BEWARE OF THE FALSE VINE

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 also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
(Gen. 2:9)

But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
(Gen. 2:17)

I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
(John 15:1-3)

This morning we noted how Jesus was in the temple, having cast out the moneychangers and the sellers, giving life by healing and teaching daily his words which are spirit and life (John 6:63).

In this temple ornate with flowers and palm trees and almond tree-shaped candlesticks, and cherubims on the walls and ceilings, Jesus was a tree of life.
And a prophecy this morning from our sister noted that He is the vine and we are the branches.
And that sparked this entire sermon in my heart.
That is the reason it is important that you, the saints of the church, allow God to use you in the gifts of the Spirit.
Together, we will be used of God to minister the Word.

When Jesus said He is the vine, note the manner in which He said it:

I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
(John 15:1-3)

He is the TRUE VINE.

If there is a true vine, then there has to be a false vine.

A vine of lies.
A vine of error.
A vine that purports to be one thing and actually is not.

The devil, himself, is the false vine.

He is a liar.

I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
(John 10:9-10)

Think of the two trees when you think of these verses.

He is the door.
The way.
But there is a thief.
And the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy.
Jesus instead comes to give life.
The fruit of the forbidden tree would kill them.

But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
(Genesis 2:17)

That was the very thing the serpent gave to mankind.

To kill them.
He offered mankind to be like gods.

Listen to his lies:

Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

(Genesis 3:1-5)

The liar.

The false vine!
His offer of fruit involved lying about God and His intentions.
He actually implied that God was withholding something very precious from Adam and Eve.
He implied God was a sort of vain God who did not want to share glory with others.
And perhaps he actually believed it, himself!
The old liar tried to exalt himself like God and God threw him down.
So he may have felt that people may have the ability to ascend to God's level, but God withholds that potential from them in some mean and twisted manner to reserve the joy of godhead for Himself.

There are liars in this world who will falsely accuse God of such and such, and twist His pure and perfect character into one of cruelty or meanness.

This fruit is supposed to benefit mankind.

But it actually kills.
It's supposed to cause us to ascend higher and attain greater places of eminence.
But it destroys.
Its steals.

Anything that comes to your mind that God is unfair or is mean or cruel is just another form of the false vine.

Do not believe it for a second.
Its' Satan's way of thinking.
And he is so twisted that he is mad with insanity!
God said a fire is inside him that will burn him up to ashes one day.
In other words, he is beyond help.
He is reprobate and void and totally empty of proper understanding.
And whispers of the serpent are hissing when thoughts of God's ulterior motives and intentions and unfairness are going through your mind.

Look who is twisted and who is the liar.

After the serpent succeeds in selling his lies, we read:

And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

(Genesis 3:21-22)

"Look at man now! Look and see how much like God he is, with his coats of a beast's skins, and shame and confusion for his foolishness! See how much like God he has become with the dejection over what he lost and the impending gloom set before him as he knows he must now work by sweat to even eat bread, when I offered eternal life for food without his work."

Failure.

Guilt.
Losing out.
Being with God and messing it up in good shape!
Is there any hope left?
Heeding the lies of the devil and believing his lies about God and God's dishonest and off-coloured ways, only to learn that the devil was the twisted one and the liar.
We blew it!
What will become of us?

John 10:1 says that he that enters the sheepfold not by the door is a thief and a robber.

The Persic version renders the words, "whoever does not introduce the sheep through the door of the sheepfold, know that that man is a thief and a robber"

The Jews refused to accept Jesus.

(Genesis 3:24)

He did not destroy the way to life.

He guarded it with His very presence between cherubim, as on the ark.
And He held a sword in His hand and held it aloft in readiness.
Justice had to be met before the way be trodden again.
BUT HE DID NOT REMOVE THE WAY!
And what does a sword tell you about the justice required to open the way for people again?
DEATH!

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
(John 14:6)

Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
(Mat 7:14)

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
(Mat 7:21)

Jesus is the way!

Simply revert back to your former days of obedience to His will.
All is not lost.
God does not work that way.
Just get back to the way.
JESUS IS THE WAY!

What happened to the way of the tree of life?

Jesus is the way!

We've been branches of the false vine.

But Jesus is here to bring life.

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
(John 10:10)

For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
(John 3:17)

For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.
(John 6:33)

I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
(John 6:51)

For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.
(Mat 18:11)

And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.
(John 12:47)

He is come to restore.

The voice telling you of God's odd ways and meanness is the voice of a liar.

Jesus came to RESTORE... REDEEM.