The sermon by Scott Brown focuses on the Tree of Life as depicted in Revelation 22, emphasizing its symbolism and significance throughout the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. The Tree of Life is portrayed as a central element in God's revelation of His infinite goodness and provision for humanity. Brown highlights that God uses the imagery of trees to convey His sufficiency and the eternal sustenance He provides. The speaker draws parallels between earthly experiences and heavenly realities, suggesting that the world we live in serves as a foretaste of what is to come in heaven. The sermon also explores the role of the Holy Spirit, represented by the living water flowing from God's throne, and the way God communicates His truths through the symbols and imagery found in Revelation. Brown encourages the congregation to see God's creation as a reflection of His glory and a reminder of the divine reality awaiting believers. The sermon underscores the idea that heaven is not an entirely separate realm but is connected to our earthly experiences, providing assurance and hope for the future.

Your Bibles to Revelation 22, find verse one, Revelation 22 verse 1. Our focus this morning will be on verse 2, but I would like to read the first five verses of Revelation 22 verses 1 through 5. And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the lamb. In the middle of its street and on either side of the river was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the trees were for the healing of the nations.

And there shall be no more curse but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it and His servants shall serve Him they shall see his face and his name shall be on their foreheads There shall be no night there. They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light, and they shall reign forever and ever. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for giving us holy words that are true that teach us how to live to help us to understand our walk in this world what a blessing it is I pray that you would let your goodness pass before this congregation as we look at what it means to have a tree of life. Amen.

Please be seated. We live in a world of trees and what does it mean that God created trees? The Bible gives us nature to understand our lives and eternity. And here, God in his word does not let mankind forget that he's a tree of life because he speaks of it from Genesis to Revelation. And he is the only true giver of life.

He alone is sufficient. God is sufficient for everything and He is a tree of life. And I want us to focus on this picture today because it's so compelling. It really does declare that God is food. He's everlasting food.

He's bread from heaven. And here in this passage, we're finding ourselves at the end of a major section in Revelation that speaks of heaven. We've been spending quite a bit of time on heaven in Revelation 21 and 22. We're not finished yet. But this imagery here is describing the way that God treats his bride.

Earlier in the chapter we read the words, come let me show you the bride. All of Revelation 21 and 22, up to verse five in 22, is about this bride and what God has done for her and it really describes God's goodness. God is elaborating on his goodness toward his people through these these various images that we've already encountered. Last week we considered verse one where we are told that God is an unending supply of living water. It's water that's alive and it flows from the temple of God.

And of course, water is a metaphor for the Holy Spirit. The people of God filled with the Spirit of God are themselves actually sources of life for all those around them. And now we turn to the tree, to the tree of life. And today I want us to have some understanding of why God over and over again communicates his goodness and his beauty through the imagery of a tree. And well, okay, you who are children, when you children leave this place today, I want you to see trees differently.

God put trees in the world to remind you of something so wonderful, so good, and God does that with everything he created. You can't look anywhere in the world without finding a metaphor of God and his glorious truth of heaven or even damnation. But God created everything in this world so that he would lure us to heaven. It's so beautiful. Everything in this world is more important than we think it is.

You who are with us at the beginning, I encourage you to quit saying this world is not my home. This world is your home. And in this home, you get a foretaste of your heavenly home and your heavenly home has much to say about your earthly home. There are many sermons by Charles Spurgeon that have titles like this. Christ, the tree of life, here's another.

The tree in God's court, here's another. The cedars of Lebanon, here's another. The apple tree in the woods, here's another. The beauty of the olive tree, Here's another. The sound of mulberry trees.

Here's another. The leafless tree and so on. Trees are meaningful and I want us to see how God glorifies himself through his creation. I want us to be more thrilled with what God has done for us in this world, to see his glory right here in this world, to see his goodness pass before us when you look at a tree, got that kids? Don't ever look at a tree differently again.

Even driving here this morning, I was looking at trees differently. Well, we've been encountering these first and last mentions of various things in the Bible in Revelation 21 and 22. And what I've been encouraging us to understand is that Revelation 21 and 22 is a traffic jam of imagery that just gets loaded up that begins in Genesis and moves toward Revelation. So we're looking at these elements of Christian theology to help us to understand his infinite goodness. God speaks over and over again about his infinite goodness through a tree.

There are two mentions in Revelation 22 of this tree, the one that is here in verse 2, and then also in verse 14 is the very last mention of the tree in the Bible. Blessed are those who do his commandments that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter through the gates into the city but outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters and whoever loves and practices a lie. God is giving us these things to help us to understand how we ought to live today. We're actually called to obey the words of this prophecy in Revelation. Now this chapter, as we're going very slowly through these verses, can be outlined like this.

God's river, we covered that last week. Secondly, God's throne, that's the second part of verse one. Thirdly, God's trees, that's verse two. Then God's service, this will be the next time I preach in verse three, God's face, God's light, and God's rain. When we get to God's rain, I think it will be particularly exciting because people wonder what they're going to do in heaven and We learn here what we will be doing in heaven in these three verses these final three verses in chapter 22 verses 1 through 5 So that's where we're headed And of course all of this is a disclosure of God's regenerating the earth.

It begins with behold I make all things new. Creation is a new beginning, regeneration is a new beginning, the new heavens and the new earth is like the regeneration of the soul. It's made new. It's not obliterated. It's actually made new.

And it's very important that we understand how to interpret this beautiful language. And of course, the first three verses in the book of Revelation teach us how to interpret this book. And first of all it's a revelation of Jesus Christ. Everywhere you look in Revelation you see Jesus Christ. And of course, that's my number one motive in standing here in these sermons on the book of Revelation.

It's also a book of symbols. This is very clearly stated in the first three verses that these things are signified by pictures, graphic pictures. They're all pictures of the majesty, the power, the goodness, and the glory of Jesus Christ. This is doctrine in pictures. This is pictorial theology.

It's so thrilling to look at these pictures. Revelation is not a book of a timeline. There are cycles of history that are communicated, they all into the second coming, seven cycles of history. But it's not a timeline. It's really a book of scenes that you will see during the church age and you will see when you finally rest in your heavenly home.

And I want to remind us again that everything you see in Revelation 21 through 22 verse 5, you've already seen on earth. These are pictures of heaven, but you've already seen these things on earth. The blessings that you've experienced on this earth are magnified in heaven. Earth is a foretaste of heaven and heaven is a magnet to draw you there. Like for example, if you go back to chapter 21, in verse one, there's a sea, in verse two, there's a city, in verse two, there's a bride, and there's adornment.

You've seen all these things on earth, these things are also in heaven. In verse three, there's a tabernacle. In verse four, tears are wiped away. Pain is relieved. Crying is stopped.

You've already experienced that on Earth. In verse six, there's a fountain of water of life. In verse 8, they're the cowardly murderers and sexually immoral and liars. You've already seen those on the earth. In verse 9, there are bowls and a lamb.

In verse 10, there's a mountain. You've already seen these things on the earth. In verse 12, there are gates and foundations and cities and emeralds and glass and precious stones and gold. In verses 18 through 21, there's a list of precious stones that you can all relate to and find here on the earth today. And there are books, there's a book of life, there's light, all these things you've experienced today.

God has given us this world to point to heaven. He's so kind to give us so many reminders. I think that's why the Bible says the heavens declare the glory of God and Romans 1 says everybody's without excuse because it's been shown to them how good God is through the things that he has made. And we find that the things that he has made are not destroyed in heaven, but they're actually revealed in greater glory and magnificent beauty that you've never seen. But it's like what you've already seen because earth is a foretaste.

And again, as well, these symbols are based in reality, and they all point to universal and everlasting realities. They point to the fixed realities of the universe. The trees, the stars, the rivers, they all point to fixed realities. The difficulty in Revelation is trying to understand how much is figurative and how much is literal. And I would say, I believe much of it is both.

But what we learn here from Revelation is that the kingdom of God is progressive. God is a fountain of progressive blessing. It begins with the salvation of your soul. It proceeds in the sanctification of your behavior and your conscience and your life and then it finally is is finished in heaven. And that's why that's why I want us to understand that the redeemed church on earth points to the redeemed church in heaven and also that the redeemed church in heaven is meant to be a pattern for the redeemed church on earth and frankly what this makes it very clear to us is that the accomplishments of God's grace on the earth will be experienced exponentially in heaven.

You're experiencing the grace of God in your life now. You're looking to Jesus, you're turning from sin, you're learning that you've not arrived yet. But this world is your home, and it's the place where you're learning the footsteps of heaven. So this doctrine of heaven is not just given to us simply to stand in awe and gawk about it. It's certainly not there to say, well, I don't have any idea what heaven is like.

It's actually to show you what heaven is like. And these patterns are there to inspire us on the earth. C.S. Lewis said that nature is our first sketch of heaven. And so God, he desires us to see the trees and the brides.

He desires us to see the precious stones in their proper light, the gates, the cities of the earth will help us to visualize heaven. And Paul said, you know, we now see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. He says, now I know in part, but then I shall know, just as I am also known. There's a progressive revelation of the glory of God that he has designed for us. We've been talking about how important it is that we live out an element of the Lord's prayer where the Lord Jesus taught his disciples to pray, Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

In other words, God's will is to be done on earth the same way that it is done in heaven with perfect obedience. And we know we're not perfect. But what God has done with us human beings saved by grace is that he's called us to bring heaven down, to call heaven down. And you don't have to wait until you get to heaven to experience heaven. You can experience heavenly glories right here in your seat, in your home.

You can experience it everywhere. The living water flows. The church is adorned. These things happen on earth. The church is like a garden.

It's like a it's like a mountain of God where the people of God stream to to the goodness of the Lord to be taught of God. All these happen on earth. I love what Spurgeon has said. I've quoted it three times. I'll do it again.

If we don't get to heaven before we die, we shall never get there afterwards. Spurgeon said the whisperings of heaven's melody are born by winds from afar. He's talking about the day of rest. These are the whisperings of heaven. The people gathered together singing, you know, walking in the light, loving one another.

These are the whisperings of heaven. Even hearing the words of scripture or whispers of heaven, you've already heard so many of the whispers of heaven through the brides and the stones and the gold and the gates and all these marvelous things. Thomas Brooks wrote a book called Heaven on Earth. He says, all saints shall enjoy a heaven when they leave this earth. Some saints enjoy heaven while they're here on the earth.

That saints may enjoy two heavens. Well, that's what I pray happens here that we'll experience two heavens in this church, heaven on earth. Well, we are calling heaven down here. Now this scene that we find here in Revelation 22 is a continuation of a picture of the city, the city of God, which is the bride of Christ, which are the people of God. The city is the church And in this scene here you have this tree of life in verse 2.

And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the lamb, verse two. And in the middle of the street and on either side of the river was the tree of life, which bore 12 fruits. The commentators have suggested, many commentators have suggested that this is a scene in the center of the city. This is the middle of the city. Like you know of a city center, a city square.

Here, the throne of God is in the middle, but what do you find? There's a garden in the middle of that city. You know, we've all seen the deterioration of the downtown cities in America. Places that used to be beautiful, sparkling cities are now places of homelessness and drug abuse, and tent cities, and all kinds of things, and complete lawlessness. Beautiful buildings have been painted over with scrawls of ugliness.

And this is what happens when man is in control of the cities, but when God is in control of the city. It's a beautiful city. The center of the city is like a garden. It's a garden like this garden here. And there's a river of life in verse one.

And of course, a river is a symbol of unceasing refreshment and cleansing. Water keeps you alive. And so you have this pure river of water of life. And it's flowing. Well, in Ezekiel, in the passage it was read, it's flowing east, which is east is code in the Bible for paganism.

It's coming and gobbling up the paganism of the universe. Christ actually returns from the east as well. But Jesus here is the water of life. It is the Holy Spirit. It's the water of life.

It's water that's alive. That beautiful word for life In Greek is Zoe. We actually have a girl in this church by the name of Zoe. Praise the Lord. I have a friend who documented a number of occasions where historians say that in the temple there was a massive spring under the temple.

And he quotes Aristides who pointed out that the water supply flowed under the sacrifices to wash away the blood so quickly that the blood was removed like in the twinkling of an eye. You often wonder what happened to all that blood. Well, Aristides says that it was washed away with this flood of water that was under the temple. He describes that the stream was so loud, you could hear it anywhere you walked in the temple as the water was flowing under the temple. It was the no- and of course the scriptures speak of the noise of many waters like in Psalm 29 and 93.

The book of Enoch was written around the same time, mentions a stream flowing under the temple. The Roman historian Tacitus said that the temple contained an inexhaustible spring. And that's why Psalm 87 most likely speaks of the springs of water being from Zion. So there were eyewitnesses that said that there was a massive rush of water under the temple flowing out of the temple. Joel 3 18 says a fountain shall flow from the house of the Lord.

Psalm 46 says, there's a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High. God is in the midst of her. She shall not be moved. What a blessing it is. And then you have this imagery of God's throne.

Out of the throne flows this water. But there are trees. There are trees that are being fed. That's verse 2. And the trees are on either side of the river.

In the middle of its street and on either side of the river was the tree of life which bore 12 fruits. So here you are in the center of the city, a great contrast in terms of the deterioration of the downtown cities in the United States of America. And the water is flowing. And Eden was like a mountain. It was like a mountain garden.

The water would flow down, nourishing everything in its path. And this same picture is here. It's a picture of the Holy Spirit making life a garden. If you want your home to be a garden of God, Be filled with the Holy Spirit. That's the answer to your home life problems.

Be filled with the Spirit. What Jesus calls sinners to come to the water of life, Ezekiel 47, is such a graphic symbol of all these things. Whether it's symbolic or real, it doesn't matter because it's all a picture of the work of the Holy Spirit. So there's a tree of life. Now the first mention of the tree of life is in Genesis 1.

Please open your Bibles and find Genesis 1.11. In Genesis 22 is the last mention of the tree of life and of trees. Genesis 1, 11. Here we find that this tree is like the trees. The trees in the garden are like the trees that you have today.

They're good for food. And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind, and God saw that it was good." So you have this tree that yields fruit as God yields fruit in everything that he touches. And go now to Genesis 2. The first three chapters of Genesis speak of the tree. We're at chapter 1, chapter 2, and chapter 3.

Chapter 2 verse 9. Go to Genesis 2 verse 9. And there's a further elaboration here. And out of the ground the Lord made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of the good of good and evil.

So you have trees and then you have a tree. And here it says that the trees are pleasant to the sight, aren't they? They are here and they will be for all eternity. And then now go to Genesis chapter 3. In Genesis chapter 3, This is a picture of the fall, verse one.

Genesis chapter three, verse one. Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, has God indeed said, you shall not eat of every tree of the garden. So there is one tree prohibited. And the woman said to the serpent, we may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, you shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.

Verse 6, And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked. And they went to a tree, a fig tree, and they sowed fig leaves together and made themselves covering. Verse 11, and the Lord said, Who told you that you were naked?

Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat? Then the man said, The woman whom you gave me gave to be with me. She gave me of the tree, and I ate." So here is the first occurrences, here are the first occurrences of the trees and the trees that bear fruit like you see every day, and the tree of life, the one tree in the middle of the garden, of which there was a prohibition. So how could a river be in the middle and a tree on each side in Revelation? It's strange, isn't it?

It's hard to put together in your mind. Many commentators have wrestled with this. I'll just pass on what I believe is true about it. Gregory Beale makes the point that on either side can also be translated here and there, here and there. Ezekiel 47-12 really supports the idea of trees growing on either side of the river.

Commentators call this word for tree a collective singular, a collective singular. And there's a lack of the article. So one tree of life in the Garden of Eden has now become many trees. It's become trees that line the river and the street. And it's like a grove of trees.

Some have explained it like just a massive grove of trees that grow alongside the river. And what we find is that in Genesis chapter one, we go from one tree of life to many trees that line the river. In the New Jerusalem, in the city of God, there's there's just an escalated blessing from God exponentially from one tree of life to many trees of life. Notice there's also another contrast in this garden city, the difference between Eden and the city of God in heaven. In the Garden of Eden, man was cut off from the tree of life, but not in heaven.

The tree of life is freely accessible. In the new heavens and new earth there's this access that man never really had. It's on both sides of the street. There are no barriers. There's complete access to the tree of life.

And it bore 12 fruits every month, each tree yielding its fruit every month. So here we come across a very common category in Revelation and all over the Bible. It's a number. It's the number 12 and of course we've been contending that the numbers in Revelation are figurative. The number seven, the number 12, the number 144, 000, 1, 000, these numbers are figurative.

But you have 12 apostles, you have 12 gates, you have 12 tribes, you have 12 stones, you have 144, 000, a multiplier of 12. It's a picture of abundance and fruitfulness. There are no dry seasons. The seed of Abraham grows and grows and grows, and it flourishes in heaven like never before. And the trees bear fruit every month.

Isn't that interesting? Every month. And that brings up the whole concept of time. Is there time in heaven? There are people say that time is suspended in heaven.

I don't believe that. I don't believe there's actual evidence in the Bible for that. But is time abolished in heaven? Well there are months. Does that mean that there is a moon?

There may be a moon. Categories of time, progressions in time, are part of the kingdom of God. They are part of the whole universe. We mark distances by time in in the universe in light years and so is there's this there's this phrase in in Revelation 21 there's no need of the Sun But that does not mean that there's no sun. The idea there is that the light of Jesus Christ is so brilliant, you don't even need the sun.

You need it here, but you do not need the sun there. It's not a contention that there's no sun. In Revelation 10, six, in the King James Version, it says, time shall be no more. But If you look at all the other translations, they don't translate it that way because it's not the only way it can be translated. In the New American Standard, in the ESV, in the New King James, they translated no delay any longer.

It's not that time disappears. It's that the time is up. Now is the time. And there's no more opportunity, literally in the New King James and the ESV and the New American Standard that there should be delay no longer so Here these trees are bearing fruit every month And I take this that these trees provide all the nourishment mankind needs for all eternity, maybe even daily. Do we eat in heaven?

We'll get to that in another sermon. I do think we eat in heaven and these leaves also were for the healing of the nations. Isn't that interesting? Leaves for the healing of the nations. The word healing is the word we get, our word therapy.

There's this constant nourishment, therapeutic nourishment in heaven. We already understand this matter of medicines today. We understand that nature gives us medicines through leaves of trees, through plants. In fact, just this week I bought a copy of the new National Geographic. It's all about nature's remedies and it goes through one herb, one plant after another, and its medicinal qualities.

We already know that. We already know that medicines are often made from plants. But here in heaven, it shouldn't surprise us that these trees are for the healing of the nations. These are perfect trees. You know, we are being healed here, bodies heal.

You know, whenever your child scrapes his knee, you can always say, well, God made you to heal. And that's actually really meaningful, because God is a healer. Jesus Christ is the healer of hurts. He's always healing. He heals your wounds.

He heals your fears. He delivers you from your fears. You know, the healings that Jesus performed are all just pictures of what he is doing here on earth and in heaven. Some places he healed everybody. Nobody's ever done that.

Jesus does. He heals everybody who comes to him. Over time, Healing does take time, doesn't it? When you scrape your knee, it might take a week or two. When you scrape your head, you beat yourself to death on worldliness.

It might take a few years for healing to take place. That's why God made the church so that people could come in and spend their lives being healed. Healed of their bad ideas, healed of their bad memories, knowing that they've been forgiven. It is true though, you know this, physical medicines fall short. They're not perfect, they might help a little bit, but they don't help forever.

But there is medicine that will help forever. I think the medicines and the earth today are just foretastes of heavenly medicine, the leaves that are for the healing of the nations. You know This should really be an encouragement to us for any works of evangelism and missions because this is for the healing of the nations, the corrupt nations that have gone their own way. There's a way of life, there's a tree of life waiting for them in Jesus Christ. You know when I read things like that I wonder, you know, there's healing necessary in my life and all of us together.

You know what? Healing is needed. We should always ask ourselves that question. I was asking that question. There's a lot of healing left for me, I know.

But what about you? Well, this tree of life that you have already tasted is for the healing of your life. What a blessing is God. This doesn't mean that people are getting sick in heaven. It doesn't mean that they're getting sick and they're being healed.

It means, I believe that it means nothing will compromise their health. There will be no new variants. Pfizer will finally be put out of our misery. And you know the whole creation groans now and it labors with birth pangs together until now but in heaven health will be ongoing. There'll be no laboring and groaning in heaven.

It'll be ongoing health. Health immediately when you're gathered up to God in glory and health forevermore. You know, Malachi talked about it in Malachi 4, 2, that the Son of righteousness shall rise with healing in His wings. It's a double-barreled shot. The healing in His wings happens here on earth where He heals you of your defilement and washes you white as snow and then in heaven for all eternity and you just step right into eternity the Bible says that if you believe you've already experienced everlasting life you know I was reading an old commentator, Charles Simeon, he commented on this, there's no wound, however deadly, but the application of a leaf from this tree will heal it instantly.

At the sight of the brazen serpent that cured the wounded Israelites and a touch of our Lord's garment, the diseased woman, so will the efficacy of these leaves be made apparent whenever they're applied and then he says this nor is it one single wound that they will cure but the whole soul every infected part That's what you can look forward to. You know, there's much about trees in the Bible. You know, I've given you a list of the meaning of trees really, it's in a sense, it's a rough biblical theology of trees beginning in Revelation, running all the way to the end. Trees are symbols of fruitfulness and shade and security and strength and longevity. And I've just listed some of the trees that are mentioned in the Bible.

I thought it was delightful. I had a great week just looking at the doctrine of trees. Who was it in the gospels that said, who said, I see them walking like trees? Well, I'll just mention some of these. The acacia tree, it's connected with the worship of God.

And by the way, a commentator wrote that every major personality and every major event in the Bible is associated with a tree. And this commentator said, except Joseph. But I thought that was so interesting that God associates trees with particular qualities of himself. And I've listed many of them here. The acacia tree connected with the worship of God in Exodus 25.10.

The acacia tree was used to make the Ark of the Covenant and the poles to carry it. And the table in the tabernacle was made of acacia wood. It was used to facilitate the worship of God. The almond tree, the almond tree is used really to symbolize the awakening to reality. It's used by Jeremiah in that way.

The cedars of Lebanon are symbols of strength and stateliness. In Psalm 92 verse 12, The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree. He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Then there's the fig tree in Micah 4, 4. You get the idea that sitting under This vine is a place of safety, verse four.

But everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid. It's a picture of safety. The grapevine is a source of nourishment for life. John 15, 5, I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him bears much fruit, For without me you can do nothing.

If anyone does not abide in me, he is cast out as a branch, and is withered, and they gather them, and throw them into the fire, and they are burned." In Numbers Chapter 1324, the great vine is used to illustrate the abundance that the twelve spies that went into the promised land saw in the land of milk and honey. They came to the valley of Eshgal and they cut down a branch with one cluster of grapes and they carried it between two of them on a pole. In Psalm 80, the vine is used to symbolize God's deliverance out of the land of Egypt and planted in the promised land, in new soil. The oak tree is symbolizing strength over and over again, that they may be called oaks of righteousness, Isaiah 63 verse one. The palm tree is used for celebration and sweetness.

John 12 through 13, the branches of palm trees were used by people to celebrate Christ's entry into Jerusalem. Jesus was coming to Jerusalem and they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him and they cried out, Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. When you get to the olive tree, it's all about blessing and prosperity and anointing and the Holy Spirit. In Psalm 23, it pictures the joy from the safety that you have in the midst of your enemies. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

You anoint my head with oil. My cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. It's a symbol of joy when enemies abound. It's also a symbol of fellowship.

In Jeremiah 31, the olive tree and the oil from it is a symbol of fellowship and the joy it is to come together as people of God. Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion streaming to the goodness of the Lord for wheat and new wine and oil for the young of the flock and of the herd and their souls shall be like a watered garden and they shall not sorrow anymore at all. The olive shall not sorrow any more at all the olive tree in Matthew 25 oil oil from an olive tree is a symbol of readiness for salvation you have ten virgins all of them were not ready there oh there There is not oil in the lamps of some. It has to do with readiness for salvation for teenage girls in that parable. Are you ready?

Is there oil in your lamp? The pomegranate tree is a symbol for the blessings of obedience. In Deuteronomy 8, 8 trees including pomegranates are part of the blessing of the promised land if they obey the word of God the blessings come from the obedience in the kingdom of God interesting on this matter of the pomegranate in in the tabernacle the five books of Moses the scroll handles were adorned with the pomegranate And some say that the pomegranates have 613 seeds corresponding to the 613 laws in the Old Testament. Interesting. The sycamore tree.

Well, what's the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of a sycamore tree? A man who had such spiritual desire, he climbed a sycamore tree. It's a picture of desire. It's a picture of motivation to see Jesus Christ and to hear from him and be with him. He climbed a sycamore tree.

Every child loves to climb a tree. Zacchaeus climbed a sycamore tree to see Jesus Christ. There's so many verses that walk underneath all these categories. The tamarisk tree symbolizing communion with God in Genesis 21, 33. Abraham planted a tamarisk tree and he called on God.

It was a place of prayer. He planted a tree in the land of the Philistines. It was enemy territory. But the tree was the place that he prayed. The mustard seed.

This great tree resting under the shade of the gospel in Mark chapter 4, you have the tree that comes from the mustard seed turns into a huge tree. And it's a picture of the kingdom of God. What is the kingdom of God like? Well, it's like a tree. It's like a mustard seed that grows this huge tree.

And to what shall we liken the kingdom of God mark 430 or with what parable shall we picture it it is like a mustard seed which when it is sown in the ground is smaller than all the seeds of the earth and when it is sown it grows up and becomes greater than all the herbs and shoots out large branches why so that the birds of the air may rest under its shade. In that passage, Christians are birds, and they're resting in the branches and in the shade of that tree. It's like a home for them. Trees are used for so many things. In Proverbs 3, 18, wisdom is a tree of life.

In Romans 11, 16, we are grafted into the tree of Jesus Christ. In Psalm one, you are flourishing as a tree under the waters of life, the word of God. In Isaiah 55, it's a picture of applause. The trees are clapping in Isaiah 55. The trees are clapping for those who bring the good news.

And everyone who thirsts is called to come to the water. Here's Isaiah 55, 12. For you shall go out with joy and be led out with peace. The mountains and the hills shall break forth into singing before you. And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree. Instead of the briar shall come up the myrtle tree. And it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off. A tree is for an everlasting sign. In 1 Chronicles 16 it's a picture of rejoicing in God's rule.

In Exodus 15 25 it's a picture of healing. The trees healed the bitter poisoned waters of Meribah. In Judges chapter 4 verse 5, it's a place of truth and justice where Deborah judged Israel under a tree. Trees are also used negatively in the Bible. I have a long list there, but trees are used for idolatry.

Trees can be dead. In Isaiah 53, too, guess who is a tree? The Messiah. For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant and as a root out of dry ground. Isaiah 11 one and there shall come forth a rod from the stem of Jesse and a branch shall grow out of his roots the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him the spirit of wisdom and understanding the spirit of counsel and might the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of God.

In Isaiah 6 13, God preserves the tree. He preserves the stump. It looks so small, so insignificant, so marginalized, so beaten down, but there's life in it. Don't underestimate that stump Because it grows up into eternal life. We also know that Jesus was hung on a tree.

This is the fruit bearing power of the crucifixion. The New Testament uses a word for the cross, ksulan, it means tree. Christ atoned for our sins on a tree so that we would bear fruit for everlasting life. In 1st Peter 2 24 Christ was hung on a tree he bore our sins on a tree. Verse 24 who himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree that we having died to sins might live for righteousness by whose stripes you are healed for you were like sheep going astray but you have returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls." Three times in the book of Acts the crucifixion is characterized as hanging on a tree.

Acts 520, Acts 1039. In Deuteronomy 21, verse 22 to 23, we learn that a criminal deserving death is hung on a tree. If a man is committed to sin deserving death, he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain overnight on the tree. But you shall surely bury him that day so that you do not defile the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance. For he who is hanged is accursed of God.

He who is hanged on a tree is accursed of God." You know, many years ago I was preaching through the book of Deuteronomy and we came to this verse and we jetted straight to Galatians and I did a whole series in the book of Galatians because in Galatians 3.13 we read the completion, the fulfillment of the picture in Deuteronomy. Galatians 3.13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us, for it is written, Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree, that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Jesus Christ that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. So much of this language that I just read has caught up in the whole doctrine of trees. This one tree has produced much fruit in your lives and in the lives of people all over the world. The cross is the healing tree.

The cross is a tree of life for those who receive it. Well, Revelation is a book of symbols. And all these things in nature point to greater realities. I pray that your journey in this world is more joyful because you see so many more reminders of God's greatness, God's mercy, God's grace on your life. God has given us life on earth through physical and verifiable things to teach us heavenly realities.

God has given a world that's a real world that bears witness to another real world. It's not an ethereal ghost-like world. And by the time we're done with these two chapters, I hope we all understand heaven a little bit more, and that we understand earth, and that we realize that earth is a foretaste. So enjoy it. This world is your home.

Taste it. Drink it. Take it in. God is so good. All of this imagery takes us back to Eden.

You know this afternoon Robert Bosley is going to preach on the parables of Jesus. Have you noticed the parables of Jesus almost all of them are about farming they're about trees and plants and soils and fruits it's very interesting. I think it's very interesting. I think it's very interesting that in John chapter 20, Jesus is mistaken for a gardener. Mary thinks the guy over there is a gardener.

The guy over there is Jesus. What do gardeners do? How would you recognize a gardener? You'd recognize a gardener by what he does. He's gardening.

Was Jesus gardening in the garden there, the garden tomb? She finally recognized him And she said, teacher. After Jesus said to her, Mary. Well, God is a tree of life. He's all you need every day.

We've just walked through a declaration of the sufficiency of God to satisfy your soul in every part of your life because he is a tree of life to all those who embrace him. So look at the signs, look at the trees, and live. Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things which are written in it. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

Let's pray. Lord, We've been singing the streams on earth I've tasted more deep I'll drink above. And that your mercy just expands. You serve the best wine last. That's what you do.

And How thankful I am that we can rest under the shadow of your wings here today to celebrate your goodness on your day all day long, to drink it in, to give thanks, and to see the trees. Amen.