TREES OF LIFE IN A WORLD
OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL

Revelation 22:1-2  And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. 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.

Revelation 22:17  And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

Ezekiel 47:1-5  Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house; and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward: for the forefront of the house stood toward the east, and the waters came down from under from the right side of the house, at the south side of the altar. Then brought he me out of the way of the gate northward, and led me about the way without unto the utter gate by the way that looketh eastward; and, behold, there ran out waters on the right side. And when the man that had the line in his hand went forth eastward, he measured a thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the waters were to the ankles. Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through the waters; the waters were to the knees. Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through; the waters were to the loins. Afterward he measured a thousand; and it was a river that I could not pass over: for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed over.

BAPTISM IS IMMERSION.
THIS IS A PERFECT PICTURE OF HOLY GHOST BAPTISM.

Ezekiel 47:6-12  And he said unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen this? Then he brought me, and caused me to return to the brink of the river. Now when I had returned, behold, at the bank of the river were very many trees on the one side and on the other.  Then said he unto me, These waters issue out toward the east country, and go down into the desert, and go into the sea: which being brought forth into the sea, the waters shall be healed.  And it shall come to pass, that every thing that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live: and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither: for they shall be healed; and every thing shall live whither the river cometh. And it shall come to pass, that the fishers shall stand upon it from Engedi even unto Eneglaim; they shall be a place to spread forth nets; their fish shall be according to their kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many. But the miry places thereof and the marishes thereof shall not be healed; they shall be given to salt. 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.

At the very outset of the Bible, we find two opposing NATURES vying for man's soul.

• They are in the form The tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
• Of course God wanted man to eat the fruit of life, and the serpent succeeded in getting man to eat the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil.


Genesis 2:7  And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Genesis 2:9-10  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. And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.

Genesis 2:17  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.

John 10:10  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.

• Adam was made of dust of the GROUND.
• And it is noteworthy that the product that the two trees produced were FRUIT.
• Fruit was distinctly noted in Gen. 1:11-12 as containing its seed within itself.


Genesis 1:11-12  And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

• So you could say that when man ate the fruit, seed was implanted in the dust of the ground.
• And that seed began growing.

Seeds are put into soil and they grow into the kind of trees from which that seed came.

TWO NATURES.

So this other NATURE grew up in man and actually took over man.

• Man began to manifest the particular nature of that seed he ingested into himself.
• If God wanted man to eat fruit of life, and man ate the other fruit and was then cast out of the Garden away from the fruit of life, we find that mankind filled the world and were more like forbidden trees.
• Mankind became trees of the knowledge of good and evil.
• Man is very good at telling everyone else what is good and what is evil.
• Man is very good at being judgmental with everyone else.

Matthew 3:7-8  But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:

Matthew 3:10  And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

• And John calls the religious hypocrites in his day a generation of vipers who are told to get baptized and bear fruits of repentance.
• FRUITS OF CHANGE.

I want to show you this morning what God wanted man to be, and what kind of desired people God does have in this world.

Genesis 3:11-13  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.

The first attitude the people had when confronted with God was passing the blame on another.

• Condemning the other.


John 5:24  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

• I am not here to heap more condemnation upon anybody.
• I cannot be like Adam who brought condemnation in the forbidden fruit.
• I must be like Jesus who brought FRUIT OF LIFE.


Romans 5:18  Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.

1 Corinthians 15:22  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

Revelation 22:1-2  And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. 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.

Ezekiel 47:8-9  Then said he unto me, These waters issue out toward the east country, and go down into the desert, and go into the sea: which being brought forth into the sea, the waters shall be healed. And it shall come to pass, that every thing that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live: and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither: for they shall be healed; and every thing shall live whither the river cometh.

Ezekiel 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.

Jesus said He had the Spirit of God anointing Him to set at liberty them that are bruised.

Revelation shows ONE TREE OF LIFE by the river of life, and Ezekiel shows MANY TREES OF LIFE.

These trees represent God's people.

RIGHT NOW.

Revelation 22:17  And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

• Its not future.


John 7:38-39  He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

• This is what the river of life in Revelation 22 really is!
• The Holy Ghost!


Psalm 1:1-3  Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.  But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. 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.

I am talking about saints of God who are truly trees of life in a world of knowledge of good and evil.

• Real Christians who come not to condemn the world, but come that the world might have life.

2 Corinthians 3:3  Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.

2 Corinthians 3:6-9  Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.  But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away: How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious? For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.

• We can administer death and condemnation to people if we minister in the manner of the Old Testament letter.
• However, Paul said we are to minister LIFE and SPIRIT and not condemnation.

RESCUED.

DELIVERED.

Jesus SETS AT LIBERTY THEM THAT ARE BRUISED, NOT CONDEMNING THEM MORE!

SET CAPTIVES FREE.

Jesus is the Tree of Life.

Isaiah 11:1-3  And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:

• We have a STEM and ROD and BRANCH and ROOTS.
• And the Spirit of God is upon Christ.
• Including the SPIRIT OF THE LORD, there are seven spirits upon Christ.
• You read about them in the book of Revelation.
• Jesus indicated He was the tree of life.

1) Spirit of the Lord
2) Spirit of wisdom
3) Spirit of understanding
4) Spirit of counsel
5) Spirit of might
6) Spirit of knowledge
7) Spirit of fear of the Lord.

Isaiah said these seven spirits shall make him of QUICK UNDERSTANDING.

• In 1611 KJV English, QUICK means ALIVE.
• LIVING UNDERSTANDING.
• LIFE
• HE IS A TREE OF LIFE.


Luke 4:18-19  The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

1) Spirit of the Lord.
2) Preach the gospel to poor
3) Heal the brokenhearted.
4) Preach deliverance to captives.
5) Recovering of sight to blind.
6) Set those bruised at liberty
7) Preach acceptable year of the Lord.

Matthew 11:5-6  The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.

1) Blind receive sight
2) Lame walk
3) Lepers cleansed
4) Deaf hear
5) Dead raised
6) Poor have gospel preached
7) Blessing to those not offended in Him.

• All He did was GIVE LIFE.

John 8:11   She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

• That is the serpent in Eden.
• He came to steal man's dominion.
• To kill by offering forbidden fruit that God said would make Adam die the day he ate of it.
• And to destroy the work of God in a soul's life.


John 10:1-2  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.

John 10:6-10  This parable spake Jesus unto them: but they understood not what things they were which he spake unto them. Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. 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.

• And so does His true Church and true Christians.

• I can contrast all that is evil with all that is good.
• I can be so judgmental.
• I can talk so much about what is wrong and diagnose your sickness, but never provide you with what is right and the medicine and healing, and never give LIFE.
• But I must come and do what Jesus came to do.
• If He is the Vine and we're supposed to be His branches,...
• And If He is the Tree of life...
• Then we are supposed to be BRANCHES OF LIFE BEARING FRUIT OF LIFE AND LEAVES TO HEAL THE NATIONS.
• To heal the brokenhearted.
• NOT TO CONDEMN.

• The sores are outward bleeding.
• And the bruises are inward bleeding.
• He came to heal what everyone can see.. sins like drug addiction and fornication and adultery.
• But He also came to heal inside bleedings that nobody can see in your heart.
• Secret hurts locked away deep inside that torment you every day of your lives.
• Your pains of memories and regrets and bitter minds that are tormented with things of the past.

2 Corinthians 3:17  Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

• Though the woman at the well could easily be condemned for having five husbands and one man she presently lived with who was not her husband, JESUS GAVE HER LIFE.


John 4:14  But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw. Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither. The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband: For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly. The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

• He offered her the Holy Ghost!
• And He even called that Spirit the RIVERS OF LIVING WATER.

• Victory in Jesus.
• Repentance to se their sins forgotten.
• Baptism in Jesus' name to wash away their sins the forgetfulness of God's sea.

John 7:37-39   In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

• Ezekiel said the river heals everything it comes into contact with.
• And its therefore no wonder that the trees planted by it on either side supply fruit of life and leaves for the healing of the nations.

• He had rivers of living water.


John 1:17  For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

• Simply because I preach the goodness of God upon you, does not condone any sin you may be indulged in.
• But we can either erringly offer condemnation as a result of hearing of your sin, in order to get you to depart from it,...
• ... or LIFE, which will outshine any sin you may be living in.

• The waters are the River of Life.
• They are so anchored and rooted around the rivers of the Holy Ghost that like sap, the Spirit of the Lord is upon them to anoint them to heal and deliver and set free.
• Condemnation hurts, bruises and enslaves.

• God has LIFE for you and LOVE and FORGIVENESS if you'll just turn away from that sinfulness and come to Him.

Matthew 18:21-34  Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven. Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents.  But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.  Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt. But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt. So when his fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.

• Jesus explained that when you are forgiven, having asked of your master, "Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all," and you came to a tree of life in your Lord... (v. 26)
• And a brother has wronged you and comes to you saying what you did to the Lord, "Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all." you refused forgive," (v. 29) but you refuse to forgive and IMPRISON THAT PERSON....
• Because you're a tree of condemnation and knowledge of good and evil....
• You will have your liberty revoked by the Lord and imprisoned yourself.
• You must do to others what your Lord has done to you.
• Do unto others as you would have them do to you.
• Except ye forgive men their trespasses, neither shall your heavenly Father forgive you of your trespasses.

• This concerns releasing or holding.
• Its not talking about binding or loosing the devil.


Matthew 18:18  Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

Matthew 18:26-27  The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.

And the true church does the same.

This is not speaking about those who sin and stubbornly never cease to do so (see Matthew 18:17).

• Jesus is speaking about those who sinned and WANT TO BE RIGHT.

• And instead of LOOSING the man, look what he did...


Matthew 18:29-30  And his fellowservant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt.

Jesus said that after wheat was planted in a field the enemy came at night and sowed tares in the field.

• Trees of knowledge of good and evil always seem to stand in the same Garden as the Trees of Life.
• Its like that in every field.
• Every church.
• Don't worry about uprooting them yourselves.
• The angels will do that in the end.
• Just recognize them and stay away from them.
• By their FRUITS you shall know them.


Matthew 7:15-20  Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

There is a time for BINDING a man when he refused to listen and repent and argues with the preacher who comes and kindly encourages repentance and cutting the sin off, and argues with the church, and argues with the Bible....

• But in the case of someone wanting to get right, by no circumstances is the true Christian meant to BIND SUCH A SOUL IN A PRISON OF CONDEMNATION.

• Satan wants his trees of the knowledge of good and evil all over the world.
• And they are.
• But in a world of the knowledge of good and evil, there are trees of life!