The Tree of Life
The Tree of Life grows along the banks of the River of Life.
And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed: it shall bring forth new fruit according to his months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary: and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine. (Ezekiel 47:12)
We find in the first Psalm that the saints are the Tree of Life from whom the world may derive food and healing: And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. (Psalms 1:3)
Man cannot live by bread alone, although many people are attempting to live without God in these days. Man lives by receiving the Word of God—the daily portion of strength and wisdom that comes to him from Heaven above. The Church of Christ is becoming, through Christ, the visible expression of the continual flowing of the Glory of God. "The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he that winneth souls is wise" (Proverbs 11:30).
The nations of the earth will eat of the "fruit of the righteous" during the thousand-year Kingdom Age and will live in the sight of God as a result. The saints will become wise in the ways of God, and this kind of wisdom will save men and women, boys and girls, from destruction.
The "fruit" of the Tree of Life is food for the peoples of the earth. The fruit is the Word of God made alive by the Spirit. It is the Substance of Christ, the living Word, because Christ Himself is the Tree of Life.
The "leaf" of the Tree of Life is for the healing of the nations of the saved. It is a medicine that will heal their hurts and illnesses. The fruit provides nourishment and life, and the leaves are restorative. Even today the Substance of Christ, His holy body and blood, is our necessary food, and His anointing brings healing to our bodies and the solution to our problems.
We Christians are becoming in our character the fruit of life for other people. Our gifts and ministries are as leaves that heal the sick. All things that pertain to life and godliness will be contained in the Church of the thousand-year Kingdom Age. The nations of saved peoples of the earth will be required to come to the Church in order to receive the blessings from the Lord (Isaiah 60:12; Zechariah 14:17).
No matter how willingly the saints give of themselves while serving the needs of the peoples of the earth, their "leaf" will not wither and their "fruit" will not be consumed. They will give and give and yet have abundance to give, just as Jesus gives and gives and never is depleted.
This never-ending source of nourishment is true of our ministry today if we are working in Christ and not in our own strength. The "river of God" is "full of water" (Psalms 65:9). The River of God remains full of water no matter how much we spend and are spent. If we are planted by the rivers of water we always will be ready to bring life and healing to others.
The waters issued "out of the sanctuary," that is, out of the Temple of God, out of the wells of eternal life that have been created in the saints. The fruit of the Tree of Life is ever new, ever nourishing, ever available because the Life that the Church offers to the world is coming from God and not from the resources of the Church itself. "His leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper" (from Psalms 1:3).
Whenever the Church of Christ fails to benefit the nations of the earth it is because the "waters" are not coming "out of the sanctuary." They are proceeding from the good intentions of the flesh, not from God.
Whatever is done by the Holy Spirit is always successful (from the Divine standpoint), always blessed, always enduring. Whenever we attempt to do the Lord’s work in our own wisdom and strength we soon find ourselves in bondage and confusion.