DON'T PLUCK THE FRUIT

#1 · November 10, 2008, 1:59 pm

Quote from Forum Archives on November 10, 2008, 1:59 pm
Posted by: bhfbc <bhfbc@...>
DONT PLUCK THE FRUIT

November 9, 2008

Text: Genesis 3:1-13

I mentioned in the context of my sermon last week that when I met with a candidate for baptism, I first listen to him or her to gauge the understanding of their personal relationship with Christ. Then, I begin to discuss the meaning of the act of baptism. But I begin at a usually unexpected place. I begin with Adam and Eve.

The Bible teaches us of the creation of Adam and then Eve. They were in a perfect relationship with God. God fellowshipped with them, and they fellowshipped with God. They had the most unique relationship with God that any man or woman will ever have. God created them and breathed into them His breath of life. The Hebrew calls Gods breath spirit. God breathed into man His Spirit. There resides in us, then, a desire to seek God.

At the same time, God did not create robots. God created man with the capacity to learn and to choose. What kind of love relationship would it be, after all, if there was no choice but to love God? Think of a young man in a family who may not be the most obedient son. Even though there may be occasional problems, there can still be love. Now imagine that young man as a prisoner of war. He may be the most obedient person in the world to his cruel captors, but I doubt that we could convince anyone that it was because of a love relationship. Understand the distinction? In one relationship there can be love and genuine fellowship because the parties choose and agree to love one another. In the other relationship, there is no choice. Obedience comes only through an imposed rigid discipline.

God desired a genuine love relationship with Adam and Eve. Therefore, in the Garden was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. On this tree grew fruit. And out of all of the edible trees and bushes that grew in the Garden, Adam and Eve were instructed by God to not eat the fruit from this tree. Imagine the simplicity of this instruction. Adam and Eve had no need to debate the existence of God; they walked with one another in the Garden. There was no question about which tree they were to stay away from; God pointed it out to them. They didnt have to wonder how much they could eat and still be in Gods will; they were to not eat any of it. It was not hard at all, but look what happened.

The account is familiar, and I have read it again this morning. Eve was deceived; she was tempted; and she gave in to lies and her own self-gratification. When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. Ooops! There in that brief moment, satan had his first victory over Gods creation. God was pushed out of the picture, and man replaced satan as the center of their life. Now Eve thought, like we still do today, that she was placing self as the center of her life, but the reality is that once God is pushed out, satan moves in. And once satan is in control of a life, he uses that person as a tool to convince others to push God out of their life. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

This is why I begin lessons about baptism with the account of Adam and Eve. Unless the baptismal candidate, or any of us, understands the origin and meaning of sin, he or she does not appreciate the need for or significance of the Savior. Unless the candidate understands that only God can make the provision to bridge the relationship gap created by sin, he or she cannot fully comprehend the meaning of the finished work of salvation of Jesus Christ. It teaches candidates the meaning of baptism, because in that symbol of Gods grace and love, we testify to the truth that God has forgiven our sin of humanity and our personal sins through the death, burial, resurrection of His only begotten Son.

God still desires to have that same relationship with us today that he had with Adam and Eve then. But we have the same problem today that Adam and Eve had then: we listen to the snake. Friends, I hate to tell you that the snake is winning. Now let me qualify that in the context of Gods Word. In his enmity toward and conflict with God, the snake satan is not only losing, he has lost. There is no danger at all of satan defeating God.

Unfortunately, though, in the individual lives of ordinary men and women, the snake is all too often winning. Family, friends, neighbors, coworkers, and others we know are eating the fruit, meaning that they are disobeying and rejecting God. The snake is winning too many times because he can still get others to believe his lies: legalize abortion because its a womans right; endorse homosexual marriage because some people were born that way; protect pornography as a first amendment right, then let it fill your lives and your homes; in the meantime, reclassify Gods Word as hate speech; create a government that takes more of its private citizens resources so that the righteous are forced to support ungodly projects; convince everyone that religious belief does not matter because everyone is going to the same place, or, that theres no place to go to at all. This is all going on because the snakes lies are still winning people over, and they choose to eat the fruit. Friends, the personal remedy is simple: dont pluck the fruit!

Unfortunately, the example of Gods people in Israel has frequently not been a very good one. After finally being allowed to enter and subdue the Promised Land dont forget that because they plucked and ate the fruit of fear and disbelief God did not let them enter the first time the Israelites still had a rough time of it. There were still enemies who were intent to destroy them. But God was seeing them through. He was blessing them. Then, for some reason, they decided that they needed to pluck and eat the fruit of putting their faith in man instead of God. We learn in 1 Samuel 8 that the Israelites decided that they wanted a king. Their prophet leader Samuel argued against their decision and prayed to the Lord. He was told, Listen to all that the people are saying to you; but they have rejected me as their king. As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do. Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king. He said, This is what the king who will reign over you will do: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. Your menservants and maidservants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use. He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the Lord will not answer you in that day. But the people refused to listen to Samuel. No! they said. We want a king over us. Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles. (1 Samuel 8:7-20) That was one warning that was fulfilled many times over in the life of Gods people. They would have been much better off had they never plucked that fruit. I lose count of how many times God punished Israel because of the ungodly rebellion of the king.

For a long time, I almost always thought that it was unfair for Gods judgment to fall on so many people, some no doubt innocent, just for the single reason that their king did evil in the eyes of the Lord. So much suffering just because of the sin of one man? But over time, I have come to comprehend more completely what was going on. Yes, Israels king was just one person, but that one person was king. As the king, he surrounded himself with like-minded advisors and officials and emissaries. When the king was evil, so were they. Thats who he chose to be around and to rule the land. In turn, as all of the kings assistants chose their assistants, they, too, picked like-minded men. Before long, Israel was being ruled at every level by men who despised and rejected the Lord. So it was only natural that the policies and laws that they passed were those that reflected their contempt for God. During those evil times, Israel became home to idols, selfish injustice, sexual depravity, and all kinds of unrighteous behavior. This infected every one. Some, I am sure, gladly welcomed such laws because they believed that it gave them more freedom to do what they wanted. Others, I am sure, went along just to survive. Regardless, though, they were all plucking the fruit. A small minority, again I am sure, struggled to do good in the sight of the Lord, and they probably suffered for it at the hands of their king or his officials. And when the time of judgment came to the nation, well it does, after all, rain on the just and the unjust. How much grief would have been avoided by everyone if they had just not plucked the fruit in the first place?

Sadly, the hard lessons from history are too often forgotten and wasted. As I mentioned last week, who would have ever believed just a few generations ago that Americans would be voting to allow atrocities like partial birth abortion, the killing through neglect of an infant born alive after an unsuccessful abortion, or the legalization of homosexual relationships? And, I tell you honestly, waiting their turn in the wings after the legalization of homosexual relationships are those seeking to legitimize sexual relationships with children. They are there, and they are ready to come charging out of the starting gates as soon as these other forms of immorality become law. There are folks out there plucking and eating all kinds of fruit you dont really want to know about. And we just make it easier and easier.

Tom Minnery, Senior Vice President of Government & Public Policy for Focus on the Family was able to write supporters this week, I want to remind you that we won on Tuesday night a victory that could shape millions of lives for generations to come! Your support of Focus on the Family helped make it possible, and I thought you'd be encouraged to learn how it happened. As you may have heard, the people of California voted 52 to 48 percent to pass a constitutional amendment to restore traditional marriage. In so doing, they put a stop to the same-sex marriages that had been going on in California ever since the state Supreme Court issued its infamous ruling last spring. (e-mail from Focus on the Family, 11/6/2008) Additionally, marriage amendments won in Arizona and Florida. Unfortunately, we also now have in all three of our branches of government significant numbers of supporters for homosexual marriage and rights who cant wait to try to overturn the will of the people in those three states and to prevent such prohibitions from happening in any other state. The king is gathering his advisors and officials, and they have some fruit that they intend to pluck.

When God created Adam and Eve and gave them the gift of free will, they were faced with making decisions and choices. When faced with the tempting lies placed before her by the snake, Eve abandoned the good fruit of God and plucked the fruit of sin. When offered the forbidden fruit from the woman, Adam abandoned the good fruit of God and plucked the fruit of sin. It has been a sad time ever since.

This is where we learn to the lesson of baptism, though, because God did not abandon Adam and Eve; neither has He abandoned us. For the forgiveness of our sin, Jesus Christ was crucified, buried, and resurrected. That is the lesson and the promise of baptism: we are buried with Christ and raised like him in new life. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16) Choose God, choose life, and dont pluck the fruit.

Rev. Charles A. Layne

First Baptist Church

PO Box 515

179 W. Broadway

Bunker Hill, IN 46914

765-689-7987

bhfbc@bhfirstbaptist.com

www.bhfirstbaptist.com
-- To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: abesermons-unsubscribe@welovegod.org   

Posted by: bhfbc <bhfbc@...>

DONT PLUCK THE FRUIT

November 9, 2008

Text: Genesis 3:1-13

I mentioned in the context of my sermon last week that when I met with a candidate for baptism, I first listen to him or her to gauge the understanding of their personal relationship with Christ. Then, I begin to discuss the meaning of the act of baptism. But I begin at a usually unexpected place. I begin with Adam and Eve.

The Bible teaches us of the creation of Adam and then Eve. They were in a perfect relationship with God. God fellowshipped with them, and they fellowshipped with God. They had the most unique relationship with God that any man or woman will ever have. God created them and breathed into them His breath of life. The Hebrew calls Gods breath spirit. God breathed into man His Spirit. There resides in us, then, a desire to seek God.

At the same time, God did not create robots. God created man with the capacity to learn and to choose. What kind of love relationship would it be, after all, if there was no choice but to love God? Think of a young man in a family who may not be the most obedient son. Even though there may be occasional problems, there can still be love. Now imagine that young man as a prisoner of war. He may be the most obedient person in the world to his cruel captors, but I doubt that we could convince anyone that it was because of a love relationship. Understand the distinction? In one relationship there can be love and genuine fellowship because the parties choose and agree to love one another. In the other relationship, there is no choice. Obedience comes only through an imposed rigid discipline.

God desired a genuine love relationship with Adam and Eve. Therefore, in the Garden was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. On this tree grew fruit. And out of all of the edible trees and bushes that grew in the Garden, Adam and Eve were instructed by God to not eat the fruit from this tree. Imagine the simplicity of this instruction. Adam and Eve had no need to debate the existence of God; they walked with one another in the Garden. There was no question about which tree they were to stay away from; God pointed it out to them. They didnt have to wonder how much they could eat and still be in Gods will; they were to not eat any of it. It was not hard at all, but look what happened.

The account is familiar, and I have read it again this morning. Eve was deceived; she was tempted; and she gave in to lies and her own self-gratification. When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. Ooops! There in that brief moment, satan had his first victory over Gods creation. God was pushed out of the picture, and man replaced satan as the center of their life. Now Eve thought, like we still do today, that she was placing self as the center of her life, but the reality is that once God is pushed out, satan moves in. And once satan is in control of a life, he uses that person as a tool to convince others to push God out of their life. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

This is why I begin lessons about baptism with the account of Adam and Eve. Unless the baptismal candidate, or any of us, understands the origin and meaning of sin, he or she does not appreciate the need for or significance of the Savior. Unless the candidate understands that only God can make the provision to bridge the relationship gap created by sin, he or she cannot fully comprehend the meaning of the finished work of salvation of Jesus Christ. It teaches candidates the meaning of baptism, because in that symbol of Gods grace and love, we testify to the truth that God has forgiven our sin of humanity and our personal sins through the death, burial, resurrection of His only begotten Son.

God still desires to have that same relationship with us today that he had with Adam and Eve then. But we have the same problem today that Adam and Eve had then: we listen to the snake. Friends, I hate to tell you that the snake is winning. Now let me qualify that in the context of Gods Word. In his enmity toward and conflict with God, the snake satan is not only losing, he has lost. There is no danger at all of satan defeating God.

Unfortunately, though, in the individual lives of ordinary men and women, the snake is all too often winning. Family, friends, neighbors, coworkers, and others we know are eating the fruit, meaning that they are disobeying and rejecting God. The snake is winning too many times because he can still get others to believe his lies: legalize abortion because its a womans right; endorse homosexual marriage because some people were born that way; protect pornography as a first amendment right, then let it fill your lives and your homes; in the meantime, reclassify Gods Word as hate speech; create a government that takes more of its private citizens resources so that the righteous are forced to support ungodly projects; convince everyone that religious belief does not matter because everyone is going to the same place, or, that theres no place to go to at all. This is all going on because the snakes lies are still winning people over, and they choose to eat the fruit. Friends, the personal remedy is simple: dont pluck the fruit!

Unfortunately, the example of Gods people in Israel has frequently not been a very good one. After finally being allowed to enter and subdue the Promised Land dont forget that because they plucked and ate the fruit of fear and disbelief God did not let them enter the first time the Israelites still had a rough time of it. There were still enemies who were intent to destroy them. But God was seeing them through. He was blessing them. Then, for some reason, they decided that they needed to pluck and eat the fruit of putting their faith in man instead of God. We learn in 1 Samuel 8 that the Israelites decided that they wanted a king. Their prophet leader Samuel argued against their decision and prayed to the Lord. He was told, Listen to all that the people are saying to you; but they have rejected me as their king. As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do. Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king. He said, This is what the king who will reign over you will do: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. Your menservants and maidservants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use. He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the Lord will not answer you in that day. But the people refused to listen to Samuel. No! they said. We want a king over us. Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles. (1 Samuel 8:7-20) That was one warning that was fulfilled many times over in the life of Gods people. They would have been much better off had they never plucked that fruit. I lose count of how many times God punished Israel because of the ungodly rebellion of the king.

For a long time, I almost always thought that it was unfair for Gods judgment to fall on so many people, some no doubt innocent, just for the single reason that their king did evil in the eyes of the Lord. So much suffering just because of the sin of one man? But over time, I have come to comprehend more completely what was going on. Yes, Israels king was just one person, but that one person was king. As the king, he surrounded himself with like-minded advisors and officials and emissaries. When the king was evil, so were they. Thats who he chose to be around and to rule the land. In turn, as all of the kings assistants chose their assistants, they, too, picked like-minded men. Before long, Israel was being ruled at every level by men who despised and rejected the Lord. So it was only natural that the policies and laws that they passed were those that reflected their contempt for God. During those evil times, Israel became home to idols, selfish injustice, sexual depravity, and all kinds of unrighteous behavior. This infected every one. Some, I am sure, gladly welcomed such laws because they believed that it gave them more freedom to do what they wanted. Others, I am sure, went along just to survive. Regardless, though, they were all plucking the fruit. A small minority, again I am sure, struggled to do good in the sight of the Lord, and they probably suffered for it at the hands of their king or his officials. And when the time of judgment came to the nation, well it does, after all, rain on the just and the unjust. How much grief would have been avoided by everyone if they had just not plucked the fruit in the first place?

Sadly, the hard lessons from history are too often forgotten and wasted. As I mentioned last week, who would have ever believed just a few generations ago that Americans would be voting to allow atrocities like partial birth abortion, the killing through neglect of an infant born alive after an unsuccessful abortion, or the legalization of homosexual relationships? And, I tell you honestly, waiting their turn in the wings after the legalization of homosexual relationships are those seeking to legitimize sexual relationships with children. They are there, and they are ready to come charging out of the starting gates as soon as these other forms of immorality become law. There are folks out there plucking and eating all kinds of fruit you dont really want to know about. And we just make it easier and easier.

Tom Minnery, Senior Vice President of Government & Public Policy for Focus on the Family was able to write supporters this week, I want to remind you that we won on Tuesday night a victory that could shape millions of lives for generations to come! Your support of Focus on the Family helped make it possible, and I thought you'd be encouraged to learn how it happened. As you may have heard, the people of California voted 52 to 48 percent to pass a constitutional amendment to restore traditional marriage. In so doing, they put a stop to the same-sex marriages that had been going on in California ever since the state Supreme Court issued its infamous ruling last spring. (e-mail from Focus on the Family, 11/6/2008) Additionally, marriage amendments won in Arizona and Florida. Unfortunately, we also now have in all three of our branches of government significant numbers of supporters for homosexual marriage and rights who cant wait to try to overturn the will of the people in those three states and to prevent such prohibitions from happening in any other state. The king is gathering his advisors and officials, and they have some fruit that they intend to pluck.

When God created Adam and Eve and gave them the gift of free will, they were faced with making decisions and choices. When faced with the tempting lies placed before her by the snake, Eve abandoned the good fruit of God and plucked the fruit of sin. When offered the forbidden fruit from the woman, Adam abandoned the good fruit of God and plucked the fruit of sin. It has been a sad time ever since.

This is where we learn to the lesson of baptism, though, because God did not abandon Adam and Eve; neither has He abandoned us. For the forgiveness of our sin, Jesus Christ was crucified, buried, and resurrected. That is the lesson and the promise of baptism: we are buried with Christ and raised like him in new life. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16) Choose God, choose life, and dont pluck the fruit.

Rev. Charles A. Layne

First Baptist Church

PO Box 515

179 W. Broadway

Bunker Hill, IN 46914

765-689-7987

bhfbc@bhfirstbaptist.com

http://www.bhfirstbaptist.com

-- To unsubscribe, send ANY message to: abesermons-unsubscribe@welovegod.org