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["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] You You You You You You Hey, man, welcome to first works Baptist Church, we're gonna get started with song number 246 song number 246 as you find your seats and let's all stand together if you are able to 246 redeemed First verse we deem how I love to proclaim it seen on that verse Oh This child and forever I am We deemed and so happy in Jesus the language His I think of him all the day long He saw his love is a theme of my son I Know I shall see in his beauty the king in whose law I divide Guarded my footsteps and give it me song in the night I Redeemed by the blood of the lamb Redeemed His child Amen wonderful scene the start of our service with a word of prayer dear God only father We thank you so much with God for just allowing us to be here this morning Thank you so much for everybody that made it here safely look God I pray that if there's anybody that's still traveling to come to church with God I do pray that you please just bless her way. Keep them safe on the road Just please also just be with us as well in the congregation look out that you please just Set our hearts right look out to hear the preaching of your word and most of all I pray that you please just bless pastor me here as he preaches your word I pray that you please just fill in with your Holy Spirit I am through the scriptures with God and I pray that you'd also just help us with God to just to be attentive today this Morning in Jesus name. Amen. You may be seated song number two hundred and ninety six follow on song number two hundred and ninety six song number two hundred and ninety six Seen on that first verse Down in the valley with my Savior I would go Where the flowers are blooming and the sweet waters flow? Everywhere he leads me I would follow follow on Walking in his full steps till the ground be won follow follow I would follow Jesus Anywhere everywhere I would follow on follow follow I would follow Jesus Where he leads me I would follow on Down in the valley with my Savior. I would go Where the storms are sweeping and the dark waters flow Me I will never never Anywhere everywhere I will follow Everywhere he leads me I would follow Down in the valley or upon the mountain sea Close beside my Savior would my soul ever keep To where they gather on the hills of God Anywhere everywhere All right, great singing thank you for being here this morning just a few announcements here before we sing our next song Which will be two hundred and nine if you want to get that ready in your songbooks Sunshine in my soul song number two hundred and nine if you did not get a bulletin Go ahead and raise your hand and one of the ushers can get one for you some important information on there Of course, our services are as follow Sunday morning is at 1030 Sunday evening at 5 p.m And then we have our Thursday night Bible study at 7 o'clock We have the sowing times and teams there and the list of expecting mothers if you can continue to pray for them And then of course the important reminders there at the bottom some of the upcoming church events We have the ladies prayer breakfast coming up on Saturday, August 27th. You can see him as Janelle Gonzalez for more details about that She's the one who heads up the the ladies prayer meeting there and then on Sunday September 4th We have the birthday breakfast as well as the Judea zoning and then we have a homeschool field trip coming up on Wednesday September 14th to the discovery cube in Orange County And of course all the activities at our church are free And so just make sure you contact my wife to just touch bases with her as far as the details are concerned But that will be on the 14th of September and then we have a men's prayer night coming up on Friday September 30th And then there at the bottom no food or drink allowed in a main auditorium except for water and coffee Please make sure you respect that and then Lord earring in the foyer or fellowship hall during the preaching service And of course quiet time is this afternoon from 3 p.m. To 4 15 throughout the entire building Of course the lights will be turned off and then everything will resume after 4 15 and then Please make sure you silence your phones during the preaching so as to not be a distraction during the service All right, and that is pretty much it. Let's go to sing our next song song number 209 in your song books sunshine in my soul song number 209 Amen song number 209 sunshine in the soul seen on that first verse there is sunshine Then There is sunshine in my soul There is music in my soul today And Jesus When Jesus shows a smiley face there is sunshine There is springtime today Ah This my face there is sunshine There is glad my soul today Is me now for joys When the peaceful happy moments roll There is sunshine Amen wonderful seeing and at this time our ushers will be receiving the offering and please turn your Bibles to Genesis chapter 2 You You You You In Genesis chapter number two this morning Genesis chapter number two Bible reads Thus the heavens and the earth were finished and all the hosts of them on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made and he rested on the seventh day from all his work Which he had made and God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because in it he had rested from all his work Which God created and made? These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created and the day that the Lord God made the earth And the heavens and every plant of the field before it was in the earth and every herb of the field before it grew The Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth and there was not a man to till the ground But there went up a mist from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground 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 And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden and there he put the man whom he had formed Out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the site 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 pardoned became into four heads The name of the first is Pison that is it which compass at the whole land of Havilah where there is gold and the gold Of that land is good There is Delium in the onyx stone The name of the second river is Gihon the same as it that compass at the whole land of Ethiopia The name of the third river is Hiddico that is it which goes toward the east of Assyria and the fourth river is Euphrates And the Lord God took the man and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it The Lord God commanded the man saying of every tree of the garden that may us freely eat But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil I shall not eat of it For in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shall surely die And the Lord God said it's not good that man should be alone I'll make him in help meet for him Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast to the field and every fowl of the air and brought them into Adam to See what he would call them and whatsoever Adam called every living creature That was the name thereof and Adam gave names to all cattle and to the fowl of the air and every beast of the field But for Adam there was not found and help meet for him and the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam and he slept and he took one of his ribs and closed up the Flesh instead thereof and the rib which the Lord God had taken from the man made He a woman and brought her unto the man and Adam said this is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh She should be called woman because she was taken out of man Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother and shall cleave unto his wife and they shall be one flesh And they were both naked the man and his wife and were not ashamed. Let's pray dear Lord God I would just thank you for your word. Thank you for preserving it for us and to this day I just ask that you wouldn't be with Pastor Mahir now as he preaches it. Please just fill him with your Holy Spirit and Please just help him to manifest your word through the preaching and give us ears to hear it and in Jesus name we pray. Amen Amen, okay. We're in Genesis chapter 2 this morning and Look down your Bibles at verse number 7 It says here in the Lord God formed man out of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul and the Lord planted a garden eastward in Eden and There he put the man whom he had formed 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 is in the midst of the garden and the tree of knowledge of good and evil And the title of my sermon this morning is the Garden of Eden I want to preach on the subject of the Garden of Eden and just kind of explain a couple things here regarding This particular garden that got planted in Eden before the fall What it signifies and then some of the layered meanings behind it some of the things that we're gonna look at in the future So let's get right into it first and foremost go to Genesis chapter 1 if you would we're gonna come back to Genesis chapter 2 In just a bit go to Genesis chapter 1. Let me just say this right off the bat is that Eden Was God's original intent for humanity and what I mean by that is the fact that you know during this time everything was perfect everything was good and God would essentially come and fellowship with man He would walk in the garden in the cool of the day to commune with man to fellowship with man And that is literally God's intent that was his purpose That was his plan originally before the fall and in a sense that is still his plan today, which is why? Humanity needs to be reconciled back into God through Jesus Christ so that we can again Commune with our God and fellowship with him and speak to him and he threw up to us through his word now Let me also say this is they Eden was created on day three of the creation period looking for summer 11 It says in God said let there be 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 and the evening in the morning were the third day now when you look at Genesis chapter 2 Eden is already mentioned as already being there It's not that it was created It's already basically there because he talks about the garden being planted in Eden and that's the first time we hear about Eden But that's because of the fact that Eden was already created by day three when these trees and the fruits Fruit yielding trees and whatnot were created on that third day now the garden Particularly that's in Eden was potentially planted on the sixth day along with the creation of man Okay, and let me also say this is that when we think about the creation period this isn't referring to thousands of years You know the Bible doesn't teach an evolutionary type of a teaching when it comes to the creation. It's six literal days. Amen and people who try to Excuse this away and reason this away and say no, you know, it happened over a period of thousands of years These are people who just want to compromise and don't think that God is capable of creating the world in six literal days So they wanted to fit in with evolution and with science falsely so called in order to appease the world But you know, we're just gonna believe the Bible and if God said that he created in six literal days That's what we're gonna believe and that's what the Bible says and that's what exactly what happened God is capable of doing these things and so he created everything in six literal days on the six days where he created man and Where I potentially believe that he also created this particular garden. Okay? Now, let me also say this is that you know during this time the world essentially is perfect, but there's a part of the world That's the best part so to speak and that is Eden And even within Eden eastward up Eden is this particular garden where he chose to place man? now Eden the Garden of Eden no longer exists today Okay and so, you know people who want to you know, try to discover where Eden is and let's just go to the deepest part of The ocean or let's look for some archaeological discoveries to find out where Eden is. You're not gonna find it. It's gone Okay, it was destroyed in the flood And possibly maybe even prior to that we don't really hear it mentioned prior to that But go with me if you would to Ezekiel go to the book of Ezekiel if you would chapter 36 hold your place there in Genesis go to Ezekiel You see the Bible talks about Eden being described as paradise Because of the fact that the tree of life is in the midst of the garden which it refers to as paradise Well, the Bible also says in Revelation chapter 2 Excuse me 2nd Corinthians 12 verse 4 that the Apostle Paul was caught up into paradise. Okay, and He heard unspeakable words, which is not lawful for man to utter Revelation 2 7 says he that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches to him that Overcometh another way of saying that it's to him that believes on Jesus Christ Tim that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life? Listen to this which is in the midst of the paradise of God Okay, so essentially telling us that the tree of life is in the paradise of God which is in heaven Which is exactly where the Apostle Paul went because he was caught up. He was not caught down Okay, the reason it's important to note that is because you have this dispensational teaching that paradise is like the next-door neighbor of hell Or something, you know, it's this vacancy that's no longer there right next to hell and the reason they want to teach This is because of the fact that you know, they want to propagate this false teaching of Abraham's bosom Essentially stating that every Old Testament saint when they died went to the second compartment of hell You know you have the motel known as hell, but then you have the hotel known as paradise Abraham's bosom Just a little better. It's still under the earth. Okay. Now that's a complete farce. It's not true. It's make-believe. It's made up Paradise is obviously in heaven because of the fact that that's where the tree of life is but look at Ezekiel 36 verse 35 It says here and they shall say this land that was desolate is become like the Garden of Eden and the waste and the desolate and ruined cities are become fenced and are Inhabited Joel chapter 2 you don't have to turn there says a fire devoured before them and behind them a flame burneth The land is as the Garden of Eden before them and behind them a desolate wilderness essentially saying that these cities and these lands were destroyed by God and they essentially became Desolate like a wilderness and then he likens it unto the Garden of Eden Essentially saying that the Garden of Eden is also desolate. It's non-existent. It's destroyed. Okay, and So, you know that's important to know because of the fact that so many people out there Place such a heavy emphasis on the physical aspects of the Bible these archaeological discoveries They want to find the Ark of God still and you know They talk about the tauren right the the cloth is supposedly Jesus Christ was covered in and they want to find the cup that he drank out of they put so much emphasis on that which is earthly and not that which is heavenly and let's just be honest if they were to discover for Example the Ark of God so called it's probably it's a forgery. Okay, it's a fraud Okay, someone built it years ago in order to make money You know to deceive people into thinking that they actually have something that is from the Bible All right, but you know one thing that they're not going to discover According to the Bible for sure is number one the Garden of Eden, but number two Sodom and Gomorrah Completely made desolate now you can go to where Sodom and Gomorrah was but at the end of the day, it's not there. Okay You're not gonna find it. It's completely destroyed by God. Okay now go back to Genesis if you would But at the end of the day, you know, it doesn't matter You know whether Eden The physical place Eden exists or not because that's not what's important What's important is the spiritual truths that the Garden of Eden signified what it? Essentially allegorizes and what it represents. So let's look at the Garden of Eden in the Genesis account in chapter 2 Look at verse number 7 again it says the Lord God formed a man out of the dust dust of the ground and Breathe into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul and the Lord God planted a garden eastward In Eden and there he put the man whom he had formed and out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree That is pleasant to the site and good for food The tree of life also is in the midst of the garden and listen to this in the tree of knowledge of good and evil So think about this, you know, he plants this garden in eating He places the man there and there's all types of trees there but the two of the most specific most important trees that the Bible highlights is the tree of life and then the tree of knowledge of good and evil look at verse 15 and the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it and the Lord God commanded the man saying of Every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil thou shall not eat of it for in the day that thou eatest thereof Thou shalt surely die now another thing I want to point out because I hate dispensationalism so much is the fact that We see here God placing a restriction on eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil and dispensationalists will often teach this heresy called dispensational salvation that people were saved differently throughout the ages and They'll often point to this particular story and say that the way people were saved During the Garden of Eden was by not eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil But think about this folks think about how stupid that is because of the fact that Adam and Eve weren't unsaved They were completely innocent. They didn't need salvation because they were already there with God in his presence. They didn't have any sin Okay at that point so for them to say well the way they get saved is by not eating of the tree of knowledge Of good and evil is completely nonsensical because of the fact that they didn't need salvation at the time They were already in the presence of God communing with them absent of sin Okay, but another thing that I want to point out is that God's laws always provide more liberty than restrictions Because he tells them out of all the trees of the garden thou mayest freely eat There's just one you can't eat of right. He's essentially saying look, you know, you can have the mangoes Strawberries you can have whatever, you know, the the watermelons. I know those don't necessarily grow on massive trees, but you get the picture here Okay You're like none of those are trees, you know, you can have the oranges you can have the apples you can have anything you want You have various options to choose from just don't touch that one tree Now here's the thing is that although God's laws provide more liberty than restrictions God's restrictions at the end of the day still brings deliverance from death So it's not like he's withholding the tree of knowledge of good and evil because he doesn't want you to have fun He doesn't want you to enjoy life. He doesn't want you to you know, just kind of bask in you know It's not like the tree of knowledge of good and evil was tastier than any other to treat understand The reason he told them that they could not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil is because if they did they Were gonna die and what we know how we can apply that today is that you know When God commands us to do something or it commands us not to do something We should never view it as oh man God's keeping me from having fun or something, you know Oh God's just trying to hold back or you know God's laws are so grievous because if we're not allowed to do all these things, but you know Here's the thing is that God's laws are placed there to save you from the consequences of sin Because disobedience that God has within itself a built-in consequence that can eventually destroy your life Okay, and so God's restrictions brings deliverance from death when God commands us not, you know to abstain from alcohol It's not like you know, he's just trying to keep you from having fun on a Saturday night You understand and getting all belligerent and drunk. He's trying to keep you from you know, I don't know getting cirrhosis of the liver He's trying to keep you from I don't know getting raped He's trying to keep you from destroying your brain He's trying to keep you from being a complete fool and a complete idiot potentially placing yourself in a position to destroy your life It's not like oh man. I'm missing out on so much. Yeah, you're missing out on the pool of vomit that comes the next day or something. Oh, man, and So, you know God's laws always provide more liberty than restrictions but even the restrictions that he gives us brings deliverance from death and That's how we need to view it. Okay, never, you know, the laws God's law should never be grievous unto us We should never complain about rules We should never complain about the restrictions that God places on us or how about this? You should never complain about the restrictions that that your parents place on your life You know the Bible talks about the law of your mother the law of your father You should never complain about that because of the fact that at the end of the day those restrictions are there for your benefit Okay So he tells them Freely eat have a good time. This is paradise. I mean this is living right here. Okay, now you think to yourself Yeah, but where's the meat though? There are vegetarians. Yeah, there are vegetarians back then Okay, and the reason there were vegetarians is because of the fact that there was no death present understand The reason meat was introduced later on is because you know the sacrifice had to be made For the sin of Adam and Eve in order to clothe them with animal skins and You know, you're not just gonna skin it and just not do anything else with the with the body You know, you got to you got to eat it. Amen And so the reason we're able to consume meat today. Yes, it is because of sin, of course But the reality is this is that God also sanctions man and allows man Gives man permission to consume animal based products You Know every creature of God is good and nothing to be refused That's what the Bible says if it be received with Thanksgiving Okay, and so, you know a lot of people want to point to this and say see we need to go back to being vegetarians And vegans but that's this you're basically insinuating that we need to go back to being sinless, which is completely impossible outside of Christ Okay, we need Jesus Christ to cleanse us from all our sin And even then it doesn't mean that we can just become vegetarian because we still have this corruptible flesh One day we will return back to these types of conditions Edenic conditions, but that's like way out there in the future Okay, God has to wean us, you know off of meat literally for like a thousand years The millennial reign that's you know now look at chapter 3 if you would so everything is good Paradise communion with God he walks with God. I mean Adam is walking with I mean, how much more can you ask for? You know, I'm sure it's about 72 degrees there in the Garden of Eden It's not blazing hot. It's not blazing cold. Not blazing cold. It's not freezing. It's not uncomfortable Got your lady there with you, you know, everything's great But then Eve, you know Had to be Eve, you know, I'm just kidding look at verse number one of chapter three it says now the serpent was more subtle 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 I'm not gonna spend too much time talking about Satan in this particular passage because I preached a sermon a couple months ago Called the biography of Satan where I actually go into great detail Why Satan is here during this time and what his purpose was? but I want you to notice that the first thing that comes out of his mouth is Ye have God said right essentially casting doubt on God's Word But the second thing I want you to notice is that he says ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden Now Satan will always exaggerate the commands of God in order to make them look grievous Because he actually told him you could eat of every tree There's only one tree you can't eat of and then Satan comes and say yea have God said Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden kind of just making it look like oh, man You got these rules and you can't eat of everything Look at verse 2 the woman sent into 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 had said ye shall not eat of it Neither shall ye touch it lest ye die now Eve now is exaggerating So first Satan was exaggerating, but obviously that has some some influence on Eve because she says this we can't eat it Nor can we touch it, but God never said you can't touch it Okay, he just says don't eat it or else you'll die now we'll say this it's probably a good idea not to touch it Because eventually, you know that'll lead you to Eating of the fruit, you know kind of like the way the Bible says it is good for men not to touch a woman Because of the fact that it could potentially lead you into fornication Okay, it could lead you into sexual sin, etc Verse 4 and the serpent said unto the woman he shall not surely die Now this is a half truth Because they're not literally gonna physically die as soon as they eat of the tree the fruit of the tree however, they will die spiritually and One thing that we can learn from this is that Satan never comes at you with a full lie Because then you wouldn't believe it He has to come with a lie mixed in with some truth Okay, it has to have some truth in order to deceive you into doing whatever he wants you to do Look at verse 5 for God does know that in the day ether of then your eyes shall be open He shall be as gods knowing good and evil and when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was pleasant to the eyes and a tree does to Be desired to make one wise she took of the fruit and did eat and gave also unto her husband and he did eat So another thing that we can learn from this is that we got to be careful what we look at because often what we look at can cause us to covet it can cause us to desire and then Ultimately when we desire something if we gaze upon it long enough eventually we'll give in to that particular sin Okay, which is exactly what Eve did and by the way Eve didn't fall alone. She took her husband with her Now let me talk about the tree of knowledge of good and evil and the tree of life for just a minute here, okay Go to Ezekiel chapter 31 hold your place there in Genesis chapter 2 Let me give you a just a bit of a comparison of what these two two trees symbolize here The tree of knowledge of good and evil. I think when you look at it scripture can be compared to Satan himself Okay, and I'm explaining why you see the tree of knowledge of good and evil is Contrasted with the tree of life and the tree of life is represent represents who Jesus Christ Because Jesus Christ is the tree of life He's the one that when we eat thereof we shall live forever, you know If when we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, he gives us everlasting life Whereas the tree of knowledge of good and evil is unto condemnation so to speak but the reason I believe he's compared it's compared to unto Satan is Because of the fact that when you look at the biblical description of Satan particularly in the book of Ezekiel You'll see that the Bible talks about that he was perfect in wisdom and beauty talks about how he was decked out how he had all these pearls and stone not pearls, but he had all these precious stones and He was you know, essentially the anointed cherub. He's very much Different and distinctive from all the other cherubs in the sense that he was very beautiful to look upon Okay. Now look at Ezekiel 31 in verse number one with that in mind When in the Old Testament God addresses a king of heathen nations You'll often see that he's talking to that King But then he kind of deviates into giving characteristics that don't seem to seem to fit that King Often it's because he's actually talking about a demonic entity that is influencing that particular King, right? and This is what we see here in Ezekiel 31 look at verse number one who came to pass in the 11th year in the third Month in the first day of the month that the word of the Lord came unto me saying Son of man speaking to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his multitude whom art thou like excuse me Whom art thou like in thy greatness? behold the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches and with the shadowing shroud and of a high stature and his topples among The thick bowels the waters made him great The deep set him up on high with her rivers running round about his plants and Sent her little rivers unto all the trees of the field Therefore his height was exalted above all the trees of the field and his bows were Multiplied and his branches became long because of the multitude of waters which he shot forth all the fowls of heaven made their nest and it's in his bows and Under his branches did all the beasts of the field bring forth their young under his shadow dwelt all the great nations Thus was he fair in his greatness in the length of his branches for his root was by great waters Let's end of this the cedars in the garden of God Could not hide him The fir trees were not like his bows The chestnut trees were not like his branches nor any tree in the garden of God was like unto him in his beauty I have made him fair by the multitude of his branches so that all the trees of Eden that were in the garden of God envied him So what we see here is they obviously he's talking about this earthly King but we know who he's talking about because he makes reference to the Garden of Eden and There was one particular cherub who's more distinctive than all the other who's more beautiful than all the other angels and that is Lucifer himself and I particularly believe that Lucifer if you listen to that sermon on the biography of Satan He was actually designated to oversee the tree of knowledge of good and evil Which is why he's present to tempt Eve with that particular fruit of that tree so forth so I believe that you know just as Lucifer was just as beautiful and he was You know Decked out with all these precious stones that he was perfect in wisdom I believe also physically the tree of knowledge of good and evil was likewise beautiful Okay because we see that comparison being made here that there's no other tree in the Garden of Eden that was like unto this particular tree that he's referring to and obviously, he's talking about Satan himself as Noted before verse number seven says or go back to Genesis. Excuse me Genesis chapter three, so I believe that the tree of knowledge of good and evil can be compared unto Satan Which is understandable because of the fact that the cherub sent to protect the tree of knowledge of good and evil Was the anointed cherub also known as Lucifer, but then also of course the tree of life represents Jesus Christ okay, and Jesus Christ if you excuse me the tree of life if you remember at the end of Genesis Who was covering the tree of life we had the cherubs right with who were Essentially covering that tree of life always with the flaming sword. Well these cherubs that were covering the tree of life Can be seen in Revelation chapter 4 having four faces The face of a man the face of an eagle the face of an ox and the face of a lion Essentially representing what the four Gospels So those four gospel these cherubs represent these four Gospels and it's these four cherubs that are essentially covering the tree of life Understand so we can see clearly how the tree of knowledge of good and evil can represent Satan based upon the description that we see in Ezekiel But we can also see how the tree of life represents Jesus Christ because he is the source of all life He is the way the truth and the life No man cometh unto the Father but by him but also because of the fact that the cherubs are covering him Okay, so let's talk about the tree of knowledge of good and evil So that is one comparison that we see but also I believe the tree of knowledge of good and evil Essentially represents the conscience and the law. Okay You think about this, okay because after the six-day creation What did God say that everything was what? Good right and Which is another reason why in Genesis chapter 3? I don't think Lucifer had fallen yet Because how could you know everything be good if Lucifer who's a fallen angel is going about you know to deceive Adam and Eve I think he's still essentially Lucifer as the anointed cherub not yet a fallen angel But also the tree of knowledge of good and evil it's called the tree of knowledge of good and evil Even though everything is good. So it's kind of kind of a paradox here. You think to yourself How is it that everything is good if you have the tree of knowledge of good and evil? So is there something evil in the Garden of Eden? Well, how does that work? well, here's what I believe is the fact that There's nothing inherently evil of the tree. Okay, and I believe that for that reason that this tree represents the conscious because of the fact that the tree is the tree of knowledge Of good and evil. It's the ability to discern between good and evil Understand now turn with me if you would to Romans chapter number seven Romans chapter number seven How do you think we could point to the tree of knowledge and say that's an evil tree? It's not an evil tree because God made everything good It's not an evil tree because everything was good at the end of the six-day creation period You say well, what's then is there anything bad about the tree of knowledge of good and evil? No, the only thing that's bad. The only thing is sinful is if you eat of it You say why then that would make it sinful No Because of the fact that the sin is the fact that you broke God's commandment to not eat of it You understand and here's here's a real simple way to kind of describe this or liken this unto you think of the physical relationship between a man and a woman it's Not inherently sinful, but it can be if it's done outside of the confines of marriage So just as you know The physical relationship is Not inherently sinful if it's done within the confines of marriage You know There's nothing inherently sinful of the tree of knowledge of good and evil Unless you break God's commandments to actually eat of it when he told you not to okay But look what the Bible says in Romans chapter 7. We'll read a couple verses here in verse number 7 It says what shall we what shall we say then is the law sin? So think about this anytime we talk about the law just think of the tree of knowledge of good and evil is the law sin God forbid nay I had not known sin but by the law for I had not known lust except the law had said thou shall not covet But sin taken occasion by the commandment wrought in me all manner of concupiscence For without the law sin was dead for I was alive without the law once But when the commandment came sin revived and I died the commandment which was ordained to life I found to be unto death for sin taken occasion by the commandment deceived me and by it slew me Wherefore the law is holy and the commandment holy and just and good yeah, of course because everything was good when it when God created in six days and There's nothing sinful about the law either The law is holy. It's just and it's good It's when you break the law That it kills you Verse 13 was then that which is good made death unto me God forbid but sin that it might appear sin working death in me by that which is good that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful for we know that the law is Spiritual but I am carnal sold under sin for that which I do I allow not for what I would that do I not but what I hate that do I if then I do that which I Would not I consent unto the law that it is good So based upon this particular passage we can compare the tree of knowledge of good and evil as representing the the law Because of the fact that as soon as they ate of the tree it slew them just as the law slays us today understand and This is an important doctrine because of the fact that there's this really weird stupid doctrine by the Catholics called original sin and The teaching there is that as soon as the baby is born they come out sinning You know, they they're just sinful and you know, they're they're they're they're I mean they come out just Committing sin and so in order to put away the sin of a child They that's why they baptize babies Because their belief Okay, is that if a baby dies in its original sin? Essentially not being baptized they go to hell So in the eyes of the Catholic Church Hell is filled with a ton of babies if they have not been baptized now They won't say that publicly because they know how wicked that sounds Okay You know and then you have your reform Theologians out there who want to condemn that but they essentially believe almost something as similar or if not worse Because they believe in predestination election They'll teach you that, you know, if that baby's not elect and that baby dies that baby goes to hell this is wicked folks It's satanic. Okay Whereas what the Bible actually teaches is that just as Adam and Eve were completely innocent They were without sin They were essentially perfect in like manner when a baby is born. It's the same way now Obviously we understand that a baby has corruptible flesh Which eventually right will have the propensity to commit sin But that happens after they're slain by the law now What does it mean to be slain by the law? It essentially means that when they recognize that they sin against God they recognize they're breaking God's laws Okay, it slays them then they become dead and their trespasses and sin and this is why the Apostle Paul says I was alive once Right. What is he saying? He's not saying like he died before or something and then he came back He said when he says he was alive just talk about spiritually his spirit was alive But then the law came and he died That's why he was dead in his trespasses and sin and that's why an individual needs to be quickened by the gospel Okay, when we are born again when we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ the Bible says not by works of righteousness Which we have done but according to his mercy He saved us listen to this by the washing and regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost So when we get saved the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within us and he regenerates our dead spirit it brings it back to life Okay, and that's why this is important my friends You know, so the law Was never meant to save anybody law can't save you. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law For by the laws the knowledge of sin the Bible says, okay And so, you know, we have people out there who think well you just got to keep God's commandments You gotta get you know, I missed the part in Genesis chapter 3 where Adam and Eve said alright from here on now We just got to not touch the tree of knowledge of good and evil if you want to be saved Apparently that was just out of the equation because they already did it and Like manner when people say well, you got to keep the law, but we already broke it though It's a gabble from here on out though Well from there is no from here on now you're you're just you broke it he that keep it the whole law you defend in One point is guilty of all that's what the Bible says and there's not a just man upon earth that do with good and sin If not, there's none righteous. No, not one. There's none that do with good. No, not one and So if someone breaks the law, it's not like you just get a second chance or something like that You get another shot at it doesn't work that way. Okay, the law is meant to show you God's perfect standard and In light of his perfect standard and the fact that you can't meet that perfect standard makes you want to go look for the tree of life Okay Now look at Romans chapter 2 if you would Romans chapter number 2 So the tree of knowledge of good and evil is essentially a tree That awakens the conscience to help them to discern. Oh, I'm doing wrong understand. This is wrong We've we've broken God's commandments were naked right they recognize that they were naked and they recognize that they did wrong. Okay Romans to look at verse 14 for when the Gentiles which have not the law By the way, this is a good verse to use When someone gives you that weird? Illustration or that question. What about like the African and the jungles of Congo who's never heard the name of Christ What if that person dies and goes to hell? I mean, what if that person never heard the gospel? Then they die and go to hell There's no alternative to the gospel my friends It's not like well, you know, God makes an exception for them because they never heard it or something like that. No wrong Okay, and here's the proof verse 14 for when the Gentiles which have not the law Listen to this do by nature the things contained in the law So even though they may not have the Word of God, they don't have you know Genesis Exodus Leviticus numbers in Deuteronomy They don't have the Pentateuch. They don't have the Word of God That's okay because by nature they do the things contained in the law So we have societies out there and cultures out there. They still think that murder is wrong even apart from the Bible Because of the fact that they already know by nature that those things are evil. Those things are wrong He says do by nature the things contained in the law these having not the law are a law unto themselves Verse 15 which show the work of the law written in their hearts So according to the Bible every individual has the law of God written in their hearts That's why they know the difference between good and bad evil, etc. He says which show the law of God Work of the law, excuse me written in their hearts Their conscience also bearing witness and their thoughts the meanwhile Accusing or else excusing one another now, what does that mean? That their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or excusing. Well, that's how the conscience works Conscience tells you. Oh you did wrong It accuses you in like manner it can excuse you and say no you're fine. This is okay. This is not bad and So, you know, there's nothing evil about the conscience. It's just there to show you to give you the knowledge of Good and evil understand just like the tree of knowledge of good and evil is not inherently evil It was just there to accuse Adam and Eve to say you broke God's commandment. Okay, what I do It's just like I don't know my only job is to tell you like You broke God's commandment. That's not my department Okay So we see here that in Genesis The tree of knowledge of good and evil can represent the law because it slew them But it also represents the conscience because it helped them to discern between good and evil This is how we know that everything was still good during that time because there's nothing inherently simple about this particular tree It's just there to awaken their conscience to help them to know they broken God's commandments But once that happened they were expelled from the garden They were expelled from Eden and they were removed to no longer be in the presence of the tree of life. Okay now Go with me if you will go back to Genesis chapter 2 and then we're gonna go to John 14 So go to Genesis 2 and John 14 So we see here of course the garden the Garden of Eden we have these two trees tree of life the tree of knowledge of good and evil and what they represent they were the tree of knowledge of good and Evil represents the conscience or represents the law the tree of life, of course represents Jesus Christ who is the source of all life Now, let's give some layered meanings to the Garden of Eden in particular. Okay, look at verse number seven here The first thing we're gonna look at is the fact that God the Father is pictured by Eden. Okay look what it says here in Genesis chapter 2 and Actually, we'll look at verse number 8 Look at verse number 8 the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden and there he put the man whom he had formed and out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight good for food the tree of Life also in the midst of the garden 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 so we see here that you have this particular garden or you have a ticket this particular area called Eden Eastward of Eden you have the garden that's planted within the midst of that garden You have the tree of life and then you have a river that goes from Eden To water the garden and then after it waters the garden it goes out and then it parts into four heads and then it goes on to all the world So what are some symbolic representations that we can gather from that? Well, number one is the fact that God the Father is pictured by Eden. God the Son is pictured by the garden Okay, you say how's that well look at John 14 in verse number 9 because remember where is the garden it is within Eden look what it says in verse number 9 Jesus saith unto him have I been so long a time with you and yet has thou not known me Philip He that had seen me had seen the Father and how sayest thou then show us the Father Believe is thou not that I am in the Father and the Father in me the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself, but the Father that dwelleth in me He doeth the works Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me or else believe me for the very works saith. Now What is this particularly teaching? It's teaching the fact that Jesus Christ and God the Father are deity. They're God But hold on a second, but they're also separate entities because you have God the Father and God the Son Well in like manner that's how the way the Eden works because although even it's it's its own particular Location within that location is where you have the actual garden itself Okay, but hold on a second if Adam is in the garden He can essentially say he's also in Eden Because you can't get into the garden without getting into Eden first, right and in like manner, you know, you can't go to God the Father but through Jesus Christ Okay That's why Judaism is also a fraud Because they claim to have the true God of the Bible. They believe in Jehovah God and but they reject Jesus Christ Well, you can't have God the Father without going through Jesus Christ And if you reject Jesus Christ, then you're essentially rejecting God the Father as well okay, because God the Father sent Jesus Christ the Son of God to this world and So God the Father pick is pictured by Eden God the Son is pictured by the garden and Then you see you have the tree of life that is in the midst of the garden You said what does that represent? well it represents the life that God gives to this world and in fact the Bible specifically says in the beginning was the word and the Word was with God and the Word was God The same was in the beginning with God all things were made by him and without him was not anything made that was made Listen to this in him was life and the life was the light of man Where was the tree of life in the garden who does the garden picture Jesus Christ? So in him was life and the life was the light of men. Well, here's another picture The river pictures the Holy Spirit Go with me if you went to John chapter 15 John chapter 15 Genesis 2 10 says in a river went out of Eden to water the garden and From thence it was parted and became into four heads. I think you see where I'm going with this Look at John 15 in verse 26 Jesus speaking here says this but when the Comforter is come Whom I will send unto you from the Father even the Spirit of truth, which proceeded from the Father He shall testify of me. So where does the Comforter known as the Holy Spirit coming from? It's coming from God the Father and It's coming to Jesus Christ. And of course that same spirit is going to go to the disciples Verse 27 says and he also shall bear witness because you have been with me from the beginning Look at John chapter 7 if you would John chapter 7 John chapter number 7 So just as the river goes from Eden To water the garden and eventually parts into four heads in like man of the Holy Spirit the Comforter proceeds from God the Father To the garden known as Jesus Christ and then goes out and by the way, whoever believes on him receives this same spirit John 7 look at verse 38 He that believeth on me as the scripture hath said out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water the Bible says Well, I mean something else Verse 39, but this he spake of the Spirit Which they that believe on him should receive for the Holy Ghost was not yet given because that Jesus because that Jesus was not yet Glorified okay, pretty pretty interesting, right? So what we have here, by the way, what John chapter 7 is referring to is the fact that In the Old Testament It's not like the Holy Spirit just was non-existent. Okay, because a lot of people think that this is just like a New Testament phenomenon New Testament occurrence that the Holy Spirit now, you know dwells within us Well, actually he also dwelt Old Testament believers. It just wasn't a permanent indwelling Because the New Testament talks about how the prophets of old Did signify and talked about the sufferings of Christ by the Spirit that was in them? Okay, and Here's where the dipsticks They think they have a checkmate on us when it comes to this Because you know, they're like this is it, you know, how can you say salvation was a different were the Old Testament believers? about the Holy Spirit And obviously it's like no they weren't oh there you go then salvation is different right? How many of you ever heard something like that? they're just like well if the Old Testament saints weren't indwelled by the Holy Spirit and Ephesians 1 13 says in whom he also trusted after that you heard the word of truth the gospel of your salvation and whom also After they believed you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise Which is the earnest of our inheritance unto the redemption of the purchase possession that means salvation was different. No, it doesn't It just means that the location of where the Holy Spirit dwells has changed Now, let me make something very clear Okay in this regard and I think this is important to know because a lot of people get confused about this Because when we go out and preach the gospel We'll often talk about the indwelling of the Holy Spirit as confirmation that they're saved forever, which I think is a great point Amen, I mean the Bible says in Ephesians chapter 4 that we're sealed with the Holy Spirit of God unto the day of redemption Which is a great verse to prove that you can never lose your salvation Because it doesn't say that you're sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, you know until until you're you sin or whatever Until you break God's commandments until you know, you rebel against God or something like that until you live in disobedience It just says you're sealed unto the day of redemption Implying that he's never gonna leave you. Oh, wait, doesn't the Bible say that? Yeah, I'll never leave you nor forsake you. Okay Well, how do we how do we explain that then? Well? Listen to this salvation Or should I say the Holy Spirit's role in salvation? Isn't necessarily based upon where the Holy Spirit dwells, but rather who he regenerates That's what is based upon because as we talked about in Titus chapter 3 verse number 5 by the washing and regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost So Old Testament saints, although they were not indwelt permanently with the Holy Spirit They were regenerated by the Holy Spirit when they believed on the Lord Okay, he went in he quickened their dead spirit He brought it back to life and to some the prophets who wrote the Word of God who were used by God To write the Bible, you know, he indwelt them for a season to write the Bible Understand because holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost understand You say then but that still doesn't explain. Why didn't he indwell them? What's what was wrong with indwelling believers in the Old Testament nothing wrong with it? Okay? He did it from time to time The reason why he didn't permanently dwell the believers of the Old Testament Was because of the fact that his permanent dwelling place at that time was the tabernacle and or the temple That's where the presence of God was. I don't know if you noticed this we don't meet in a temple anymore Okay, you know we don't meet in it I mean we've been in a tabernacle for a season when we didn't have a building, you know tabernacle means a tent Okay You know, but but it's not like the presence of God was only in that tabernacle the New Testament teaches that our bodies are referred to as Tabernacles or also as what temples and in fact, it says that we are the temple of the Holy Ghost Which is in you which you have of God and you're not your own So the reason that he no longer he doesn't he didn't indwell believers of the Old Testament Because of the fact that he was in the temple He was in the tabernacle and since that particular Administration has switched as far as the temple the tabernacle is concerned now he indwells us That's simply what that means but folks eternal security still eternal security in the Old Testament Bottom line you say why because anybody who's saved in the Old Testament has passed from death unto life No, that's a New Testament teaching and that's in John chapter 5 which is still considered Old Testament Jesus Christ John 3 16 is in the Old Testament. Did you know that like well? I thought it was physically in the Newton Yeah physically in your Bibles is referred to as the New Testament because it's highlighting the events leading up to the inauguration of the New Covenant The Gospels is referring to the the life death and burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ so the reason that the Gospels are Physically in your Bibles as in the New Testament It's because of the fact that it is simply highlighting the events leading up to the introduction of that New Testament Also known as New Covenant. So every time that Jesus Christ preached believe in the book of John Okay That's Old Testament Because the Gospels never changed. Okay? The only difference is is that he didn't indwell believers, but here we see That in John chapter 7 He's saying you know, whoever believes out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water It doesn't mean you have a full bladder or something like that It's referring to the fact it's signifying. It's picturing the Holy Spirit Because out of us flow rivers of living water We're filled with the Spirit wherever to preach the gospel and you know out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water Essentially what it's saying is that we have the ability to preach the gospel with power We can preach the Word of God with power we can give life unto others not because we're the source of life But we're conduits of that life understand God uses man God uses women he uses children to preach the gospel to get people saved you know when you know this afternoon there's gonna be a slew of believers out there spewing out rivers of living water Okay And I think that's a great thing because you know, there's a lot of congregations and churches out there that are just dry It's like nothing. It's just like you turn the thing and it's just like drip drip drip Didn't pay the water bill And you know why because they're not saved because you don't have to pay your water bill someone's already paid it for you Huh Jesus Christ paid that water bill and you know what we shall never thirst It's gonna be a continuous flow of the Holy Spirit and If there's believers out there that are not allowing the Holy Spirit to just flow freely through them It's not because they don't have it's because they're just being carnal. They're quenching the Spirit They're keeping him from actually using that person using that vessel To get people saved to turn people to righteousness to disciple others to fulfill God's will This is what this is referring to when it talks about the spear flowing out of it And by the way, you know John chapter 7 the disciples in John chapter 7. They're already saved Well, how does that work in the dispensational, you know economy? This is my You know This is bad punctuation right here, you know How does that work in the dispensational economy if they don't have the Holy Spirit dwelling within them? But we see in Matthew chapter 16 That the Apostle Peter he confessed Christ as being the Son of God Right. He's saved they referred to as disciples. We see them preaching the gospel Well, how does that work if they don't have the Holy Spirit of God dwelling within them? Well, that's because it was a different gospel presentation. No, it wasn't they preached the same exact thing in John Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. How about John the Baptist? Verse 36 of chapter 3 he that believeth on the Sun hath everlasting life He that believeth not the Sun shall not see life with the wrath of God abideth on him Same exact gospel that we preach today. In fact, we all use John 3 36 at one point or another in our gospel presentation Because there is no different gospel between what they were preaching and what we preach today and this is such a Heretic it's such damnable heresy to say that Because of the fact that those same idiots also believe that the gospel will change in the end times. It'll be by works So don't tell me you believe that if someone tells you oh, yeah salvation is everlasting But then they also put up an end to that everlasting gospel in the book of Revelation. That's not everlasting That's stupid Everlasting means it never ends according to their economy. It ends at the book of Revelation Hello Think about that for a minute It's nonsensical to say that you know, the Apostle Peter and look how about this? I mean think about how blasphemous this is because the Apostle Paul Sending Galatians 1 a but if we are an angel from heaven preach any other gospel into you than that which we have preached into You let it be a curse Surprise Peter didn't come up to him like hey, man, you can't be saying that stuff. You know, Jesus preached a different gospel Dude we were preaching another gospel before what do you mean? Are you calling us out? No, because so they're what are they saying the same that Jesus is a curse based upon that statement and and look Dispensationalist will will readily side with the Apostle Paul, too Because they consider themselves under the Pauline era right now. They're under grace right now I mean just I was gonna say listen to them, but I don't recommend you listen to them unless you want to go to sleep So we see here that What it signifies? The Holy Spirit is pictured by this river that proceeds from the Father waters the garden But wait a second. There's more it also parts into four heads Now the Bible tells us that when it parts into four heads after it parts into the four heads it goes into all the world Well think about this if you have these four heads, you know, what in the Bible has four heads the cherry bibs in Revelation chapter 4 which picture the Gospels so this river goes into these four heads Basically carrying that which Jesus has into all the world which is exactly what the gospel does and it goes into all The world the rivers parts into four heads Signifying representing the four gospel the four gospels that goes into all the world and the Bible tells us in Mark chapter 13 And the gospel must first be published among all Nations the Bible says okay now go to Revelation chapter 21 Revelation chapter 21 Revelation chapter 21 You know these four heads obviously they picture cherry bims But they also picture the four Gospels which we're to take into all the world, right? That's the responsibility of every Christian not just pastors not just deacons not just evangelists This is for every church member. Okay, and let me say this, you know Believers don't have this thing where it's or you know, the Bible doesn't teach, you know, Jesus do your own way. All right Just get it done your way, right, you know be a lifestyle evangelist type of a person You know or you know, no the Bible says to open your mouth boldly to make known the mysteries of the gospel Okay, and you know one thing about soul winning is that it's it can be uncomfortable We're you're talking to strangers you go into strangers doors You're walking with your family to strangers doors Knocking on their doors and you have to bring this grievous news to them that they deserve help or their sinners Okay, now some people's like that's not grievous to me. I like telling people that stuff. I Enjoy condemning people or whatever, you know, but to normal people, you know They're just like this this is on it could be uncomfortable trying to tell this person this and this is why the Bible tells us That we should speak to people in meekness and in fear right because we're not out there to try to offend people and and You know get them mad at us so we can we can put one on our belt and say yeah I got me five offenses today. You know, I got someone yelling at me today. What'd you get kind of thing? No, we actually we sincerely want to see people saved Okay, and we want them to know that they're sinners We want them to know that they deserve help because they do And we never want to go on the opposite side of that spectrum and say well I'm just not gonna talk about hell Well, if you're not gonna talk about hell then don't preach the gospel sit home and don't don't do anything You'll do more harm to the cause of Christ If you don't want to talk about the fact that they're sinners and the fact that they deserve help Well, I rather use shield then, you know, just not to be as I'll use Hades and shield and you know That other place down there. You don't want to go, you know down there right, you know, just hell that's what it's called Well, I need another word, okay, here's another word the lake of fire How did I describe it? Well, they burn forever and ever it's not symbolic either Okay, they're tormented day and night where the worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched Okay, but you know most people out there understand what hell is Okay, but we need to make sure that they know what it is and not this. Oh, yeah, we're in hell right now, are we? We're in hell right now how many you've ever heard that before it's just like you believe in hell why believe this is hell No, this is earth This is Orange County This is not Los Angeles County, I'm just kidding You know, this is we're not you're not weeping and wailing and gnashing your teeth right now Okay, hell is a literal place where people go to and you know what as as as as much as you deserve hell You know God commanded his love toward us and that while we were we have sinners Christ died for us What are we doing? We were trying to breathe be that vessel That is spewing out the rivers of living water to help them to get saved And so we see what it signifies there Eden the Garden of Eden the river that represents G represents the Holy Spirit that goes Breaks it into parts into four heads that eventually goes out into all the world Well, that's why it's important that we do missions as well. Amen Because we want the gospel to go into all the world now look at Revelation 21 Here's the last thing and I've talked about this multiple times but I think it's necessary to mention because we're talking about the Garden of Eden is the fact that the Garden of Eden in Genesis chapter 2 and 3 is Essentially a microcosm of the new heaven and the new earth Okay, and what I mean by that is that although the Garden of Eden was a literal place that existed at one time It's essentially picturing something a lot bigger than that in the future more specifically the new heaven and the new earth Revelation 21 verse number 1 it says and I saw new heaven and a new earth For the first heaven and the first earth were passed away and there was no more sea and I John saw the holy city new Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven prepared as a bride adorned for her husband And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying behold the tabernacle of God is with men And he will dwell with them and it shall be his people and God himself shall be with them and be their God look at chapter 22 Now what is this talking about specifically maybe there's some people in here they may not know Exactly how the new heaven and new earth works. I'm not gonna go through the entire Daniel 70th week timeline. Okay Ulysses always reminds you that you always say I'm not gonna spend too much time and then I end up going through the entire time line Okay, I'm only gonna be I'm only gonna talk about the new heaven New York But after those seven years Okay, you have the millennial reign a thousand years after the completion of the millennial reign You have the great white throne judgment and then after the great white throne judgment, you have the new earth Okay, and the new earth is essentially referring to the day that God will transfigure the physical world that we're in today It's gonna make it new Okay, so forget this world Okay Forget your possessions forget this world. Don't save the trees You know nuke the whales or whatever. I'm just kidding, you know This is all gonna go away anyways He's gonna make a new one. He's gonna transfigure this physical world to meet his specifications because this is where he's gonna dwell in you understand and the reason why The world is transfigured to become new is because it pictures our salvation You see the millennial reign essentially pictures When we get saved because of the fact that Jesus Christ comes to live on this world for a thousand years But Jesus Christ being present along with all believers who are regenerated doesn't mean that there's no longer unsafe people So you have the old man there so to speak along with the new man, just like when we get saved we have Christ in us the hope of glory, but we also have the old man dwelling within us as well and Just as Jesus Christ subjugates this world to obey his laws in like manner. We need to make sure that we subjugate the flesh understand And so let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies that you should obey it and the lust thereof neither Yield to your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin But yield yourselves unto God as those that are of life from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God So we make our bodies do what God wants us to do So that takes place for a thousand years, but then you have the great white throne judgment where Satan Death and hell are cast into the lake of fire permanently Well, the Bible says in 1st Corinthians 15 when talking about the resurrection That death is swallowed up in victory and is referring to the fact that our bodies become regenerated But they become glorified. Okay, and we get a new body and You know capable of being in the presence of God one like man or the redemption of the earth takes place as well Okay, because death is swallowed up Satan is no longer present, you know all unsafe people are gone. The old man is completely gone at that point and Then you have this new earth. Well in this new earth you have something descending from the heaven Which is the new heaven what I believe to be that tabernacle that new Jerusalem So if you're if you think about the rapture, for example, you know The Bible talks about that we will meet the Lord in the air right and you know the bodies they we excuse me, the dead in Christ shall rise first, right and We'll meet the Lord in the air and in twinkling of an eye everything changes Well, the big example of that is when the tabernacle comes down from heaven upon the earth That's when that regeneration of that earth takes place Understand but here's the thing is that that tabernacle The New Jerusalem, where is it planted in the Middle East? You know kind of like the way the garden was planted eastward of Eden Understand and guess what's in that tabernacle? You have the tree of life. Okay now what I have you turn to Revelation 22 look at verse number one, and he showed me a pure river of Water of life clears crystal proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb and 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 now You know, we call ourselves Christians because we follow Christ one like manner Jesus Christ is the tree of life But we see here in the new heaven a new earth the believers are referred to as trees of life and It actually shows the trees of life that on either side of the river. That's where those trees are located Okay. Well the Bible tells us in Psalm 1 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 you do it shall prosper and here it says that the leaves of the trees were for The healing of the nations, you know who God uses to heal the nation's us We're like trees as long as we are abiding in the vine We're producing fruit We are used to heal the nation's by preaching the gospel to every creature by teaching the counsel of God by repairing Marriages by repairing individuals by helping people get right with God By helping people to repent of their sin and clean up their lives and live righteously The leaves of the trees are for the healing of the nations It's not just so you could just look all beautiful and and be all holy and like all fundamental Baptist right You're like, you know, I clean up my life so I can look good in a suit now, you know No, it's so you can actually go out and heal the nation's by the leaves what you produce by abiding in the vine and So, you know and and this has another meaning that I'm not going to get into So, sorry, you know, we're out of time But the the most important meaning though is the fact that these trees represent believers that yield fruit every month Every season 12 manner of fruits, but also heal the nations thereof And so that is what I believe the Garden of Eden signifies that we saw it in the beginning for the creation period We see the underlying layered meanings of the tree of knowledge of good and evil along with the tree of life We see how it represents God the Father God the Son and the Holy Spirit along with the four Gospels and we see what it Signifies in the future to come. Amen. Let's pray and we'll be dismissed father we thank you so much for your word and thank you for the the wonderful truths the unsearchable riches of Christ and Gives us a greater appreciation for your word and I Prayed that there was this would motivate people to study the Bible because there's so much treasure found in the Word of God so many precious stones and and wonderful things that we can learn and Lord so we can be in awe of your word I pray that you bless our time Lord and bless the soul winning the Sunday night service and all there is Lord We love you. We thank you pray these things in Jesus name. Amen Man song number 263 barely barely song number 263 We Saw number 263 as our last song see on that first verse. Oh What a Savior that the Lord me from condemnation I say Message ever knew he that believeth on the son All my iniquities on him were they All my indebtedness by him was pain Oh believe on him the Lord and said Message ever knew He Though poor and needy I can trust my Lord though Message every child Last Barely barely Barely barely message ever knew he that believeth on the son Yet I will not down That comment he will not cast out He that believeth all the good news child Barely barely message ever knew he that believeth on the son Oh Amen wonderful scene you are dismissed You