In the place where the Triune God flows, we serve Him (Rev. 22:3). Not only do we serve Him but also we see His face (Rev. 22:4). His face is in the water of life and in the fruit of the tree of life. When you drink the water of life, you see His face. When you eat the fruit of the tree of life, you receive His face. You serve Him by drinking and eating Him. Do not do anything for Him. He can do everything, but He cannot drink Himself nor can He eat Himself. He depends on you to eat Him and to drink Him. I say again, do not think you can work for Him. He can do everything for Himself and He does not need you. He needs you only to eat Him. He needs you only to drink Him. He needs you only to enjoy Him. Do not say, “I will go to the mission field to be a missionary.” God can do everything, but He needs someone to eat Him and to drink Him. He needs many eaters and drinkers.
Revelation 22:14 is on eating God as the tree of life, and verse 17 of the same chapter is on drinking God as the water of life. Since God is flowing as the water of life, who will drink Him? Not only the sinners who do not believe in God but also many Christians do not know how to eat God. Our robes have been washed in His precious blood for the purpose of giving us the right to eat Him. But many of us do not enjoy this right. We thank Him for the washing of the precious blood, yet we do not come to eat Him. We all need to exercise our right to come and eat Him. Revelation 22:17 tells us that whosoever will may come to drink of the water of life freely. Verse 14 of Revelation 22 may be considered a promise for the enjoyment of the tree of life, which is Christ with all the riches of life; and the second half of verse 17 may be considered a call to take the water of life, which is the life-giving Spirit. Thus, this book ends in a promise and a call, both of which are for eating and drinking the all-inclusive Christ as the life-giving Spirit.
Even in the Gospel of John the Lord said that He was the bread of life (6:35) and that “he who eats Me shall also live because of Me” (6:57). The thought of eating God is in John 6. God was incarnated not only to be the Redeemer but also to be the bread of life. He is the bread of life that came down out of heaven for us to feed on. This is the greatest blessing. Then John says that on the last day of the feast Jesus stood and cried out, “If anyone thirst, let him come to Me and drink” (7:37). When we drink of Him we receive the water of life, and as a result rivers of living water flow out of our innermost being (John 7:38). In the Gospel of John there is the concept of eating and drinking God.
The last book of the Bible, John’s Revelation, presents us a picture of the New Jerusalem. The heart of the picture is the throne out of which flows the drinking water, in which grows the tree of life. Both the water of life and the tree of life are God Himself. When the Triune God flows, He becomes the water of life for us to drink, and He grows the tree of life for us to eat. In order to experience the New Jerusalem we all should say, “Lord, I receive You as my Head and I take Your headship, lordship, and authority. Lord, I enthrone You in my heart. I put You on Your throne.” Once you put Him on His throne, immediately the water flows and the tree grows, and you have something to drink and to eat. This is our Christian life.
It is here in this flow from the throne that we serve Him and that we see His face. Also, in this flow we reign as kings (Rev. 22:5). If you do go to the mission field, you must go by taking God’s throne in the center of your being. Then every day out of the throne the water flows and the tree grows. When you drink the water of life and eat the tree of life, you will serve Him, you will see His face, and you will be a king. On the mission field you will not be a poor missionary, but you will go and be there as a king. The Lord Jesus told us that all authority had been given to Him in heaven and on earth and that now we need to go with His authority to disciple the nations (Matt. 28:18-19). We need to go with the authority of the heavenly King who is now enthroned in our being. We all have to realize that here is the power and the impact of the preaching of the gospel—we have One who is the Lord of all, the Head of the entire universe, enthroned in the center of our being. When He is enthroned in our being, the water flows and the tree grows, and our service will be an enjoyment. When you enjoy Him you serve Him, you see Him, and you reign with Him to be kings with Him.
May the Lord grant us three things in our experience— the throne, the water of life, and the tree of life. This is why I say to the sisters not to go shopping apart from the throne, without the water of life and the tree of life. Go shopping with the throne in the center of your being and under the flow of the water of life, in which grows the tree of life for you to eat. There is absolutely nothing wrong with going shopping, but go shopping with the throne. When you get into the door of the department store, do not leave the throne outside the door. Enter the door with the throne. When you pick up an article, pick it up with the throne. Many times when the sisters go shopping, they leave the throne at home. At other times, the throne went with them to the entrance of the department store, and they left the throne outside the door when they entered the department store. However, none of us should put the throne aside. Go shopping with the throne and enter the department store with the throne. The Christian life is a life centered with the throne. As long as you have the throne as the center of your daily life, you are okay because you will have the water of life to drink and the tree of life to eat. Then you are “a small New Jerusalem.” In the flow of the water of life you serve Him, you see Him, and you reign with Him. The flow of the divine Trinity saturates and nourishes the entire New Jerusalem. This indicates that the carrying out of God’s administration for the fulfillment of His purpose, His desire, is by the flow of Himself as life and life supply, not by any work. May this be quite an enlightenment to all of us.