Lord Jesus.” You do not need to shout loudly and bother others. Just say, “O Lord Jesus.” To say this makes a big difference. Sometimes I forgot to call on the Lord immediately after I woke up. That became a big loss to me. As soon as I realized this, I said, “Lord Jesus, forgive me for forgetting You.” Then we need to pray-read a short portion of the Word, anywhere from two to four verses. We can enjoy the Lord with His Word and in His Word through pray-reading. We should do this every day in the morning to have a good, new start. We can speak the Word to ourselves, to the Lord, and even to the angels. We can speak the Word to our pets and even to our furniture. When we speak the Word in such a way, we will be the first ones nourished by our speaking. We do not need to spend a long time to enjoy the Lord in the Word early in the morning. Ten to fifteen minutes is sufficient to get nourished and have a good start of a new day. We need to practice this. (CWWL, 1988, vol. 1, “Speaking Christ for the Building Up of the Body of Christ,” pp. 172, 175-176)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1972, vol. 1, “The Living and Practical Way to Enjoy Christ,” ch. 3; CWWL, 1969, vol. 3, pp. 474-475

«　WEEK 1　DAY 6　»

　　Rom. 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life has freed me in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and of death.

　　6 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace.

　　Every genuine Christian is a miniature garden of Eden. The mind of your soul represents your self, sin in your flesh represents Satan [as the tree of knowledge], and the Spirit in your spirit represents God [as the tree of life]. In Romans 8…we see the outcrop of the two trees. Romans 8:6 says that the mind set on the flesh is death and that the mind set on the spirit is life and peace. In Genesis 2 the two trees were objective; in Romans 8 they are subjective. We should never say that these two trees are no longer with us. Even as you read this message, they are within you…Romans 8:2 mentions the law of the Spirit of life, which sets us free from the law of sin and death. Therefore, in Romans 8 we have two laws—the law of life and the law of death. These two laws are the two principles of the two trees in our subjective experience. (Life-study of Genesis, pp. 177-178)

　　Who is this “me” [in Romans 8:2]? It is the switching “me.” It does not mean that the law of the Spirit of life frees every believer with no qualification. At least the one in Romans 7 was not freed; he was still struggling there. Until Paul reached chapter 8, the law [of the Spirit of life] had no way to work out something. The law had been set up, and the law was still under God’s operation, yet it needed Paul’s switching on.

　　We have the regeneration, and we have the indwelling. We also have the mingling. All these are matters of the installation…The installation has been done, and the operation is in progress. They are all here waiting for you to switch on by walking according to the spirit, by setting the mind on the spirit, by killing the practices of the body, by being led by Him, by crying, by witnessing, by groaning. (CWWL, 1980, vol. 1, “Perfecting Training,” pp. 314-315, 317-318)

　　[The] golden tree [the golden lampstand in Exodus 25] has many almond blossoms… Aaron’s rod budding with almonds signifies resurrection life. Hence, the almonds on the lamp-stand indicate that it is a tree in resurrection. Resurrection is life that overcomes death without being damaged or injured by death. Death is powerless to do anything with resurrection life. Death can inflict all kinds of damage on other forms of life, plant life, animal life, and human life. Only one kind of life cannot be hurt by death, and this is resurrection life… According to the full revelation of the Scriptures, God Himself is this resurrection life.

　　The lampstand, of course, gives light. However, the first significance of the lampstand is not light, but life. The light is at the top of the lampstand, and underneath this shining light are the blossoms…The calyx under each pair of branches indicates the growth of life. These branches are produced by the growing of life. Thus, with the lampstand we see the branching out of life which takes place under the shining of the light. Life grows out light and blossoms with light. This means that the light is actually the blossoming of life. When we grow and blossom, the light shines. Our blossoming is our shining. We grow with life, but we blossom out light.

　　Praise the Lord that we [who believe in Christ] are parts of this tree in resurrection and with the divine nature, life, the Spirit, and the shining light! This living tree is growing, branching, budding, and blossoming…The blossoming is the shining of the light. Thus, the light is the life blossoming. Actually the light is the life. John 1:1 and 4 say, “In the beginning was the Word… and the Word was God… In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” This is the shining of Christ, the embodiment of the Triune God, as the light of life. (Life-study of Exodus, pp. 1083-1084)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1980, vol. 1, “Perfecting Training,” chs. 31, 33; CWWL, 1984, vol. 3, “The Divine Economy,” ch. 4; Life-study of Exodus, msg. 93