Turn with me to Genesis chapter
18, if you would please. Thank you, Pastor. Thank you,
Brother Darwin, for that fine message. Genesis chapter 18. I want to begin reading in verse
1. And read down through verse 15. And the Lord appeared unto him,
to Abraham, in the plains of Mamre, and he sat in the tent
door in the heat of the day. And he lift up his eyes, and
looked, and, lo, three men stood by him. And when he saw them,
he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself
toward the ground, and said, My Lord, if now I have found
favor in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee from thy servant. Let a little water, I pray you,
be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourself under the tree. And I will fetch a morsel of
bread, and comfort ye your hearts. After that, ye shall pass on. For therefore are ye come to
your servant, and they said, so do as thou hast said. And
Abraham hastened unto the tent, and to Sarah, and said, make
ready quickly three measures of fine flour, knit it, and make
cakes upon the hearth. And Abraham ran unto the herd
and fetched a calf, tender and good, and gave it unto a young
man, and he hasted to dress it. And he took butter and milk,
and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them, and he
stood by them under the tree, and they did eat. And they said
unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in
the tent. And he said, I will certainly
return unto thee according to the time of life. And lo, Sarah
thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent
door which was behind her. Now Abraham and Sarah were old
and well stricken in age. And it ceased to be with Sarah
after the manner of women. Therefore Sarah laughed within
herself, saying, After I am waxed old, shall I have pleasure, my
Lord, being old also? And the Lord said unto Abraham,
Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child
which am old? Is anything too hard for the
Lord? At the time appointed I will
return unto thee according to the time of life. and Sarah shall
have a son. Then Sarah denied, saying, I
laugh not. But she was afraid, for she was
afraid. And he said, Nay, but thou didst
laugh." What we see here in the first
few verses of this chapter, they tell us is a custom. In some
places in the East, it's still a custom to welcome those of
the same tribe, of the same nation. Abraham welcomed the Lord and
these angels and fed them and provided for them, even a pan
of water to wash their feet in. Lot did that. When the angels
came down in the next chapter, he tucked them in, bagged them
to come into the house. So that probably was of a truth
accustomed in this country to befriend people in the desert
places and take them in and feed them and wash their feet. But
it would be difficult for us to believe that the Holy Spirit
has been pleased to record this simply to reaffirm some ancient
custom. I think there's a purpose, a
spiritual lesson for us to be learned in this incident that
took place here in Abraham's life. The Bible says whatsoever
things were written aforetime were written for our learning.
These things were written that you and I may learn from them,
be edified from them, be comforted according to these things. So
I want you to consider with me some things about this incident. I'm concentrating basically here
in the 18th chapter and verse 4. Let a little water, I pray you,
be fetched and wash your feet and rest yourselves under the
tree. A tree to rest under. That would be a thought that
I want us to think about for a few minutes. A tree to rest
under. What in the world is this tree?
What does it typify? What does the Holy Spirit meant
to teach us here in this passage a tree to rest under? We know
that when we come to the New Testament, it's common, it's
common language to read of the cross of Calvary, the cross of
Jesus Christ, to be termed a tree. Let me read you some places in
Acts chapter 5 and verse 30. The God of our fathers raised
up Jesus whom you slew and hanged on a tree. Acts 10 39. We are witnesses of all things
which Christ did in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem
whom they slew and hanged on a tree. And then Paul, preaching
his first recorded message in Acts 13 and 29, when they had
fulfilled all things that were written of him, they took him
down from the cross. And they took him down from the
tree. So what does the tree represent
to us? Well, it's Christ and Him crucified. If we let the New Testament interpret
the Old Testament, It's Christ and Him crucified. Why would
the Holy Spirit refer to the cross of Christ in the New Testament
as a tree and then tell us something in the Old Testament about trees
without teaching us something of the cross of Jesus Christ? When you read about trees in
the Old Testament, boy, there's a lesson. about the cross, about
Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I want to show you one place
in Deuteronomy, a very familiar passage. I want you to mark Genesis
chapter 18 before we come in back there, but look in Deuteronomy
chapter 21. The cross of the Lord Jesus Christ
in the Old Testament and the New Testament is a tree. Deuteronomy chapter 21 and look
in verse 22. Deuteronomy 21 and verse 22. If a man have committed a sin
worthy of death, under the Old Testament law, Moses law, the
law God gave to Israel, you didn't kill a man for every sin, but
there was some sins worthy of death. And if a man have committed
that sin, and he be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree,
his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou
shalt in any wise bury him that day for this reason. For he that
is hanged is a curse of God. That the land be not defiled,
which the Lord thy God giveth thee, for non-inheritance. One of the ways that the Lord
had to deal with the children of Israel, to make sure that
their land was kept sanctified, was kept holy, was kept separate,
if someone committed an awful crime worthy to be put to death,
they were to put him to death. If they didn't, the land would
be defiled. That's what this is teaching
us. But you know, More than that was meant to teach us from this
passage. We know that this passage was
quoted by the Apostle Paul in the New Testament. Now I want
you to turn over to Galatians chapter 3 with me. I'm just thinking
about this tree. What is this tree? Look over
in Galatians chapter 3. Let's look down here in verse
10. Let's look in verse 10. Galatians
chapter 3 and verse 10. For as many as are of the works
of the law are under the curse, for it is written, Cursed is
everyone that continueth not in all things which are written
in the book of the law, to do them. Now you know something,
we very seldom hear, I think Brother Darwin mentioned this,
about any kind of covenants in the scripture. We seldom hear
about the covenant of works, the covenant of law and its demands. What does the law demand? Absolute
perfection, absolute obedience, continual obedience. Obedience
from the time we're born until the time we die, the law requires
perfect obedience. And here's the penalty for not
obeying. A man is cursed. A man is cursed. He's cursed of God's law, he's
cursed of God's judgment, he's cursed of God himself. Who is? Every man. who continueth not
in all things. And here's the thing, brothers
and sisters. We're all born under that covenant.
We're all condemned to die. That law hangs over our head,
begging and pleading for our eternal ruin. And the only way
to escape that covenant of works is for somebody to redeem us
from it. We cannot of ourselves work ourselves
by our own obedience from under that covenant. The only way to
escape this covenant and its just demands is to be redeemed
from it. Now look here in verse 13. Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. For it is written,
we just read it, didn't we? Cursed is everyone that hangeth
on a tree that the blessing of Abraham, the blessing God promised
to Abraham of the Holy Spirit might be given to them that believe. We're guilty by nature. guilty
by our deeds, and the only way to be delivered from this guilt,
from the condemnation of the law, is to be redeemed. And how is a sinner redeemed
by one man dying upon a tree? That's what this tree is in the
Old Testament. It's Jesus Christ and Him crucified. If a man hath committed a sin
worthy of death. We have, haven't we? We have. We have. And therefore we're
cursed. Cursed of God. And the only way
to escape is to be redeemed. all together by somebody else
on a tree. He was made a curse. Why did
God curse his son? Why did God curse his son? This
may shock somebody. I don't think it will shock any
of you. But you know why God cursed his son? Because he was
guilty. Bruce, don't the Bible says that
he did no sin and no God was found in his mouth? Yes. In and
of himself. Don't the Bible say it was the
just for the unjust? Yes. He was just. He was holy, harmless and undefiled. Then why did God curse him? Because
he was guilty. Guilty of what? Your sin. Guilty of your sin. How did he become guilty of our
sin? God took the sins of all his people, rounded them all
up, hurted them all up, searched every crack and crevice, and
the Bible says he transferred all of those sins upon his son. Don't the Bible say that? All
we like sheep have gone astray. And the Lord hath laid on him
the iniquity of us all. I read one of the commentators
the other day and he said, it's impossible to transfer sin. It's impossible for you to transfer
sin. But is anything too hard for the Lord? I tell you this much to that
commentator, If God leaves our sins on us, then we die. He must therefore take them from
us, which He can do because He's God. He must put them upon His
Son, which He did. His Son must receive those sins
and then call them His own, which He did. In Psalms 69 and 5, Thou hast known my foolishness,
and my sin is not hid." Did he have sin? Not of his own. Not one foolish thought. He was
obedient from his mother's womb to the tomb. But he had your
sins, dear soul. He stood accountable for your
sins. He said, now they're mine. They're
mine. God cursed him. God cursed him. You know God curses sin. I don't
care where he finds it. God will curse sin wherever he
finds it. He found it in his son and he cursed him to death. Cursed of God. Bruce, that's
almost blasphemy. That's what the Bible says. He
was made a curse. Look at him hanging there full
of hell. full of wrath, full of death
and corruption, the Son of God being made a curse. What is the
cross? What is the cross? It's the place
where sin was punished. It's the place where sin was
atoned for. It's a place where God made reconciliation. It's a place of redemption. And
it all took place upon a tree. That's what it is. Two thousand
years ago, brothers and sisters, outside the old city walls of
Jerusalem, something was accomplished that never was accomplished before,
and there's no need to attempt to accomplish it again. Sin was
purged away. That's what the cross is. That's
what the tree is. Redemption was accomplished.
God's wrath was born. Was born to the point that there
was none left. Oh, that's what the tree is.
That's what the tree is. It's a place where God cursed
and cursed and cursed and cursed until He says, I'll never curse
again. That's what the tree is. What is the tree? It's Jesus
Christ and Him crucified. That's what it is. What is this
tree? Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I know nothing among you. I glory
in nothing. but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Here's my second point. Rest
yourself under this tree. Come and rest yourself under
this tree. This is a tree fit to rest yourself
under. The Lord Himself rested under
this tree. The angels came and they rested
under this tree. Abraham lived under this tree. Sarah found such shade and benefit
under this tree, she pitched her tent under this tree. Everybody rested under this tree. You say, Bruce, that's the Son
of God resting. Well, if He's resting, can you
not rest? Isn't it something when we talk
about the cross and what was accomplished there, the work
that was finished there, and the rest of soul that comes out
of that, isn't it amazing that everybody that knows what happened
there and puts value in what happens there rests. Where is God the Father resting? In His Son and His accomplishments
upon the tree. Where are those just spirits
in heaven resting? They are resting under this tree.
They're resting in Christ and Him crucified. Where are these
angels resting? Everybody's resting. That knows
what takes place. Everybody but you and everybody
but me. Isn't that something? There is
sole rest under this tree. And sometimes we get to thinking
in our little minds It's just not all done. I need to add something
to it. I need to pray just a little
bit harder. I need to add more discipleship
and obedience and my faithfulness just a little bit longer. And
then maybe I can rest. When he talks about resting under
this tree, it means you sit down and do nothing but rest. What
does it mean when you're resting? You're ceasing to do anything.
You've sat down and you've said it's accomplished. It's finished. Now I can rest. Oh, but I've
got to feel a little more sorrow for my sin. I just don't feel
sorry enough for my sin. And a little bit of sorrow will
purge them away, do you think? A little bit of trouble in your
conscience to afflict yourself and while you give yourself a
false humility about it all, you think that will add just
what you need to give you rest. Sin has already been purged away,
has it not? Two thousand years ago, Jesus
Christ by himself upon the tree purged our sins away. Can you rest in Him? It's been said so many times,
and all of us have preached on this, but I think sometimes we
have difficulty entering into this, that in that tabernacle where
the priest took blood every year and went in behind the veil and
sprinkled it to atone for sin upon the altar, there was one
piece of furniture that you never found in that building. And that
was a chair. Why? Because their work was never
finished. The blood of bulls and goats
can never put away sin. But this man, when he had offered
one sacrifice for sins forever, what did he do? He sat down. He's resting. And I'm just saying
to you tonight, brothers and sisters, this work of purging
away sin, this work of reconciling us to God, this work of seeing
God's smiling face has already been accomplished. It's been
finished. Can you bring your soul here
under this tree to rest? Come and rest yourself under
this tree. Someone will say, Bruce, is there
room for me? Well, must have been a pretty
big tree these people lived under. Sure a pitcher tent there. Room
for a table. Room for the Lord of Glory with
His heavenly guests with Him. Oh, there's room for those who
will come here and sit under this tree and rest. Though millions
have come, there's still room for one. There's room at the
cross for you. You desire rest for your soul.
Soul rest isn't that the kind of rest we long for in this world
that's going to hell so quickly. Running after shadows until they
die and perish forever. All kinds of trouble and heartaches,
turmoil and wars and rumors of war. Don't we want rest in our
conscience? Well, here's a tree that you
can rest your screaming, guilty conscience under. Come unto me,
all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Rest for your souls. Oh, a tree
to rest under. Look back over at my text again
right quickly, if you would, in Genesis chapter 18. Here's
something else that took place under this tree. Look in verse
4 of Genesis chapter 18. Let a little water, I pray you,
be fetched and wash your feet. It's a place to wash under. It's
a place you can wash your feet under. Back in those days, they
wore sandals or went barefoot and then their feet got dusty
in those desert places. And when they went and was received
as guests, someone brought a pan of water and they would wash
their feet. They would cleanse their feet.
And that's what Abraham did. He provided water to wash their
feet. He was a good guest. He was a
good host for his guests, wasn't he? You think he can outdo the
Lord Jesus Christ? Do you think Abraham would have
a tree and water to wash his guest's feet? And Jesus Christ's
tree that we rest under would not wash ours? I tell you, this is a dusty,
dirty world, is it not? You and I are in this world that
we must live in. You have to work in it. You have
to vacation in it. You have to live in it. And you
get your feet dirty. Your feet gets dirty walking
through this world. And you come home of the night
and you look back over the day and you say, My God, why did
I say that? My Lord, how could I have did
that? My Lord, how could I have omitted that? How could I have
thought that? And you feel like your conscience
has been dirtied by this world and its filth. Well, listen, what do you do
before you lay down in your bed? You go sit under this tree and
you wash your conscience. Aren't you glad, brothers and
sisters, when the Lord redeems us and He purges sin from our
conscience, that He says to us, the fountain is still open? Anytime
that you've dirtied your conscience, don't carry the guilt of it around.
Come back and sit under the tree and be washed. Wash your feet. I wonder how many people tomorrow
will go to church and they feel something of the guilt of sin
and the filth of sin and they start promising God all of these
things that they'll do. Oh, if you'll just not condemn
me, if you'll just do this for me, then I'm going to do that
for you and I promise you this and I promise you that. Trying
to get rid of the defiled conscience, guilt upon their conscience.
And what are you and I are told to do when we feel that we've
defiled our conscience? We're to come and sit down and
do nothing but to wash in this fountain. Oh, there is a fountain filled
with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins. And you know something,
brothers and sisters, that fountain will never lose its power till
all the ransomed church of God be saved to Sydney-O-Gore. It's
there and it's open. It's open for us as we defile
ourselves in this dirty world. Aren't you glad you've entered
in? There Jesus saves me and keeps me clean. Glory to His
name. Oh, dear child of God, you don't
have to walk through this world guilty. There's a fountain. There's a pan. There's something
to wash in. And it reaches deeper than all
the stain and the filth of this world. It's gone. Oh, come and rest yourself. and
wash. Well, he says something else
in verse 5. Look back at my text again. There's something else about
resting under this tree and washing under this tree. And he said,
I will fetch a morsel of bread and comfort ye your hearts. Oh, there's comfort under this
tree. Convert ye your hearts. I think the word really means
refresh. Refresh your hearts. And then you can pass on. Ain't
this a sorry world? I keep talking all about this
world. It's so unpleasant sometimes, isn't it, to live in? I asked
Brother Scott not long before he died, Brother Scott Richardson,
getting old, I was into some trouble myself and I said, Scott,
does it get any easier? He said, not for me. Not for
me. And it probably won't for us
either. This world's got a lot for those
who love it, nothing for those who don't. It has no comfort
for you, does it? It has no lasting joy. There's
nothing there to delight your spirit. There's but one place
that you can come and refresh yourself and be comforted in
this world and that's under this tree. Christ and Him crucified. Oh, how often this world becomes
so stale to us. Your job, did you ever have your
job and when you get a job you think, oh, praise God, I've got
such a job. I'll never be sad again. Oh, I've got a great job and
it pays good. I'll be happy for the rest of
my life. In about a year, what happens?
Your job gets so stale and you hate to go in and work. And sometimes
a marriage gets stale. And life gets bitter. Have you
experienced that? I remember when Israel came to...
Was it Shur? Mammaya? Moriah or wherever that was,
they came to out in the wilderness and they found some water and
it was bitter and they couldn't drink of it. And they cried and
Moses cried unto the Lord, Lord these waters are bitter. And
he showed him a tree of all things. He showed him a tree and he cut
the tree down and threw it in the waters. And the Bible says
the waters became sweet. Isn't that amazing? What in the
world could that mean? It's talking about the same tree,
isn't it? Christ and Him crucified. I know
of nothing else, brothers and sisters, that will cheer us,
that will comfort us as we go through this wretched world,
but to bring Jesus and Him crucified right down in the midst of our
troubles and our trials and our bitterness and see if that doesn't
sweeten even this world. That's been my experience, isn't
it yours? I don't know how this works,
I'll be honest with you. I just know it works. When life
has turned your world upside down, and I mean it will, and when God has turned your
world upside down, and He will, many of the afflictions of the
righteous Make it not strange concerning the fiery trials."
And I thought as I read this text again today, of all the
times for the Lord to come and appear to Abraham, it was in
the heat of the day. And that's why he was sitting
under this tree. If you found yourself in the
heat of the day, at high noon, and it's hot, then come. and bring Jesus Christ right
down in the midst of where you're at and see if that doesn't come
for you. I'm telling you, He'll not only
do to redeem us from that darkness, He'll not only do to die by,
but Jesus Christ and Him crucified will do to live by every day
of your life. Conquer yourself under this tree. It ain't gonna be long till I
got such bad health I can't travel. I used to have real good health.
Man, I was strong as an ox. No more. I remember when you
used to run around and dance. First time I ever saw Don, my
kids thought Don was crazy. He was dancing up and down the
sidewalk. Dancing. You remember that, Don? Dancing.
You can't dance much now, can you? Yeah, in your head. In his brain. In his brain he's
dancing. In his brain he's handsome. In
his brain he's stout. But look at him. We're losing everything. Bitter waters, Myron. There's
a tree you can cut out and cast it right in there. And it'll
make it sweet enough to live with in this life. Christ in Him crucified. Something else and I'm almost
finished. Something else I noticed here
and it was a joy to me. My heart leaped in me when I
thought of this. It was under this tree that heaven and earth
met together in sweet communion. This was amazing that the Lord
of glory Himself And those holy angels were under this tree with
a man who called himself Dust and Ashes. And a poor woman who
had a great deal of unbelief and questioning. They were all
come together under this tree. And I'm just saying this, brothers
and sisters, that under this tree, Jesus Christ and Him crucified,
heaven and earth has been reconciled. Isn't that amazing? It's always strange that every
time those holy angels appeared to those mortals in the New Testament,
the angels always had to say, But you're not. Why? I'm your
friend. We're reconciled in my Creator
and in your Redeemer. We're one. I can't understand this. Heaven
is much closer than we deem, we realize. It's much closer.
Angels are here looking on. The Savior is here in our midst.
The spirits of just men, we've come into their presence. I can't
understand that. But what I get from that is this,
that heaven and earth has been reconciled. Saints and angels
one in Jesus Christ. What's going to happen when the
purpose of God is wound up, is finished? There's just going to be one.
One heaven and one earth. Angels and men, heaven and earth
is gonna be one. This is my father's world. The
battle's not yet won. Jesus Christ who was crucified,
he's gonna make heaven and earth. What? O-N-E. One. One. Abraham and Sarah Well, they
were running around, hasting to do all these things. But you
know something? They weren't intimidated at all
by the presence of the Lord. Abraham had no tormenting fear
about Him, sitting right there and standing with those angels
from heaven and the Lord of Glory. Sarah didn't have this bondage
of tormenting fear about her. They really felt comfortable
under this tree. It used to scare me to death
to think about heaven. Most people say it used to scare
me to death to think about hell. It scared me to death to think
about heaven because God was there and angels were there and
I knew I had no place there. My place was in hell. That was
going to be my home. But you know something? When
I was brought by the Holy Spirit to rest under this tree, I feel
right at home thinking about heaven. And I got a feeling I'm
going to be right at home when He brings me there to the Father's
house. Heaven and earth is in sweet
communion right now. God has reconciled all His people
unto Himself. And He's made heaven and earth
to be one. in the Lord Jesus Christ. In Christ there's no enmity between
heaven and earth. My last point is this. He tells
us here in verse 5, And let a morsel of bread be
brought to you, and comfort you your hearts. After that, ye shall
pass on. After that, You can go on your
way. Come and rest yourself under
this tree. There's a place here to wash
from the dirt of this earth. There's comfort here. There's
refreshing here. And dear soul, I would encourage
you to let this be what you do every day before you leave your
house and go to your job or wherever you go or whatever you do, always
sit under this tree, wash yourself and refresh yourself because
it's only as you do that that you can go on your journey. That's why we're here this weekend,
isn't it? I can't go on. I can't live. I don't have the strength. I
don't have the will until I come first and sit under this tree.
But when I come there, and I sit there, and I refresh myself,
then I can go on my journey, whistling and skipping as I go. Oh, what a tree then, isn't it?
A good tree, fit to rest on. Oh, God, the Holy Spirit bring
us all to rest and live our lives under such a tree. Amen. I'm finished. I'm finished. I
won't be preaching anymore. Thank you, ladies. Oh, what a
meal. That's the best meal last night
I ever ate in my life. And that's the truth. I'll tell
this real quick. Can I tell one more thing? We were down at Donnie Bell's.
Murray Bell was one of the best cooks ever. Whose table I ever
sat at. Me and Jack Shanks. And Jack's
wife, what was her name? Shirley. Shirley was there, me
and Donnie Murray. Jack ate like a pig. And finally
he quit and scooted his seat back and said, that's the best
meal I ever ate in my life. And Shirley said, Jack, you say
that after every meal. And he said, they're getting
better. Last night was the best meal I ever ate in my life. It was the best meal I've ever
had in my life. Thank you ladies. Thank you pastor. Thank you Don. Thank you Darwin. God bless you
dear saints.