A Tree a Devil and a Sinner — E.A. Johnston

Sin as the Root of Society's Troubles

Why do you think we have so much crime in our cities today? Why does it seem that evil is making progress in society more than good? Why are there so many divorces and broken homes in our land? Why is there so much hatred in the hearts of men?

Why are there so many natural disasters which befall this country of ours? Why does it look like the entire world is spinning out of control on its way to utter destruction? I can tell you why, friends.

Let me take you back to a garden where there was a tree, a devil, and a sinner. That's where the root of all our trouble grows from today. It's spelled out with a three-letter word, S-I-N, sin. My message today is on the Doctrine of Rune, and the title of my message is, A Tree, a Devil, and a Sinner.

Our passage today is taken from Genesis chapter 3. You can turn in your Bibles there now. And I want you to know, friends, that what occurred in Eden is played out time and time again in the life of this nation, in the life of your community, and in the life of your family.

There is a tree which represents the strict law of God not to be broken. There is a devil who lures and tempts mankind into breaking that law through sin. And there is the individual who is party to it all, and that individual is the sinner.

That individual is me. It is you. We are sinners. Listen, friend, you aren't a sinner because you sin. Rather, you sin because you are a big sinner. But most churches today won't call you a sinner. They won't preach on sin.

They won't warn men of their danger of dropping into a place of eternal misery called hell because of sin. Because there is a holy God who, through divine justice, must punish sin. But we don't warn men of their great danger today.

Most preachers today will just coddle you and lie to you and tell you the pleasant things like, God loves you. Just come to Jesus and you will go to heaven. Just accept this Jesus and all is well. It's utter nonsense and a lie from the pit of hell.

We quit preaching the gospel in this country years ago. Our society has fallen all apart around us. Our nation sits on the brink of utter ruin and destruction, and evil seems to permeate every fabric of our society, and now it is called good.

The tables have turned in our nation from a God-fearing nation to a God-hating nation. Our teenagers are immersed in addictions and gross immorality. And the sad thing is, they are the future of this nation.

But this nation has little future, friends. We are fast approaching the end of it all as we know it. And our problem goes way back yonder to a garden called Eden. And in that garden was a tree, a devil, and a sinner.

The Serpent's Temptation and Humanity's Fall

Let's take a walk there now and revisit what transpired in that paradise lost. I will begin reading out of Genesis chapter 3 as it tells us a story of why we are in the shape we are in today. Here now is the undiluted word of God, and may the Spirit of God attend the reading of His holy word.

Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God hath made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto 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 hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die, for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof. Then your eyes shall be opened, and ye 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 to be desired to make one wise, she took the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat.

And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.

And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, O where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself. And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked?

Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done?

And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field. Upon thy belly shalt thou go, and thus shalt thou eat all the days of thy life.

And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed. It shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception.

In sorrow thou shalt bring forth children, and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it.

Cursed is the ground for thy sake, in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life. Thorns also, and thistles shall bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat of the herb of the field. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground.

For out of it was thou taken, for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. And Adam called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. Unto Adam also, and to his wife did the Lord make coats of skins, and clothed them.

And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever, therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.

So he drove out the man, and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden, cherubims and a flaming sword, which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. That, friends, is the saddest story known to man.

If that doesn't put a tear in your eye, nothing will. Here is God, he creates man, puts him in a garden, gives him a goodly wife, and all is well, until the devil comes along with temptation. And then there is disobedience, and then there is sin and ruin.

Original Sin and the Ruined Human Nature

Paradise was ruined because of sin, and man was ruined because of sin. And Adam, the father and head of all mankind, has passed sin down to every man, woman, and child born into this sin-cursed world.

We are each born with a ruined nature, bent towards sin. Man drinks iniquity like it's water. That's what our Bible says about man. Every thought of his is evil. There is none good, no, not one. All have turned away and gone backward.

Here is what man is, as found in Romans, friends, being filled with all unrighteousness. Fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity, whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despicable, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful, who, knowing the judgment of God that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

That's where we are today, friends. That is the picture of man on earth, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Listen, friend, you were ruined, ruined, ruined. You were bent towards sin and lived like the devil, and without the shed blood of Jesus Christ there is no hope for you but a burning hell.

Do you hear me? A burning hell. A tree, a devil, and a sinner. That's why we're in the shape we're in, friends. Do you believe that? Do you? And this very thing is played out in our nation, our communities, and our families on a day-in and day-out basis.

God's Law, Satan's Deception, and the Cross of Christ

There is the tree of God's strict commands not to be broken, the Ten Commandments, which are no longer publicly displayed in this sin-loving society. And there is the devil, who knows his time is short, and he will be thrown into a bottomless pit so he's active in the world, drawing man away from God into depravity and sin.

And there is the sinner, eager to follow that crooked finger of the devil. There is the sinner who loves his sins, who paddles his sins, who hugs his sins, who drinks iniquity like it's water. But there is a Savior who came down from heaven.

His name is above all names. He is the Lord Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ was crucified on a bloody cross because of sin. Your sins, friend, my sins, are dirty, rotten, filthy sins. They crucified the Lord of glory, not the Roman soldiers.

But you and me are dirty, rotten sins. Our sins nailed the sinless lamb to the cursed tree. A tree in Eden and a tree on Calvary. Oh, how great is the grace of mercy of God, and whosoever will come and bow at that cross and turn from their sins and repentance and through faith on Christ as their Savior will be saved from the penalty of sin, which is a burning hell.

Divine Justice and the Necessity of Atonement

Divine justice must be carried out, friends. God's holy law is strict and severe. God demands perfection to get into his heaven. And man is a guilty rebel who has broken that law time and time again through sin.

And God, who is a just judge, must carry out the sentencing of the law. God must punish sin. God sent a flood upon the earth in Noah's day because of sin. God rained fire out of heaven on wicked Sodom.

Because of sin. God sent his only begotten son into this world to suffer and die because of sin. Do I need to shout it to you because of sin? Sin did all of this. And today, in this nation, and in your community, and in your family, the devil will come along with temptation and begal men to sin.

The Forbidden Well and Humanity's Desire for Sin

What is forbidden by God, wicked man desires. I heard a story that's always stayed with me. There was a rancher in Texas about a hundred years ago, who had a dear wife and a precious little boy who was six years old.

The rancher had to go out of town for business purposes. And he got his son to sit down there in front of him. And he told him, son, I'm going out of town for a while. You stay close to your mama. And listen to me, son.

Listen to me carefully. Do not go over back behind the barns by the grove of trees. Because back there is a well. And it's dangerous. Don't you go over there, hear me? The blonde haired boy nodded yes.

And as the boy watched his daddy ride away, and the horse and rider faded in the distance, the little boy could not wait to go yonder and find that forbidden well. He searched and he searched and he found it.

He peered into it, he leaned over it, and he lost his footing and fell right into it to his death. The next day his mama found the little body deep in the well motionless. And that's a picture of you and me, friends.

We want what is forbidden to us. We want to break God's law. We drink iniquity like it's water because we are big, big sinners. We come into this world with a ruined nature because of what happened way back yonder in a garden with a tree, a devil, and a sinner.

Christ's Death, Resurrection, and Saving Work

And when Eve climbed up into that tree to reach that forbidden fruit, and gave it to her husband to eat and disobey God through sin, man's been up a tree ever since. Christ Jesus is your only hope, friend.

He hung on a tree because of sin. His precious blood was poured out because of sin. He suffered and bled and died because of sin. But the good news is he was resurrected, he ascended into heaven, and he sits at the right hand of the Father, and he earned that right by way of a bloody cross.

And you can come that way too, friend, by way of a bloody cross. Jesus is your only hope. He is the blessed hope. He is a redeemer. He died for sinful man. Let me ask you a question. Are you a sinner?

Are you in need of him? When you are held up against that strict and severe law of God, and you stand there in your own merits on a future day of judgment, you will fail that test, friend. Every mouth will be stopped.

Man is a guilty rebel under a curse, and only the blood of Jesus Christ can take away sin. Jesus said, unless you repent, you shall all likewise perish. And that means you, friend, unless you repent, you will surely die and go to hell.

The Call to Repentance and the New Birth

Jesus also said, marvel not at this, you must be born again. That means you must experience the new birth through the supernatural act of regeneration upon the heart. Listen, friend, I'm here today not to entertain you, not to make you laugh.

I came here today to warn you of your great danger of dying in your sins. I'm here to tell you of your immediate duty of repentance towards God, and I'm here to inform you of your necessity of regeneration through the new birth.

Turn from your sins, repent toward God, and beg him for mercy. Become a secret hymn, throw down your shotgun of rebellion, and submit and surrender to the King of Kings, the Lord Jesus Christ. We're in the mess we're in because of a tree, a devil, and a sinner.

God's Gracious Invitation to the Thirsty

But listen, friend, this is a day of grace and the good news of the gospel of the Son of God. God declares, ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters. And he that hath no money, come ye, buy and eat.

Yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. God extends mercy to sinners today through his Son, Jesus Christ. Do what's necessary, friend, to find peace through the Lord Jesus Christ.

What is necessary, here is what God declares is necessary. Seek ye the Lord while he may be found. Call ye upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord.

And he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.