Why Did God Call Us?

Brethren, why did God call you or me? We can all think of people who are better than we are.

Why are they not called now? I mean, you can look around and you can see people who seemingly try to live a good life, and especially I'm talking about in the past. Why, in many cases, have our family members, our brothers, parents, sisters not been called now?

Many of them are fine people or would be considered, quote-unquote, fine people as far as the world is concerned. Why do some or many people appear to be good?

You know, when you look around, they appear to be good. We all know people who have high moral standards. They wouldn't steal. They're honest. They're hard workers. They try to be good neighbors and citizens. We find that there are many people who devote themselves to serving and helping others in this world. You can think of people like Mother Teresa, who devoted her whole life to helping the poor in India and many other areas. What about starving children around the world and relief agencies and their efforts to help people like in Ethiopia? What about homes where runaway children go? There are those who devote their whole lives to helping the homeless in this country. What about all those people? Many organizations do a lot of good when you look around. What about the Red Cross? The Red Cross does a tremendous amount of good. You find that there are relief organizations that help to feed the needy in many of the third world countries. Why aren't those people called instead of us? Why did God call us and not them? How can anyone be good and not have the Holy Spirit? Why do some people appear to be so good and sometimes we as members of God's Church aren't as good? Maybe that's the way we look at it. We don't measure up to what God wants us to do. We all know what God's standard is, what God says that we need to be doing, and too often we find that we fall short of that standard. I think these questions directly address the question about who truly is a Christian and who is not a Christian. Are they not Christians if they fall short of God's standard? Well, there are two trees in the Garden of Eden and we're all familiar with the two trees that I think give us the answer. Let's go over to Genesis chapter 3. Genesis chapter 3 verse 11.

I want you to notice that Adam and Eve did not obey God. They didn't listen to God. In verse 11, God said, talking to Adam and Eve, hereafter they said they were naked and they hid themselves, He said, Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from that tree which I commanded you that you should not eat? So here we find they didn't listen to God. They disobeyed.

They were commanded not to eat of that tree. This wasn't just a suggestion from God. God said, Here are two trees. One of them you can eat from, the other you can't, and they ate of the wrong tree. Would you and I ever eat of the wrong tree if God told us not to? Do we still eat of the wrong tree in spite of what God has said? Now, you know that God gave them clear instructions as to which tree was good for them. As you'll notice in verses 15 through 17, God told them that they could freely eat of the one tree, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Verse 17, You shall not eat a bit from the day you eat a bit. You shall surely die. Now, those two trees are not growing today. There's no place you can go on earth that I know of and find two literal trees. And one of them, if you take it, you have life. The other one, if you take it, you die. You cannot observe them physically, but what you do see are the fruits of these two trees. It is a spiritual fruit that we see today that is being produced, not the physical fruit. You and I can experience, and God is giving us the opportunity to partake of the tree of life so that we can have eternal life. Some think that there are only two choices because there were two trees.

In Matthew 7, I want you to notice that there are two general ways of life described in the Bible. Verse 13, Matthew 7, Matthew 7 verse 13, Enter you in at the straight gate, for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leads to destruction. And many there be which go in there at, because straight or narrows the gate, and narrows the way that leads unto life, and few there be that find it. What you find is that there are two end results of man's way of life. One leads to life, eternal life, the other leads to death.

But there are not just two choices. In one sense, there are three choices.

In verse 9 of chapter 2 of Genesis, let's notice here, it says, Out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow, that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life, and also in the midst of the garden the tree of the knowledge, notice, of good and evil. So in one sense, there are three choices. One is life, eternal life, but under the other tree, one can do good and also evil. It's not called the tree of evil, it's called the tree of good and evil. So both people can choose good and evil. There are different degrees of good and evil in society today, and I think we're all aware of that. There are only two ways or two end results, though, of going this. There's a way that leads to life, and the way of good and evil leads to death. People can do good, and it still leads to death. Verse 17 says, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat from the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die. So it leads to death, and this is referring to eternal death. From the beginning, God set two different ways before man.

He didn't shield man from the wrong way. God put the tree of good and evil in the garden in the first place. You might ask the question, why did God put the tree there in the first place?

I think it shows that God, from the very beginning, was going to have man to choose. Adam and Eve had to accept the fact that God was right. And here's a fundamental problem that human beings have. They don't believe that God is right. Now, they say they do. They believe in God, but then they go about deciding for themselves what is right and what is wrong. Adam and Eve had to accept the fact that here were two trees, and there was only one tree in that garden. God says, don't touch. Don't eat. Don't have anything to do with it. They should have built a fort around it. They should have made it impossible to get to, but obviously they didn't.

You find that God's word, our true revelation, is the only one that shows us what is right and what is wrong. For some, the tree of life seems limiting. You know, when people look today at the tree of life, you know, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is choosing for yourself right and wrong, deciding good and evil. But the tree of life, for some people, is very limiting, they think. They feel that it limits them to do what they want to do with their time, such as the Sabbath and the Holy Days, and with their monies, tithes, and offering. The tree of the knowledge, good and evil, seems glamorous. It seems exciting to people. It offers a variety of things to do, and I'm talking about the world we live in today, because every human being has to decide which tree he's going to sit under, whether he's going to sit under the tree of life or the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Man wants to decide for himself. He wants to use his own judgment, his own knowledge, and his own observation. Genesis chapter 3 gives an indication about how man was going to think. Let's notice here in chapter 3 of the book of Genesis.

It says, Now, he knew what God had said, and the woman said to the serpent, well, we may eat of the fruit of the tree 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 of it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die. So they knew what God had said. But notice what the serpent said. Then the serpent said to the woman, You will not surely die. You're not going to die. Satan took a spiritual truth and applied it with a physical answer. God was talking about the fact that if they disobeyed him, the wages of sin is death. It would end up in spiritual death. Satan said, If you eat of this, you'll be alive tomorrow. God's not telling you the truth. So they took of it, and guess what? They were still alive. They didn't drop dead. So, you know, they probably reasoned that God was lying to them.

What you find is that ever since this time, man has tried to solve spiritual problems with physical solutions. And this is exactly what was going on here. All of our problems are spiritual in nature. You may not recognize it, but they're spiritual nations. In nature, all relationships are based upon spiritual principles. Physical solutions don't solve the lack of love that people have for one another. Most nations and individuals are motivated by vanity, by pride, by lust, by selfishness today. And these violate God's law on how we treat one another. So what you find is that man uses his own reasoning and doesn't comprehend that his reasoning is influenced by Satan the devil. Now, I want you to notice in verse 5 what Satan said to Adam and Eve.

It says, "...for God knows in the day that you eat of it, your eyes will be open." So they, you know, they were told their eyes were going to be open. Now, this implied that God was hiding something from them. See, the devil came along and said, God's not telling you everything. He's hiding something from you. And notice, "...and you will be like God." So now he's saying, you're going to be like God.

Now, how does God tell us that you and I are going to become like him? Is it by disobedience or is it by obedience?

You see, he put the exact opposite twist on what God was wanting to give them.

God was wanting them to partake of the tree of life, which was a choice to go God's way. And God would then give them his Holy Spirit and they would have an opportunity for eternal life. But instead, they believed what Satan, excuse me, Satan the devil told them.

God set the pattern for us in Genesis chapter 1 verse 26. Let's go back there.

Chapter 1 verse 26.

God said, "...let us make man in our image according to our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air." So man was created in God's image. And as verse 27 says, he made us male and female.

And then in verse 28, we are to be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, subdue it, have dominion over it, and everything in it.

So you find that God set the pattern in Genesis chapter 1, that man was made in his image after his likeness. We were not made to look like dogs or cats. We were made to look like God.

We were made in his image. But there was one thing lacking. We lacked the spiritual character of God.

Now, in the resurrection, we will be like God in composition, as we know. Now, let's notice, coming back to Genesis 3 again, verse 7 says that their eyes were open.

The eyes of both of them were open, and they knew that they were naked. Once they ate of the wrong tree, then their eyes were open. Now, they were not open to spiritual knowledge. Their eyes were opened to wrong knowledge. And they have set the pattern for mankind ever since. That man has been following the way of the knowledge of good and evil. Now, the problem with man is that man, left alone, cut off from God without God's direction, doesn't know the difference between what is good and what is evil, what is right and what is not right. So, man, when he disobeyed God, decided, well, he was cut off from God, that he was going to go a different way.

You see, the serpent didn't tell man the end result of their actions.

He didn't tell them, you know, he said, well, look, you know, God's lying to you, he's not telling you the truth, but he didn't tell them, excuse me, that eventually they would die, that the end result of their actions would be death.

He didn't tell them the full story. They were alive the next day, and so therefore they thought they were okay, but eventually they died, and they set the pattern for all human beings.

Now, I want you to notice in verse 5, it says, you will be like God to know good and evil.

Be like God, knowing good and evil. Now, there are two ways to be like God.

You and I are going to be like God in the resurrection. You remember in 1 John 3 verse 2, 1 John chapter 3 and verse 2, it says, Beloved, now we are the sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when we when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. So you and I, brethren, are the sons of God, and we are going to be born into the family of God. Eventually, we will become a part of the God family.

Now, Satan said, you'll be like God to know good and evil.

Well, yes, God knows the difference between good and evil, but the problem is, Satan didn't tell him the complete truth, did he? God knows the difference between good and evil, but man does not. Man struggles between what is right and what is wrong. Man would experience good and evil in all the curses, all the heartaches, all the pains, all the suffering associated with it, and that's what man has done. Man would not be able, cut off from God, to completely tell right from wrong. One way to be like God today is to take his prerogative as a lawgiver, and that's exactly what man has done. He has decided for himself what is right and what is wrong. Now, notice in Genesis chapter 3 and verse 11, again, you find that Adam made a choice.

He said, who told you that you were naked? You remember in verse 10, Adam said, well, look, I was afraid because I was naked and I hid myself. And he said, who told you that you were naked? See, prior to this, they didn't worry about it. If you don't know, you're naked.

And then one day you come up and say, well, I'm afraid I was naked. And, you know, somebody's been talking to you. Have you eaten of the tree which I commanded you that you should not eat of it? See, Adam had a choice either to eat of it or not to eat of it. And the man said, now notice, the woman you gave me to be with me, she gave me of the tree and I ate. So now he blames the woman. And man has followed that same pattern ever since. Human beings do not want to take responsibility for their actions. We always want to find somebody else to blame. And so, man likes to blame others. How often do we listen to others around us and not to God? Now, notice what Eve said. And, you know, God said to the woman, what is this that you've done? And the woman said, the serpent deceived me and I ate. So Eve then justifies herself. The man justifies himself. The woman justifies herself.

And I'll guarantee you, every time I've done something wrong, I can justify it. I can find a reason why. And we're all good at this, are we not, when it comes to marriage and husband and wife relations? How often have you and your wife ever argued or had a problem and you can see all of her faults?

Now, I know that every time, and I'll just guess, that many of you have been married for years and occasionally you've had an argument. Or occasionally, you know, things haven't gone exactly right. And you always admit it when you're wrong, right? You always say, well, darling, I know I'm the one wrong, I'm sorry, you know, I'm a clod again, you know, I'm... and all of this. That's not normally the way we operate, is it?

Normally, we operate by defending ourselves, trying to point out where the other person is wrong. We don't take responsibility for our actions. Now, this was Adam and Eve's problem right from the very beginning, and this is the pattern that's been set for mankind ever since. Man has followed this pattern, and we all like to justify ourselves. I do. You know, I don't know the time that my wife and I have disagreed that I don't start out by trying to justify myself. And after discussing it for a while, you know, finally you just have to say, you know, you're right, I'm wrong, and be willing to admit when you're wrong.

Now, let's notice in verse 22 what God said about the man and the woman. The Lord God said, Behold, the man has become like one of us. Now, you notice us here, because there was more than one in the God family, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also the tree of life and eat and live forever, God drove him out of the garden.

Now, man now became a law-giver. This is one way that man became like God. Man today judges good and evil. And he sets up his own standards for what is right and wrong. Nations have laws. Some of them are good, some of them are evil, some of them are rotten.

But man has followed the way of man, excuse me, of Proverbs 16.25, if you'll remember. Proverbs 16.25, there's a way that seems right into a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. So, mankind has followed what seems right to him. And Proverbs 21.2, every way of a man is right in his own eyes.

So, this is a problem that all human beings wrestle with. When you think you're right, then everybody else is wrong. And so, you know, we like to think we're right in our own eyes. Now, man was cut off from the tree of life. And in verse 24, God said, caribam, if you remember, he drove the man and the woman out of the garden, said a carib there to protect the way, to guard the way to the tree of life. And man was cut off from the tree of life.

Man today sits under the wrong tree. Man has many things to choose today, sitting under the wrong tree. What you find is that God has allowed man to go out and devise his own society, his own governments. And so, there are many forms of governments today, economic systems, religions, philosophies. And man doesn't recognize that God is the ultimate lawgiver anymore. Man goes and follows his own way. Now, people have a choice of doing good today. You know how people do good today?

People do good things, but only under the tree of good and evil. What we have to realize is that evil people can do good things, and good people can do evil things. And all people cut off from the tree of life do good and evil. You know, it's a mixture. These are man's choices. This is what man judges to be good, not what God says is good, right, or righteous. Now, what you find is that sometimes man's choice that he makes agrees with God's law.

There are times that God's law, man will pass a law that will agree with it, such as don't murder or don't steal. These are laws of God, and man enacts laws and penalties if man disobeys them. But man chooses part of God's word as being good, and other parts he totally disregards. Now, why does man say it's good? Well, because man says so, not because God says so, not because God tells him. God says, keep the Sabbath, obey the holy days, and you'll keep my laws.

What you find, mankind doesn't normally do that. He picks and chooses what he wants. And so you find that man disobeys. It appears that you can have similar actions under both trees, under the tree of life and under the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

What about murder? There are laws that are passed today in our country that says you shall not murder.

Now, when man looks at that, he says, I like that. Now, what is man like God's law concerning murder? Well, hold your hand up if you want to be murdered. Nobody wants to be murdered, so therefore, you know, we enact laws where we protect ourselves, we protect our families.

These pass laws to make murder a capital crime, and yet nations go out and fight wars. People kill out of self-defense, and every nation comes up with its own codes. Do they not?

What about Muslim fighters who love death more than life, to whom this world holds not the slightest attraction? Now, what you find is today there are those who believe that if you die for Allah, and you go out and blow yourself up, or you commit harry-carry, suicide, or whatever, that you're going to have 70 virgins, you know, in the coming heaven, or nirvana, or wherever they're going to go. This is goodness based upon man's goodness, not on God's righteousness. It's based upon man's own vanity, what man picks is right and good, and what he thinks should be done. What you find today, men believe in situation ethics, and he believes that it's okay occasionally to lie.

If you ask people today, is it wrong to lie, most people would say yes it is.

But then you can create a scenario where you ask, well, is it wrong to lie if it involves somebody losing his life? And of course they would say, well, sure, you could lie, or you could cheat, or you could do almost anything in a case like that.

You find today that the motive for a lot of good actions that people have are self-interests and their own vanity. Man says it's wrong to steal, and yet do all people that you know tithe. That's stealing from God. In other words, man decides for himself how to keep God's law instead of letting God tell him how to keep the law. And here's the difference between a true Christian and those who are not. Man will pay lip service to what God says, such as, thou shall not steal. And then man goes about deciding for himself exactly how to go and to keep that law. There are those who leave the church, and when they do, they invariably stop tithing, and they talk about offerings. I remember back in 1974, many of you were around at that time when the associated churches started. We had about 3,000 people, to 4,000 who defected from the church, basically on the east coast. We had about 25 or 30 ministers leave. And they decided almost immediately that you don't have to tithe. They were going to teach giving offerings, and they were assured that when people gave offerings and weren't commanded to give 10%, that they would give more than 10%. Guess what? Most people gave less than 10%, maybe 2%, 3%. They'd give an offering, or sometimes they wouldn't give anything. After a while, they tried to reinstitute tithing again, and their church split, and they split again over this particular issue. Well, you'll find that people try to come up with what they think is right and wrong. Society creates law codes off of the tree of the knowledge in good and evil. See, man has a human spirit. There is a spirit in man. And God hasn't left man completely alone. Why is it that so many societies have codes that are similar? Against murder? Against stealing? Well, that's because nobody wants to be murdered. Nobody wants others coming and taking their property. We can see the logic of that. People will live by those codes. They will be good neighbors if they can get away with it. How often have we seen a situation where people will obey these particular laws, except when there's a hurricane such as occurred last year in New Orleans, and when people were going around robbing and stealing because they thought they could get away with it and not get caught. People will obey as long as there's an external force they're forcing them to obey, called the police or called the military. But how many people obey because the law has written their hearts and their minds? And they wouldn't think about stealing, or they wouldn't think about murdering or taking what belongs to somebody else, because it has been written in their minds and their hearts and their characters. You know, you can have good Hindus. You can have good Muslims. You can have good Buddhists. They live by their own codes and by their religions, but they do not accept Jesus Christ as their Savior. They do not understand the plan of salvation. They do not understand why they were born. They do not understand how to go about worshiping God. They set up their own religions. What you find is man is good only on a physical human level, and he decides for himself right from wrong, good from evil.

Again, there's a way that seems right unto a man, but the ends thereof are the ways of death.

Now, let's go back to Matthew chapter 7. Matthew the seventh chapter. You'll find it is why we keep God's law, how we keep God's law, the purpose of the law that counts with God. Now, what do I mean by that? Well, let's notice in Matthew 7 in verse 21. Christ very plainly said, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven. So, you mean that there are people out there who talk about Christ, talk about God, praise God, say hallelujah, praise his name, amen, do all of this. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven. So, you have to obey God, you have to do his will. And many will come to me in that day and say, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in your name?

Now, there will be people who will claim that they devoted their whole lives and everything to obeying God, and then I will declare to them, I never knew you.

Depart from me you who practice lawlessness. What is lawlessness? 1 John 3, 4, sin is the transgression of God's law. And so, those who practice lawlessness, I don't care how much they talk about Christ, how much they talk about the Bible, if they're disobeying, then they won't be in God's kingdom.

See, there are people who think they're righteous, there are people who think they are doing things in God's name, and yet they're disobedient. Romans 10, I won't turn there, but Romans 10 chapter 1 through 3. Paul, in the book of Romans, talked about the Jews of his day, who went about to establish their own righteousness. They did what was right, but it was their own righteousness. It was their own works. But let's notice while we're here in Matthew, Matthew 7 verse 9.

Matthew chapter 7 and verse 9. What man is there among you, who if his son asks for bread will give him a stone? I don't think there's one of us here. If we had a hungry child, wouldn't turn around and feed that child if we had the bread or the food to give to him, and would not give him a rock to eat? What kind of a parent would that be? Or if he asked for a fish, would he give him a serpent?

You wouldn't do that to your children. If you then, notice what Christ says, if you then being evil, so notice what Christ describes human beings as, being evil. Know how to give good gifts to your children. So what do we find? The Bible says it's the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. That people do good, they're not totally depraved, not totally evil, haven't totally gone off the deep end. But as he says here, if you then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him?

So what you find is that there are those who do good, but it's good and evil. It's a mixture of good and evil. It does not lead to eternal life. You find, well let's go over to John chapter 5 and John the 5th chapter, verse 39. Talking about the Jews of his day, they had the Scriptures, they had the Word of God, but let's notice a problem. You search the Scriptures for in them you think you have eternal life. And these are they who testify in me. But you are not willing to come to me that you may have life.

You see, they had the right Scriptures, but they were not coming to God under the right tree, so to speak. They were coming under the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Because remember the Jews in Christ's day had added their own dos and don'ts.

They had all kinds of rules and regulations that you don't find in the Scriptures. Just to illustrate on this, as an example, on the Sabbath day, they had a rule that you could only travel three-quarters of a mile on the Sabbath. If you went beyond three-quarters of a mile, they said you were breaking the Sabbath.

Now, they said from your home, now they defined a home is where you had a piece of clothing, a pot, and a book. So what many Jews did during that time, they would go about three-quarters of a mile, put a pot and a piece of clothes, and some of these things down, they'd go there, then they'd go three-quarters more of a mile.

So they had all of these type of regulations. They had a regulation that if you had a fire on the Sabbath, you could only carry out of the house what you wore. So, in other words, if your house is burning down, here's your furniture. You couldn't carry your furniture out, only what you could wear. Well, now, if you could put on 20 robes and 15 sandals and waddle out of the house, that was okay. But you couldn't pick up a bowl and carry it out or a chair and carry it out on the Sabbath.

I mean, this is what Christ is referring to. They had the Scriptures, but they had gone about to establish their own righteousness.

Who has right to the Tree of Life? Let's notice in Revelation 22, verse 14.

Revelation 22, verse 14, Blessed are those who do his commandments, that they may have right to the Tree of Life, and may enter through the gates into the city. So those who do or keep God's commandments do what is right.

You see, we must do things because of God's righteousness, not just because of, quote, unquote, our goodness. All human beings do things out of vanity, out of pride, out of greed, out of lust, out of jealousy, selfishness, our own understanding of what is right and wrong. And wrong. Human love is self-love. Mother's love is self-centered. Human love is not enough. Love under the Tree of Life is unselfish love. We give as Christ did. We are to have the divine love of God combined with our human love. Nothing wrong with human love. But what I'm saying, it doesn't fulfill totally the righteousness that God wants us to have.

We need to be able to recognize the difference in sitting under the Tree of Life, whether we're sitting under the Tree of Life and sitting under the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. I would hope, and I think almost all of us, or all of us here, are sitting under the Tree of Life and partaking of that fruit. You find in Psalm 119.172, let's go back there, a scripture that probably many have memorized, Psalm 119. Psalm 119.172 says, My tongue shall speak of your word, for all your commandments are righteousness.

So all of God's commandments are righteousness. God doesn't change. His standard is the same. Partaking of the Tree of Life shows that God is the lawgiver. He is the one who gives us the law. Under the Tree of Life is God's law.

If you're sitting under the Tree of Life, you have God's law that tells us right from wrong. You have unity. You have harmony. Galatians 5.22, you have God's Spirit, which produces the fruit of God's Spirit and eventually leads to eternal life.

Under the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, you have...what? Why is it called the Tree of Good and Evil? You have good. You have evil. Because not everybody sitting under the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is totally evil.

If you could think of it this way, draw a line. Zero here and 100% over here. This is the way the world is cut off from God, sitting under the wrong tree. Not the Tree of Life, but the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. From zero to 100% most people, or if you have a line across here, fit somewhere on this line. They're not 100% evil, are they? Most people are not 100% evil. Are they 75% evil? 50%? 25%? Well, you find that somewhere between zero over here and 100% people are good, and somewhere between zero and 100% people are evil. It's a mixture of good and evil. The problem is it's generally good according to our understanding and our application of it. It is only when God opens your mind and shows you what is good and what is right that you obey Him. A perfect example of this is the Sabbath day. How many people think they're doing good by keeping and observing Sunday as they're Sabbath, or observing Friday, or whatever religion they might be a part of, and they think they're obeying God. But yet God says, remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. And you and I can do our own good deeds according to how we think we understand them, but you have to obey God according to what He tells us. He's the lawgiver. He's the one who tells us how to live and how to obey. So you and I need to realize that people can sit under the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and they can do good to a certain extent, and they can do evil. This is why you find in society today that there are people who go around and they do good. And there are people who seem to just be the epitome of evil. They're always doing something wrong. Most people are a mixture of that. Revelation chapter 2 and verse 24. Revelation 2 and verse 24 gives this insight.

Concerning the church in Thyatira, and it says, Now to you I say, and to the rest in Thyatira, as many as do not have this doctrine, who have not known the depths of Satan, as they say, I will put on you no other burden. There are people who go into the depths of Satan. You know, these are your mass murderers. You know, these are people who don't seem to have a conscience, and they just seem to be devoted to evil. Most people are not that way. Most people are sitting under the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. There's a certain amount of good, a certain amount of evil. But the tree of the knowledge of good and evil leads to death. You have to sit under the tree of life. And you only sit under that tree when God calls you, opens your mind, and gives you His Spirit. You see, in the world standards are constantly changing. From society to society they change. People go by feeling. They go by what society says. They go by their own reasoning. And the Bible very clearly says there is none good. Let's turn back to Romans the third chapter, verse 10. Romans 3, verse 10. It describes mankind cut off from God. It says, as it is written, there is none righteous, no not one.

Now, I didn't write this. Paul did. In its scripture, inspired by God, there is none righteous, no not one. There's none who understands. There's none who seek after God. They've all turned aside. They have together become unprofitable. There is none who does good, no, not one. So you'll find it's only when God calls us and God begins to make a difference in our lives that we are different. You might remember in Matthew 6, chapter 6, verse 33, we're told to seek you first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. So the standard that God lays out for us is that we're to seek His kingdom and we're to seek to live according to His standards, what He considers as righteousness. Isaiah 64, in verse 6, tells us that our righteousness is not very good. It is only the righteousness of God in us where we can truly be righteous. Man's righteousness, notice verse 6, Isaiah 64, that we are all like an unclean thing and all of our righteousnesses are like filthy rags, God says. So God doesn't have very high opinion of our righteousness. It has to be God in us. See, this is the only way we can truly be righteous is if God Christ Himself lives in us, then it's not us being righteous, it's God in us.

How is a person made righteous in God's sight? Well, you have to repent. You have to repent of what? Well, sin. Well, what is sin? Well, sin is the transgression of God's law. You have to accept Christ as your Savior. You have to make a total commitment to go God's way. We're made right with God when our sins are removed and we're justified. We are then made right with God, or as the Bible says, righteous. When we receive the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ comes to live within us. And through the power of the Holy Spirit, the inspiration, the direction of the Holy Spirit, we begin to live a righteous life. It is God in us. Galatians 2.20, you might remember.

Let's go over there. Galatians 2.20, how you and I become righteous.

I've been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So the way we become righteous is if Christ is living in us. In the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of Man who loved me and gave himself for me.

So God is developing his divine nature and character within us. We still sin. We sin daily. But yet now we can go to God and ask for forgiveness, and our sins can be forgiven. And God will then completely cover those sins and remove them from us.

Man cut off from God without the Holy Spirit cannot be righteous in God's sight.

Man can have his own righteousness, but this is human goodness, human righteousness. I think this helps to explain why religious people and people who try to do good seem to be good. They do everything that they know, maybe up to a certain point, but they're sitting under the wrong tree. And that tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, leads to death. It's only the tree of life that leads to life.

Now, I think there are a lot of people out there that when God finally opens their minds and they see the truth, they will respond very quickly because, you know, they tried to do what was right in this life. They were just deceived and blinded. Satanists foster the concept that the tree of good and evil is great, it's glamorous, it's exciting. This is what, in essence, he told Adam and Eve. What are the fruits of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, of the wrong tree? Well, it's good and evil. Some fruits are good, some are evil. The evil fruits are wars, suffering, misery, racial animosity, bad marriages, abuse, drug abuse, abuse of alcohol, sexual diseases and heartaches, bad marriages, famine, pollution, drought, wrong education, wrong religion, wrong philosophy, wrong governments, politics, wrong relations. You can go on and on and on. All of these come as a result of sitting under the wrong tree and eventually lead to death. And what are the fruits of the tree of life? Galatians 5, 22. We sit under the tree of life God gives us life, His life. He places His spirit within us. He places His nature within us. And the fruits of the spirit begin to be produced. We begin to develop godly character and eventually God will give us eternal life. This is God's doing. So what you find is the, if you want to call it, the two trees. Picture what has been going on in this world from the very beginning. Adam and Eve made a choice and they chose badly. They chose wrongly. They chose the wrong tree. And they were driven out of the garden. They were cut off from God. And it is only those that God calls now, a few at a time, and opens their minds who understand the truth. Let's go back to the book of Revelation, chapter 22. Revelation 22.

You find here beginning in verse 1 that there's going to come a time when God will offer all nations, all people an opportunity for salvation. The majority of people today are blinded and deceived. They just simply have not had their opportunity. Verse 1 says, He showed me a pure river of water of life, clearest crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its streets and on either side of the river was the tree of life, which bore 12 fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the trees were for the healing of the nations. And notice, and there shall be no more curse.

Curse comes from disobeying God. You keep God's law, you're blessed, you disobey your curse. Now, the fact that it says there are no more curse indicates, at this point, you're either in God's kingdom or you cease to exist. And it goes on to say, But the throne of God and the Lamb shall be in it, and his servants shall serve him, and they shall see his face, and his name shall be written on their foreheads. And so this is talking about a time when we will be in the family of God and be able to see God. No man can look on God today and live. He would be destroyed.

Now, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is missing in the new heavens and the new earth. And as verse 14 says, I read it earlier, Only those who partake of the tree of life will be there. Blessed are those who do his commandment, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter into the gates, into the city.

And then verse 17, The spirit and the bride say, Come, let him who hears say, Come, and let him who thirsts, comes. Whoever desires, let him take of the water of life freely.

Brethren, you and I have the opportunity to partake of this tree right now, the tree of life. God has given us his spirit. All will ultimately have that opportunity. Eventually, all mankind will have the opportunity. And so, what you find is that you and I are under the tree of life today. And we need to be very thankful for that. You and I have just come back from the Feast of Tabernacles. We've just come back from a time that was most uplifting, inspiring, where we heard tremendous sermons. And every report I've had from every area indicates that. I know that we did in Germany, even though I couldn't hear or understand them, in German. Had two years of it. I still didn't understand it. Thankfully, they had translators. And thankfully, they had translators who could translate English into German, the other way around. But brethren, let's realize what a wonderful calling and opportunity that God has given to us. You and I today have an opportunity that the vast majority of people do not have. That is, to be able to sit under the tree of life and to be able to partake of that. Most people are sitting under the tree of the knowledge of good and evil still. But eventually, you and I will help to bring to them the right knowledge and the right way, so that eventually all mankind will have access to the tree of life.