the many musicians that we have,
the blessings of good music. One of the Old Testament prophets for music before he prophesied. You remember? The lashing called
for a minstrel. I was listening recently to a
CD that I have by my brother, Rolf Bornert. He loved to sing. And as I've listened, I think,
I realized a long time before he would start preaching, he
would just sing. And he'd get the congregation
to sing until he was ready to preach. You've heard me mention him a
number of times over the years. He was a man that God raised
up and used back in the 1960s at least. And many heard the
gospel from him. Tonight, I want to speak to us And the phrase is, the tree of
life. The tree of life. Some of the
writers that I've read, they refer to this as a similitude,
some a metaphor, and some a analogy. But I think the comparison, the
similitude, is what we want to do. this phrase, the Tree of Life
and the Lord Jesus Christ. Not a title, but a comparison
that we may draw from what is written concerning the Tree of
Life and the Lord Jesus Christ, who is eternal life. As I said, there are four, or
ten, Genesis chapter 2 and verse 9. Genesis chapter 2 and verse 9. And out of the ground made the
Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and
good for food, the tree of life. That's the phrase we're looking
at, the tree of life. Also in the midst of the garden
and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. So I looked at
this verse of scripture and I thought about the fact that every tree,
every tree is either planted by God or man. And I know some will say, well,
what about the wind? What about the wind that picks
up a seed and carries it to a certain place and drops it here or there? And what about the birds? What
about the birds that take seeds from one place to another? But
I still say that every tree is planted by God or man, just as
God planted the tree of life Every tree is planted by God,
but us, as far as the wind is concerned, who directs the wind?
Who directs the wind? Does the wind have a mind, a
will of its own? Does the wind have the freedom
to blow in any direction that it so wills, at any force, at
any speed that it desires to blow? and reality shows that are based
in Alaska's Yukon Territory, where it's very cold. But I've
heard several of those men make It's Mother Nature who rules.
It's Nature's God who rules. He rules in all places. There's
no place where He doesn't rule. He directs the wind. The wind
bloweth where it listeth, our Lord says. The Lord God, He's
the one who directs the wind. And as far as Mother Nature, nature and he's able to and he
so desires to. That's not some natural or normal
thing. That's a miracle. That's something
that God has done and only God is able to do. And what about
the birds? As far as the birds carrying
the seed and dropping it here or there? Remember what our Lord
said about the birds, about the two sparrows. Not one sparrow
falls to the ground. There's not a time that that
is not directed by God. But in the Garden of Eden, in
the Garden of Eden, as we read here in this passage of Scripture,
God planted all the trees, and God planted the tree of life. Now as we think of that as a In Proverbs 8, in verse 23, we
read, and in that passage is wisdom. Wisdom is personified,
and wisdom is speaking, and wisdom says, I was set up from everlasting,
from the beginning, or ever the earth was. Who is that that was
set up? That is Christ. before His Incarnation. I'm not
talking about His Incarnation, that happened years later. But
we, if we can use that terminology, in the past, in eternity past,
He was set up, the God-Man, in the purpose of God, He was set
up, and we know that's true, because you are familiar with
this verse of Scripture in Ephesians 1, But let me read it to us again,
Ephesians 1, verses 3 and 4. foundation of the world. If he
chose his people in Christ before the foundation of the world,
that means that he subsisted before the foundation of the
world. The subsistence from before the foundations of
the world in all eternity. The second verse I want you to
look at that has this phrase is in chapter 3 of Genesis. Genesis
chapter 3. So first of all, God planted
the tree of life. Who provided This takes us back to where some
people have the idea or get the idea that Christ had to die to
entice or to persuade God to be merciful or God to love us. No, God loved us and sent his
son. Before there ever was a sinner,
there was a savior in the purpose of God. Here in chapter 3 of Genesis, No, it seems like man didn't
want to leave. Why would he? Why would he want
to leave that place? Everything was prepared for him.
Everything was given to him. Why would he want to leave? Now, every sword, we believe,
has two sides. And the two sides of this fiery
sword that God placed between the cherubim. Now, a sword has
to be wielded by someone. Now, it says here, if you notice, there were two cherubim, one
on either side, and who dwelt between them? God did. That was the throne of God. And these cherubim, and I don't
know why there's an S on that word, because the I am in there
tells us it's plural, it's not singular. The cherubim, that
between them, God was with a flaming sword. Now, I'm not saying He
was there personally, but this sword is in His hand. Adam had broken God's law, and
this produced the fire of God's wrath and the flaming injustice
of God, which requires satisfaction. The two sides of the sword we
might say are God's laws on one side and God's justice on the
other, keeping the way to the tree of life. any salvation. Not you, not me,
not anyone else is ever going to be saved unless God's law
is honored and His justice is satisfied. And so, in this scripture,
the tree of life is kept. The weight of the tree of life
is kept. And it shows that men can never
earn salvation. I was thinking yesterday, at the end of every one of the
Apostle Paul's letters, he mentions grace. At the end of every one that the Apostle Paul believed
that salvation is by grace. That's the message. This religion,
this gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is a religion of grace. It's not one of works. And we
see from the very beginning how this was emphasized here by this Now turn with me to Proverbs
chapter 3, the third passage I wanted us to look at. Proverbs
chapter 3. Let's read several verses here,
beginning with verse 13. Proverbs chapter 3, beginning
with verse 13. Happy is the man that findeth
wisdom, the man that getteth understanding. For the merchandise
of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof
than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies,
and all the things that thou canst desire are not to be compared
unto her. Length of days is in her right
hand, and in her left hand riches and honor, her ways of pleasantness,
her ways are ways of pleasantness, and her past feasts. She, wisdom,
she is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her, and happy
is everyone that retaineth her. Again, we see that in this book
of Proverbs, wisdom is personalized. It's clearly Christ. First Corinthians,
the Apostle Paul wrote, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom
of God. The tree of life, wisdom, she
is. It begins in verse 13, "...happy
is the man that findeth wisdom." Now, finding suggests searching,
doesn't it? You find something, you search
for it. And those people who find Christ,
they search for Him. They look for Him. They seek
Him. And seeking they find me. He
said, When you seek me with all your heart, you will find me. I know this is grace and God
the Holy Spirit is working, but men seek the Lord. Men are moved
to seek the Lord, seeing their need. See their need of salvation,
of redemption, of sins forgiven, men seeking. Have you ever sought
the Lord? If you're saved, I know you have.
I know you've sought Him. And they that seek Him shall
find Him. I mentioned Brother Barnard a
few minutes ago. Seek the Lord. Do business. Do business with Jesus. Not with
some personal worker, not with some soul winner. No, no. Do
business with Jesus. And if you don't do business
with Him here, you will at the judgment. You will. Seek the Lord. seek Him, they
that find Him. This is what is happening is
the man that finds Him. It is God's grace alone that
causes a person to seek the Lord. He seeks us, and we seek Him. The Son of Man has come to seek
and to save that which is lost, and He's going to find every
one that He seeks to find. And He's going to save every
one that He seeks. Seeking is a wonderful thing. I think that has been a name
for Christians. They're seekers. They're seekers. You say, well, I sought the Lord.
No, there's secrets, present tense. Yes, we sought the Lord,
but we continue to seek the Lord. We continue to come to Him and
look to Him. Happy, blessed. That word blessed
is the man. This scripture says, blessed
is the man that findeth wisdom. Happy, blessed is the man that
findeth Christ. When a person is made to see
his need and to know, to realize that he is undone before God,
he will then find. He will seek until he finds. People are basically happy, joyful. Of all the people in
this world, we have something to be happy about. And our happiness
is not built upon happenstances. Our happiness is Christ. Our
joy of rejoicing is Christ. And he's the same, isn't he?
Today as he was yesterday and shall be forever. Rejoice in
the Lord. That doesn't mean they do not
experience trials. Certainly they do. God promised
success. But in the midst of the trial,
the temptation, the struggle, whatever it may be, God does
not leave his people. And notice the second thing.
Not only are they happy, but they have great wealth. 14 and 15, for the merchandise of
it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof
than fine gold. She, wisdom, is more precious
than rubies, and all the things Alcantara desire are not to be
compared unto her. You have Christ, you have everything.
You're an heir of God and a joint heir of Christ. Eternal life. Verse 16. Length of days is in her right
hand. Length of days. Know that Psalm
23 in Spanish, that I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever,
for many days, for long days. Length of days. That's eternal
days. That's eternal life that the
Lord Jesus Christ gives unto us. And then notice in verse
17, we read, her ways are ways of pleasantness, and her path
is peace. The peace of God, the passive
understanding that God's people have, that we have in Christ. The tree of life, wisdom of Christ. Now, let's go to the last, actually
the last chapter in our Bible, the last passage that I wanted
us to turn to and read about the tree of life. In Revelation
chapter 22. I'll read verses 1 and 2. And he showed me a pure river
of water Proceeding out of the throne
of God and of the Lamb, in the midst of the street of death,
and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which
bared twelve minor fruits, and yielded her fruit every month,
and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. This tree of life is in the midst
of the street. In other words, between Jew and
Gentile, he has broken down that metal wall of partitions in the
midst of the street. He's a tree of life to all men,
all nations of men. And he's on either side of the river before entering into the
celestial city, the river of death. He's on either side of And we too, just like still water,
when we come to that river, we're going to find it's far, it's
far. Christ is the tree of life. Here are some things about the
tree of life as we think But I'm going to understand this
number 12 to signify, to me at least, perfect completion. Remember the new Jerusalem, the
city, the bride of Christ that comes down out of heaven from
God. It had 12 foundations and it
had 12 wings. Perfection. Perfect. And so this
tree of life, the Lord Jesus Christ. I see that he's perfect,
giving fruit to satisfy all of our needs. We'll never have a
need. We'll never go through any experience
that this tree of life does not have the fruit to satisfy and
to sustain us and to help us. Perfection. Well, here's some
things about a tree. Food is a manner of fruit. In the Garden of Eden, there
were many fruit trees. There were many fruit trees which
God gave to Adam and Eve, and they gave food. They gave food. When God created,
prepared the Garden, the trees were already produced. Many people
believed that it had to be autumn, the fall, when trees bring on
their fruit, when Adam and Eve were placed into the garden.
But there was food for them. The Lord Jesus Christ, He is
the food, the true bread. who giveth, our Lord said, my
Father giveth you the true bread, the true bread which comes down
from heaven. And he said, eateth this bread
shall live forever. He's food. He's my food. He's your food. He's food. Whosoever eateth my flesh and
drinketh my blood So food is one manner of fruit. Drink is another manner of fruit. There are trays which give drink,
like the coconut tray. The coconut tray gives drink. The Lord Jesus Christ, He is
drink. He that is thirsty, let me see
if I can find that scripture. Ho, ho, everyone that thirsts,
come ye to the waters. And he that hath no money, come
ye, buy and eat. gave out wine and milk without
money and without price. I mentioned Ralph Warner a few
minutes ago. I can remember hearing him illustrating
that map, a man crossing this desert, and this man was coming
along with Ross says, someone over here
says, I'm not thirsty. I ain't talking to you. I ain't talking to you. Anybody
thirsty, Christ is the water of life. And you come and drink,
and drink, and drink. Never exhaust the fountain. When Adam disobeyed God, we remember,
when he tried to clothe himself, he went to a tree, didn't he?
To get some leaves to clothe himself. Of course, it was a
fig tree. And that would never work. That
would never do. God had to clothe him. Clothe
him with animal skins, no doubt. Christ is the tree of life. He
gives us clothing. He gives us that best growth,
the righteousness, His righteousness. Another manner of fruit is shelter. Shelter. You know, there's probably
more houses in this world today that have roofs made out of leaves
from trees than composition roofing or tiling. leaves from trees, right to make
their roots. And they're good roots, they
really are, as far as keeping the rain out. But they don't
keep the bugs out. I can testify to that. But they
do keep the rain out. And Christ, He is sheltered from
the rain of God's wrath. It's going to be poured out upon
unbelievers. And shade. Shade is another manner
of fruit. How many times have you on a
hot day seen a tree, a shade tree over there and you've got
underneath it what's refreshed by the shade, the coolness that
is provided for you. Turn with me back to Isaiah 32
a moment. Isaiah chapter 32, verses 1 and
2. Behold, a king shall reign in
righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment. And it must be man to satisfy
God. Not any man, the God-God, yes. And a man shall be as a hiding
place from the wind, and a cover from the tempest, as rivers of
water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary
land. The Lord Jesus Christ serves
like the shade, rather, of a great rock to refresh us. And then second, here in the
text, the tree of life bears leaves for the healing of the
nations. I have a tree in my front yard
that's losing its leaves. There must have been thousands
of leaves. I'm not exact. That's how old that tree is.
I planted it when she was born. 35 years ago. I had no idea how
many leaves I'd have to rake. But you know what? In just a
few days now, they're all going to be off. And that tree is going
to be dry. All the sap's going to go down. Charles Spurgeon preached a message
in which he likened the sufferings of Christ to a tree in the wintertime. Wintertime. It was necessary
for the dark and the wintry days when the Lord Jesus Christ was
hanged on the cross. And Charles Spurgeon had these
things to say about his death. It was substitution. He died
instead of his people. It was a curse. He was made a
curse, hanged upon a tree to redeem once from the curse of
the law. It was ignominious, shameful. the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was painful. It was lingering. Sometimes men who were crucified
lingered for two days before they expired. It was a lingering
death, and it was a penitent death. God's justice demanded satisfaction,
and he was punished for our sins. He had no sin of his own, we
recognize that, but he was punished for sins, not his, but the sins
of his people. As the prophet said, he was this tree, had all, a heal that
would heal all manner of spiritual diseases. It doesn't matter what
kind of spiritual disease a person has, leave from this tree, the
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, the satisfaction of Jesus Christ,
heals all manner of diseases. There's only one season. There's
only one And we believe that sin is when
a person, if a person commits this sin, it is when a person
knows, is convinced, without a doubt, that Jesus is the Son
of God, that He is the Christ, that He is the Savior, and for
a person knowingly to deny that. the sin of unbelief, the sin
for which there is no forgiveness. Come by faith tonight, all of
us. Come by faith to this tree of
life, to Christ, for the spiritual healing that we all do need. In that message by Spurgeon,
he spoke about going up to a tree and shaking it, shaking it to
cause the fruit to turn loose and to fall. And he said, he
said, come to Christ. And as he was shaking it with
prayer, shaking it, look to Christ. Look to him and be saved. May
the Lord bless his word.