Title: Help me to become a great tree
make it a good big tree
Text/ Matthew 7:15-20
1. Introduction
This winter is really winter. Today (February 11th), it snowed again, and it is not 雪上加霜 (to make matters worse) but 雪上加雪 (to make things worse). The tall pine forest behind our church is creating an oriental painting. Odaesan Fir Forest - Damyang Bamboo Forest - Buan Naesosa Fir Forest will also be splendid with wonderful snowflakes now.
Trees have provided many benefits to our people since ancient times. That is why, in the ancient world, there is no place without legends and myths about the cosmic tree (Hwanung's Taebaeksan Shindansu from the Samguk Sagi, Upanishad's upside-down cosmic tree, Sanhaegyeong's cosmic tree from Gaesanguk, and Yggdra from the Norse Odin mythology vaginal wood, etc.). In particular, in the East, the week is called “Sun-Mon-Tue-Wed-Thu-Fri-Sat”, which is based on “Yin-Yang (Sun and Moon)-Five Elements (Fire-Water-Wood-Iron-Earth)”. “Tree” is also mentioned here. There are several stories of trees in the Bible.
2. The Story of a Tree in the Bible
*The story of good and evil and the tree-tree of life in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:1-24)
*The story of Jacob's willow-apricot tree-spearmint tree (Genesis 30:37-43)
*The story of Moses' bush (Exodus 3:1-4:17)
*The story of Elijah's rosemary tree (1 Kings 19:4-8)
*Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the way of sinners, nor sit in the seat of the scornful, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night... It bears fruit and is like its leaf that does not wither, so that all its deeds prosper (Psalm 1:1-3).
*Cursed is the man who believes in a man, and his body is his power, and his heart turns away from the LORD, he will be like a bush in the desert...But blessed is he who trusts in the LORD and puts his trust in the LORD. It will be like a tree planted by the waters, which stretches out its roots by the riverbank, and does not fear when the heat comes; its leaves are green, and there is no worry in a year of drought, and it does not cease to bear fruit (Jeremiah 17:5-8).
*The story of the tree that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon saw in a dream (Dan 4:4-33)
* As I, Jehonwah, destroyed the Assyrians who were once like the cedars of Lebanon, so I, Jehonwah, will destroy Pharaoh of Egypt and his army (Ezekiel 31:1-18).
*Beware of false prophets, for they are wolves in sheep's clothing... You will know them by their fruits. Do you pick grapes from thorns? In the same way, a good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. ..and therefore you will know them by their fruits (Matthew 7:15-20).
*Learn the parable of the fig tree (Matthew 24:32-51)
*The fig tree, which had no fruit and only had leaves, which was rebuked by Jesus and withered and died (Mark 11:12-14, 20-24, Matthew 21:18-22), etc.
3. What happens to a good big tree?
first.鳳 in the old article