Teachings – The Trees of the Forest

THE TREES OF THE FOREST

UNFOLDING SEVENTEEN

WHERE WE ARE

Oh, yes, we located the apple tree in the midst of the woods. As a metaphor, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, is that fruit tree that quenches our hunger and thirst. Indeed, “They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.” Revelation 7:16 God planted Jesus there; even as we, in Christ Jesus, are transplanted into the household and courtyard of our great God and King! 

SCRIPTURE

Song of Songs 2:3

“As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.”

Proverbs 16: 25

“There is a way that seems right to a man,
But its end is the way of death.”

Acts 4: 12

“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

TREES OF THE FOREST
UNFOLDING SEVENTEEN

In this discourse, Pastor invites us to think of the antiquities, and how men of his era thought highly of Aristotle, Plato and Socrates and later philosophers. Some today think about the philosophers of the past, great men that lived during the 16th and 17th centuries. To this, Pastor comments, 

“It may be that in the midst of the forest, while you are hungry and thirsty, you come upon a strangely beautiful tree; it’s proportions are exact, and as you gaze upon it from a distance you exclaim, ‘How wonderful are the works of God!’ and you begin to think of those trees of the Lord which are full of sap, the cedars of Lebanon which He hath planted. You stand under it and look up among the majestic boughs and the spreading branches, and you again admire the beauty of Nature as it comes from the hand of the Most High. But beauty can never satisfy hunger, and when a man is dying of thirst it is vain to talk to him of symmetry and taste.”

Indeed, if once the soul craves after God… 

“… after peace, pardon, truth, reconciliation, holiness, it will seek the Lord Jesus, the apple tree, and forget the other trees, however shapely they may be.”

Indeed, we will find wonderful trees in the forest – their branches and limbs interlacing, intertwining, gnarling, and knotting . Pastor speaks of those, but those so intertwined cannot compare to that apple tree in the midst of the forest. Others will point out trees that provide food – beech nuts, acorns. Yes, good for swine, but not the children of the King. 

And then there’s this question of that apple tree? Who would think, know to look for such a tree in the midst of the woods? Pastor observed in poem:

“What millions never knew the Lord;
What millions hate Him when He’s known.”

Finally, Pastor presents why some ministers are unable to describe the beauty and wonder of Scripture and the Song of Songs –

“Experience must be the ground on which we found our descriptions. If the preacher wants to preach with power, let him tell what he has felt, and tasted, and handled. It is of little use to say Christ is precious, unless you can add, ‘I have found Him so.’

THOUGHT GOING FORWARD

I think about the past. I appreciate Saint Augustine, John Calvin, John Knox – reading the books and sermons of the Westminster divines. Of course, in this discourse, Pastor was speaking of the secular philosophers of antiquities; not the authors of the Bible, early and medieval Christian historians, bishops and world leaders, reformation leaders and so on. Inasmuch as that all true Saints are the fruit of Christ and could be said to have blossomed on that apple tree, consider how our lives and testimonies play in the sweetness and nourishment of the fruit of Christ’s tree for the next generation. 

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”     

Hebrews 12:1 tells me I should be inspired not only by those who went before me in Christ, but those who surround me now. Our fruit should be the most accessible fruit for the sinner. The question is, are we within reach? 

IN TRIBUTE TO SPURGEON’S LOVE OF SHORT RYHMES

Better low hanging fruit
than none to first pick.
What’s beyond my reach,
Christ will lift me up.