TWO TREES IN THE GARDEN
BUT ONE TREE IN THE CITY

December 2, 2001 am
MF Blume

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.
Revelation 21:23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.
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.

There were two trees in the Garden of Eden.

The godly tree of life and the ungodly tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
These trees are actually the entire topic of the entire Bible from front to back.
You see, the tree of life represents God and His goodness, and involves Jesus as the vine and the true Christian as the Branch.
The tree of the knowledge of good and evil represents the enemy, the devil and the world, and his branches.

Jesus spoke of Himself as the TRUE VINE in John 15.

For everything said to be true, the thought of something else that is false immediately comes to mind.

And this is only one indication of the theme of the two trees throughout the Bible.

For a godly son named Abel, there was an ungodly son named Cain.

For a godly king David, there was an ungodly King Saul.

For a godly child of Abraham named Isaac, there was an ungodly child of Abraham named Ishmael.

Even to the godly Jesus Christ, there was an ungodly Judas Iscariot.

But by the time we get to the back of the Bible where a we find that the Garden of Eden with its two trees has grown into a CITY NEW JERUSALEM, there is only the tree of life.

The garden had two trees, but the city has only one.
THE TREE OF LIFE.

That means for a long time there were some branches of the tree of life and branches of the wrong tree.

You see Jesus spoke about Himself as a vine and the true Christians as His branches.
He even indicated that through His resurrection He would become a sort of tree of life;

John 12:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

He was the only Son of God one day, like a lonely corn of wheat.

And like a kernel of wheat never planted in the ground to grow and rise up as a stalk of wheat with many other kernels in it, Jesus would have always been the only begotten son of God had He not died and was buried in the ground.
For His burial, like the kernel of wheat, caused him to rise from the dead.
And He said here that His resurrection would cause there to be many other sons of God just like Himself.

One kernel buried and grown makes many kernels on it.

And that kernel has become the other kernels' vine, so to speak.
One son of God crucified, buried and risen turns into a vine and has many sons of God.

But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. For it became him (IT SUITED HIM), for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.

And everyone who is saved is said to have been taken OUT OF THE WORLD and PUT INTO CHRIST.

John 15:16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

John 15:19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.

You are OUT OF THE WORLD.

And that shows how the rest of the world who is not in Christ are BRANCHES OF THE FALSE VINE.

We are OF CHRIST and they are OF THE WORLD.

You are OF something.

You're a branch of one of only two trees.

But by the end of the Bible, in the Book of Revelation, we find that there are not going to be both trees in the city as there were in the garden.

There is only going to be the tree of life.

Notice How Jesus speaks about this.

John 15:1-6 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. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. {without me: or, severed from me} If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast [them] into the fire, and they are burned.

At the end of the Bible, just as Jesus said branches that are not IN HIM will be cast away and burned, we read...

Revelation 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

The book of life lists names of people who are recipients of eternal life.

It's a book of life!
And those whose names are no in it, are those who will be cast into the fire.
Jesus said that He is a vine and all those branches who are plugged into Him in union with Him bear fruit.
And those branches who are not plugged into Him, and do not bear fruit, are not receiving LIFE.
And therefore they are cast into the fire and burned.

We see A perfect comparison between branches not plugged into Jesus and people whose names are not in the book of life.

The book of life is even alternately called the TREE OF LIFE according to the marginal reference of this verse.
So you see the connection of not being in the vine of Jesus and cast away to be burned, and not being in the book of life and cast away to be burned.

Jesus is life.

His is the vine.
The tree of life.
He is in the vision of Rev. 1 with candlesticks in the shape of branches coming out of Himself.

Revelation 1:13 And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.

I want my name in the book of life, and I want to be a branch in the true vine!

He even said to two of the churches, who were supposed to be branches...

Revelation 3:5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.
Revelation 2:5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.

Revelation 1:20 The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.

He saw candlesticks stemming out from Jesus, and these represented the churches. And if you know anything about the MENORAH, you know these candlesticks were shaped like branches.

With Jesus in the midst as though like a tree with branches of churches coming out of Him, we see that if the church in Rev. 2:5 did not repent, it would be broken off like a branch is broken off a vine.
And John 15 shows us that if we abide not in Him, we are broken off like branches and burned.

In John 15, Jesus speaks to us as having need to connect to Him as a branch connects to a vine.
• He said the Father is like the vinekeeper, or husbandman.
• And the Father trims the branches and prunes them to see them bring forth more fruit.
• WHAT IS THE FRUIT?
• Then Jesus says that this is actually HIS WORDS that He taught them.

So let us allow God to purge us as branches today so that we can bring forth more fruit.

As sap flows into the branch, His words need to abide in us.

If this does not occur, then the branch is cast away to be burned.
• We do not want that to happen.

And He ends the illustration with:

John 15:7-8 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.

From this point onward, He explains what He illustrated.

Verses 1-8 are illustrative words of a vine and branches of Jesus and the christians.
From verse 9 onward, Jesus explains the meanings.

John 15:9-14 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.

Jesus has God's love inside Him.

And abiding into the vine of Jesus is actually explained as abiding in his love in verse 10.

If you abide in THE LOVE OF JESUS then you are abiding in the vine.

Notice His LOVE is to die for His friends.

AND WE MUST ABIDE IN HIS LOVE.

Do you know what He is saying?

We have to ABIDE IN HIS DEATH FOR OTHERS.

Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

We were baptized INTO HIS DEATH.

That is the DEATH wherein HE SO LOVED US THAT HE GAVE HIS LIFE FOR US.
So when we are baptized into HIS DEATH we are ABIDING IN HIS LOVE.
But we BETTER ACT LIKE IT!
If you are baptized in His love, then you are going to love others in that same way!

People, hear me!

Only the tree of life and its branches are going to be around forever.
ARE YOU A BRANCH IN THE TREE OF LIFE?
There were two trees in the Garden, but only one tree in the City -- and that is the tree of life!

John 15:16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

Notice he speaks of bearing FRUIT THAT REMAINS.

The fruit that He wanted us to bear and have remain is explained also.

John 15:11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.

THE FRUIT REMAINS is the JOY THAT REMAINS.

There is a joy that dwells in your life when you are doing God's will.

Obeying the call of my life to preach is such a joy.
I am doing what I was created to do.
But this joy also involves our relationships to one another.

Jesus said in verse 12-14 that we must love each other as He loved us.

That is His word.
That is His commandment.
And His word needs ot abide in us.
And like sap in a branch that causes that branch to make fruit, His word needs to be in us and cause something to come out of our lives.
It will give us joy and bless others.

Love each other as He loved us.

John 15:12-14 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.

He tells us to love as He loved us, and then turns around and says the greatest love is to lay down your life for friends.

We are His friends.
That means the way He loved us was to lay down His life for us.
And so if we are going to love each other as he loved us, then we must lay down our lives for each other.

He is the vine and we receive LIFE from Him.

That LOVE of His flows into us and we must let it flow and go out to others.

This makes us true branches on the tree of life.

ROMANS 14:17

In a chapter speaking about getting along with one another and not getting into religious squabbles and offending each other, Paul wrote:

Romans 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

RIGHTEOUSNESS
PEACE
JOY IN THE HOLY GHOST

These three elements deal with three specific relationships.

GOD
OTHER CHRISTIANS
OURSELVES

That is why we read:

Romans 14:18 For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men.

Righteousness is what we ought to be concerned about in our relationship with God.

It is simply being RIGHT WITH GOD.
You are not RIGHT WITH GOD if you are treating your brother and sister badly.
You do not show any righteousness when you are fussing and offending your brothers and sisters.

PEACE is what we ought to be concerned about with lone another.

Getting along and having peace between one another.

Romans 14:19 Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.

Edify means to BUILD UP and STRENGTHEN.

Instead of tear down.
Some Christians tear down other people in their talking, more than they ever BUILD UP or EDIFY.

And JOY IN THE HOLY GHOST has to do with ourselves.

We will have joy in our own lives if we are right with God and are at peace with one another!
Doing God's will gives you joy.
God's will always involves others.
I preach.
I am fulfilling the purpose for my existence!
And its such a JOY to do God's will.
And It serves God, and it ministers to others.

And that is what Jesus meant here:

John 15:11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.

Get His sap and let it flow into you and love each other as he loved you.

Lay down your life for others as He laid down his life for us.

DEATH AND HELL BURNED

We want to make sure we are in the vine and not a branch of the world.

IN THE END THERE IS NOT GOING TO BE A FALSE TREE AROUND!
IN OTHER WORDS THAT TREE IS GOING TO BE BURNED, ALONG WITH ALL ITS BRANCHES.

Revelation 20:14-15 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

DEATH AND HELL ARE THE TREE.

And those whose names are not in the book of LIFE, are obviously written in the BOOK OF DEATH.

The two trees were life and death.

Not good and evil.
The good and evil were both part of the death tree.
You can be good and still be lost.
But you can be a professing Christian and still be lost, too.
I did not say a REAL Christian, but a Professing one.

God said eat of the forbidden tree and you will die the same day.

And God also had a tree of life.
So the two trees are of life and death.

Revelation 20:11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.

Notice that there are DEAD people who are standing before God's throne in verse 12 BEFORE verse 13 says that the sea and death and hell, or the grave, gives up the dead which were IN THEM.

There are dead people who are not in the grave (hell).
Paul said we were DEAD when we were in trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1).
Adam DIED the day he ate the wrong fruit, but his body lived another 900 years.

These are people whose NAMES are not in the BOOK OF LIFE.

Like branches not producing love for one another from Jesus, these dead people are thrown into the lake of fire along with death and hell.

OF THE WORLD

After talking about the branches of the christians on the true vine of Himself, He shifts His speech and talks about the world.

John 15:18-21 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me.

YOU ARE NOT OF THE WORLD.

CHOSEN OUT OF THE WORLD.

This is speaking about the branches of the FALSE VINE.

OF the world.
Or OF CHRIST.

Notice that Jesus told the Ephesian church they lost their first love, and then says:

Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.

You see, Jesus was seen in a vision of Revelation 1 with a seven-branched candlestick branches extending from HIm, like He is the vine.

And the branches symbolized the churches.
And He tells the Ephesian church in Revelation 2 to get back their first LOVE or else he will remove the candlestick from its place.
Its place was like a branch extended out from Jesus in Revelation 1:13.
In other words, if we do not LOVE, He will snap off the branch and throw it away.

But if this church obeyed His word, watch:

Revelation 2:7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

They will eat of the tree of life!

The whole picture is of a tree or vine of life!

And the candlestick was like branches.
And look at verse 1.

Revelation 2:1 Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks;

He is in the midst of the candlestick churches because HE IS THE VINE!

The one speaking is the one in whom the candlestick branches are plugged into!

The world is the false vine, and its people persecute you.

John 15:20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me.

And then Jesus says in the next chapter...

John 16:1 These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended.

He is telling us all of this because He does not want these things to cause us to give up when they come.

He told us about making sure we manifest His love as branches abiding in the tree of life, and to beware of those who persecute us so we are not offended and made to fall and give up.

GIVE HURTS TO OTHERS OR TAKE HURTS FOR OTHERS?

If a so-called brother treats you wrong then whether they talk in tongues or not they're of the world.

Jesus shows the two trees as what they really are.

Those in Jesus love each other and do something to show it.
They love as Jesus did... taking hurts so others won't be hurt.
They lay down their lives for one another, denying themselves.
Did not Jesus deny Himself for us when He was crucified to save us so we would not go to hell?
Those in Jesus TAKE HURTS.
Those in the world give hurts to each other.

Its awful how some christians treat each other.

Hurting and no even thinking about how such hurts will affect the other believer seeing a Christian do such a thing.
Not even thinking about what the hurt one will think by seeing someone who is supposed to be a Christian acting like that.
Not much of His sap His word and His love flowing into us if we don't even stop to consider how our actions affect others who know we are Christians.

Notice what He said his commandments were:

John 15:12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
Revelation 22:14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.

If we love one another then we have a RIGHT to the tree of life.

In fact, we're its branches!
I Guess we have a right!
There is going to be no tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the city!

Make sure you are producing the fruit of Jesus' love.

Jesus said if this love is not coming out of our lives, then we are obviously not connected to Him as the vine.

If you're not baptized into Jesus, the tree of life, into His love in dying for us, then get connected today!

TWO TREES IN THE GARDEN BUT ONE TREE IN THE CITY

TWO TREES IN THE GARDEN
BUT ONE TREE IN THE CITY