Eating from the Tree of Life

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Point: He who overcomes the idolatry and immorality of the world, will be granted life in the paradise of God.
Revelation 2:7 ESV
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’
“It is not “what” we do for Christ, but the motive behind it, the incentive, that counts.” - Warren Weirsbe
What was Jesus’ response to Martha about her complaint that her sister Mary was not helping to prepare the meal for His visit? That one thing was necessary and Mary made the right choice. The choice: to sit at Jesus’ feet and listen to what He had to say (Luke 10:38-42). We would probably agree with Martha. The meal had to be prepared and Martha was serving Jesus and her guests. Hospitality was, and is, expected for guests of a follower of Jesus. It is a tenent of the Bible and teachings of Jesus.
Hebrews 13:2 ESV
Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
Romans 12:13 ESV
Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.
Luke 14:13–14 ESV
But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”
Titus 1:7–8 ESV
For an overseer, as God’s steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined.
Martha was doing what was expected of the Torah and pleasing God. She was serving and being hospitable. In her opinion, Mary should make herself useful, and help her serve and be hospitable. The problem, Mary choose the better choice. She choose to sit and connect with Jesus. Jesus affirmed Mary’s choice, and said in fact, Mary made the right choice, the better choice.
Luke 10:38–39 ESV
Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching.
Luke 10:40–41 HCSB
But Martha was distracted by her many tasks, and she came up and asked, “Lord, don’t You care that my sister has left me to serve alone? So tell her to give me a hand.” The Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things,
Luke 10:42 HCSB
but one thing is necessary. Mary has made the right choice, and it will not be taken away from her.”
Why was Martha preparing the meal? Expectation. How was she preparing the meal? With pressure to fulfill the expectation of hospitality. What was her motivation? To be a good host? Fulfill the expectation of hospitality? Show-off? Did her actions arise from pressure and expectation, or from love? She did not yet know, or believe, Jesus to be the Messiah. She called Jesus, and new Him as a treacher, Rabbi, but not yet Messiah. It is only upon Lazarus’ death, and Jesus’ arrival, that Martha professes her belief in Jesus as Messiah (John 11:27). Jesus’ gentle rebuke to Martha is a reminder that one needs to prioritize spiritual matters, rather than being distracted by the many tasks and concerns of the day.
This tends to be the reality of our days, does it not? You get up in the morning, jump in the shower, get dressed, breakfast, if you have children - wake them up, get them dressed, fed, and off to school or daycare before heading to work, or doing the laundry, the shopping, etc… You get home, make supper, do dishes, spend time with the kids, the spouse, reconcile the bank statement, keep some social or volunteer commitments, and then get the kids ready for bed, yourself, and then fall asleep. Before you know it, you have not sat at the feet of Jesus at all; or at least for any significant time to recharge and connect, in the day, maybe the week, or the month. You have become distracted by the concerns of the day, when what we really need is to connect with our LORD and worship Him, love Him, and be loved by Him. The concerns of the day can tend to overload us, and then the things of God, of our faith, become burdensome. Service to our Lord and Savior transforms into a duty instead of a joy from a heart, a vessel, made to worship God in all that we say, think, and do. It definately does not feel like we are eating from the Tree of Life. It can feel like we have been conquered, instead of conquering or overcoming the world.
What is our motivation in what we do? How we live?
What is our motivation in what we do, in how we live? To get to heaven obviously, if I am a follower of Christ. To be called a good and faithful servant possibly? To be known as a lover of people, friendly, kind to everyone? These are all good things undoubtedly, but is there one thing that should stand out above all? It is the thing that Jesus calls the people of the church of Ephesus to account for in the Book of Revelation. Love. Love for God.
Revelation 2:4–5 ESV
But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.
The word love is agápē [26] ἀγάπη meaning sacrificial; meaning to love a God has loved us. It is a willful directed love, without condition. It is goodwill toward others, the love of our neighbor, brotherly affection. The same love that Jesus exercised towards the Father, and toward men by giving HIs life for ours, for our benefit, for our healing.
John 3:16–17 ESV
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
Ephesians 2:4–5 ESV
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
Ephesians 2:6 ESV
and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
Is the sacrificial love of Jesus, the motivation for what we do and how we live our lives?
[Story] I was a Candystriper
Does anyone know what a Candystiper is? …and no, it is not a person who adds stripes to candy. A Candystriper is what they would call a volunteer who would help out at the hospital. I know because I volunteered as one when I was a teenager back in Guelph, ON. And we were nicknamed “Candystripers” because we had to wear these red and white striped smocks. Anyway, I did this for a class, we had to do some volunteer work and fill some hours. So I took the opportunity to help at the hospital. What our work entailed was to serve patients their dinner. A girl had also choosen to volunteer at the hospital, so we would race to the hospital, after school, because we just loved to feed the patients. No …not quite, we would race to the school so we would not have to feed certain patients. I forget his name, but the one gentleman we feed was always fairly out of it. Quite often you would find yourself having to wipe around his mouth and chin because he was not really good at swallowing. Usually he would spit out his food, but never ever said anything. I do not believe he could speak. Neither of us enjoyed feeding this gentleman.
One other gentleman we served, you would have to put his teeth in his mouth, before doing so. For a twelve year old, this was not the most pleasant experience, because you would also have to take them out of his mouth after he was done. None to say the least, this was not one of my favorite experiences growing up. I really did not enjoy it. It was something I had to do, a requirement I had to fulfill to get credit for my assignment. That was my motivation …a requirement to fulfill.
Has following Christ become a requirement for you to fulfill? A law or command to be obeyed instead of an opportunity to sacrificially love? Has being a servant of Jesus become a burden? If so, it is likely that you are not sitting at Jesus’ feet. Are you making time, taking time, to sit at Jesus’ feet? And is it sufficient time? or merely part of a checklist of things to get done? Are you falling out of love with Jesus?
Just like the Ephesians, we do not plan to fall out of love with Jesus. Just like being in a relationship with your spouse, you do not plan to fall out of love, but you do need a motivation and a plan to remain in love.
The Ephesians were serving Jesus. They were doing the work that Jesus commanded, and were patient in their toil. They were scripturally sound and true to Jesus’ words and thought. They tested those that claimed to be Christ followers, but found them out to be false teachers and witnesses. They were enduring persecution and bearing up under the burden of being identifed, and witnessing, as believers and followers of Christ, not growing weary. But the thing is, they were no longer in love with Christ. Their motivation for doing the things they were doing was no longer because they loved Christ, but because they were expected to be and do such things. They had fallen out of love with Jesus. Have you fallen out of love with Jesus? Has serving Jesus become a burden?
Service apart from love becomes a burden. Have I taken the love of Jesus for granted? Do I need to remind myself and soak in the love of Jesus? Does the incarnatiion, crucifixtion, and resurrection of Jesus become ho-hum? Have I become distracted by the concerns of the world, the secondary things of God, instead of the primary love and person of Jesus?
The Struggle with Promises and Law
The Nicolatians followed the teachings of Balaam of the Old Testament. He led the Israelites into Idolatry and sexual immorality (Num. 25:1-2; 31:16). They had become a perverted clergy caste that tried to “rule over the people”. That is what the name ‘Nicolaus’ means “to conquer the people”. Nicolaus was a proselytite of Antioch, one of the seven choosen to serve the people (Acts 6:5). It is not clear if Nicolaus became apostate, of if his followers did so, but something went seriously wrong. So much so, that the Nicolatians also became associated with Jezebel, the self-proclaimed prophetess that Ezekiel opposed, and was put to death by Jehu. Jezebel, and her followers, proclaimed “secret knowledge” of the deep things (of Satan). This became the heresy known as Gnosticism - the secret knowledge of God.
Amongest many of their teachings - okaying the consumption of meat sacrificed to idols, participation in the religious pagan festivals where sexual immorality was embraced; the Nicolatians taught that all married women should be common to prevent jealousy, and that anything done in the body has no bearing on the soul - a heresy called Dualism.
What had become a problem within the Church? If you are free in Christ, saved by grace, you are free to do what you want, and be who you want to be. True? You have no responsibilities to live a certain way because what happens in the body, has no bearing upon the soul (Dualism).
Do we believe that what we do in the body, on this physical planet, has no bearing upon our soul before God?
The problem that thus arose was the problem of promise and law. Does the grace of God, the promises of God, cancel out the expectations of God? Some believers came to follow the teaching that believers are freed from the demands of God’s law by depending upon God’s grace for their salvation. This teacing is know as Antinomianism, and it is a heretical teaching. Anti meaning ‘against’ nomos meaning ‘law’ = against law. The belief that God’s law has no place, no bearing upon a Christians life.
How it plays out today - the believer of Christ emphasizing the unconditional promises of God, made to us, but also downplaying what God expects of us.
Because of the grace of God, the promises of God, that I have been saved by Jesus’ blood, I have been redeemed, I am free of expectations and responsibilities to anyone or anything in this world.
Are we saved? Yes. Are we free to do and be as we please? No.
1 Corinthians 6:19–20 ESV
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
Matthew 28:19–20 ESV
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
John 15:4 ESV
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.
John 15:5 ESV
I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
John 15:6 ESV
If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.
John 15:7 ESV
If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
John 15:8 ESV
By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.
John 15:9 ESV
As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.
John 15:10 ESV
If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.
You and I have a responsibility to abide in Jesus, to abide in His love. That means ownership - we are owned, we were bought by the sacrificed blood of Jesus. We are not free of responsibility to God, to Christ, to each other. Jesus did not throw away the 10 Commandments, He fulfilled them. We are expected to do the same.
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