Cities With Trees That Give Life
March 10, 2002 pm
MF Blume
Deuteronomy 20:10-12 When thou
comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it.
And it shall be, if it make thee answer of peace, and open unto thee, then
it shall be, that all the people that is found therein shall be tributaries
unto thee, and they shall serve thee. And if it will make no peace with
thee, but will make war against thee, then thou shalt besiege it:
This morning we read from this same chapter in verses 19-20.
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Those verses spoke of trees of fruit that give life.
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During a siege, these trees must not be destroyed.
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Fruit trees provide life for men.
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And we likened that to people whose Christianity is true and provides LIFE
to people who are hungry for God.
Many people claim to be Christians but never produce fruit that gives life
to onlooking souls.
And since it speaks about a city, we considered that there is a city
in the book of Revelation called New Jerusalem, that has a tree of life
in it.
If you want to be preserved forever, be a tree that bears fruit to
give life to souls.
But these three verses before those speaking of the fruit trees
speak also of warfare.
And we see the picture of Israel's confrontation with cities that God wants
them to conquer.
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Notice that the law said that Israel must always approach such a city with
peace.
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Actual warfare would not occur unless the city did not accept the offer
for peace.
The battle today is over souls.
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God's kingdom is said to be like a mountain that spreads across the earth
and fills every nation.
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That spreading is occurring right now.
Daniel 2:44 And in the days of these
kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed:
and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in
pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
God is invading cities across the world.
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But these are not so much natural cities.
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They are lives.
Proverbs 16:32 He that is slow to anger
is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh
a city.
Proverbs 25:28 He that hath no rule over
his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.
Notice how God looks at our spirits as cities.
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We noted how he sees people as trees.
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And here we also see it is in His perspective to see spirits as cities.
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Having no control over one's heart and anger is like a city that has no
defences against the enemy.
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This tells us that the enemy invaded such a person's life.
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The devil can gain entrance into your life and possess people.
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But on the other hand, someone who can control the spirit is better than
a person who can take a city.
We need to take the cities of our lives, and not let the devil have possession
and ownership of them.
God wants us to rule and reign with Him.
And if God is conquering a city, He wants that city to be a tributary to
Him.
Deuteronomy 20:11 And it shall
be, if it make thee answer of peace, and open unto thee, then it shall
be, that all the people that is found therein shall be tributaries unto
thee, and they shall serve thee.
This is how God looks at our lives.
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He desires to come in peace and cause us to be tributaries for Him.
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We can be conduits or pipelines for his Spirit to work.
He is going to destroy all that is evil one day.
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The last enemy that shall be destroyed is the enemy called death.
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That is another reason why He noted that trees bearing fruit that gives
life will be preserved.
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God wants to keep Christians who are truly living Christian lives to live
forever.
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Trees that offer death instead will be destroyed.
So God's kingdom comes to people's lives, as Israel's forces came to cities.
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Peace is offered to that city, and the desire to see that city become part
of God's kingdom and serve God's purpose.
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This is a good ownership from God.
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God's kingdom offers eternal life to those in it.
The writers of the Bible said these things…
1 John 2:1 My little children,
these things write I unto you, that ye sin not….
1 John 1:4 And these things write we unto
you, that your joy may be full.
The only real peace that exists is in Jesus.
Psalm 84:9-10 Behold, O God our
shield, and look upon the face of thine anointed. For a day in thy courts
is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of
my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.
Servitude to God is a joy and pleasure.
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Living in a court is living OUTSIDE the actual dwelling.
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And God's house is so wonderful that one day n the court of God's house
is better than a thousand days inside the dwellingplaces of the wicked.
Its like saying that 1/1000 of God's wealth is better than the entire wealth
of mankind put together.
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That is how great God's kingdom is.
God is going to destroy all wickedness one day.
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Before that, He comes in peace to every soul.
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And if the soul refuses, judgment will come.
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Warfare will ensue.
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And man cannot win the war against God's kingdom.
And God rewards those in His kingdom with JOY UNSPEAKABLE AND FULL OF GLORY.
The cities that make peace with Israel will be tributaries for Israel.
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But the cities that refuse peace, and refuse Israel, will be fought against
in war.
This goes along with the idea of the fruit trees in verses 19-20 from this
morning's service.
Deuteronomy 20:19-20 When thou
shalt besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it,
thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by forcing an axe against them:
for thou mayest eat of them, and thou shalt not cut them down (for the
tree of the field is man's life) to employ them in the siege: Only the
trees which thou knowest that they be not trees for meat, thou shalt destroy
and cut them down; and thou shalt build bulwarks against the city that
maketh war with thee, until it be subdued.
Think of it.
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Trees that bear fruit will be preserved.
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Trees that do not bear fruit will be destroyed.
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In warfare.
God is saying the same principle all over again using trees this time.
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Cities that accept peace and have the kind of heart that is willing to
serve God will be spared.
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Cities that resist and manifest a heart that refuses to serve God will
be defeated and men slain.
The element in the picture of the cities that adds to the thought of the
fruit trees is as follows:
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Those cities which accept the will of God, will be tributaries.
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Think of a tributary of water.
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It is a channel that the main waterway uses as extensions of itself.
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So the trees that bear fruit are like souls who are willing to do God's
will.
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They will be avenues for God to use.
And that is the reason when we compare these following scriptures, we see
believers as part of the overall Body of Jesus Christ.
Revelation 22:2 In the midst of
the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of
life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month:
and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
ONE TREE OF LIFE on either side of the River of Life.
Ezek 47:12 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.
MANY TREES ON EITHER SIDE OF THE RIVER.
Why the discrepancy?
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God sees all Christians as part of the ONE BODY OF JESUS CHRIST.
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When he sees the sinners of the world, He sees one man named ADAM.
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But when He sees the Christians who are sincere believers, He sees one
man Named Jesus Christ.
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That is the reason that He sees many trees of life as ONE TREE OF LIFE
ON EITHER SIDE OF THE RIVER.
Jesus is the tree of life and we are the branches.
We are tributaries.
We are extensions of His will.
Proverbs 11:30 The fruit of the
righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.
Notice that God considers fruit coming from a righteous Christian with
the idea of winning souls.
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Why?
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Because fruit of life in a christian is the manifestation those things
that need to appear in order for souls to be saved.
Let's be extensions of God's will.
Tributaries of God's Spirit.
Trees of Life!
Cities of Life!