Chopping Down Trees

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Matthew 3:10 And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
The evangelist is looked at as one that comes in and chops down all of the trees and the pastor is left to pick up the pieces. If the pastors would preach what is needed to be said then there would be less wood to pick up.
I woke up this morning and the Lord laid it on me to speak about trees and how they are similar to people.
I went and studied on trees and I was amazed at how similar mankind is to trees.
Years ago when I was a youth pastor in the Assemblies of God. I was worshipping in church and I had been seeking the Lord and His will. All of the sudden I felt an overwhelming urge like a title wave come over me and I cried out the Lord is Holy and He is seated on His throne and worthy to be praised! I cried out weeping and grieved because the Lord was showing me that He is wanting His people to worship Him and acknowledge Him, but the church was so dead and just operating in a systematic form as a majority of the churches operating today.

There is no power of God moving in the churches because it is Ichabod! There is compromise and division and the Sheppard has scattered the sheep and the wolves have come in disguised as sheep and there is no power of God!

God will not and cannot compromise as His so called people do!
Sin is sin and sin is against God!

After I had this cry out of the Holy Ghost in the church I had a conversation with my pastor and he said to me.
“Dan the evangelist comes into the church and chops down all of the trees and then he leaves and the pastor is left to pick up the pieces”

Ezekiel 3:18-21 18 When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. 19 Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul. 20 Again, When a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die: because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thine hand. 21 Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also thou hast delivered thy soul.

The Lord has called us to warn those who continue to transgress without regarding the consequences.

Luke 12:5 But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.
God has the power to sentence you to an everlasting! Why because He is righteous and he requires righteousness, and the only way to attain righteousness is through the Blood of Jesus Christ!

Isaiah 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Jesus Christ paid the price at the cross 2000 years ago and we are in debt to Him with our lives.

1 Corinthians 6:20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

You are to be sold out for Jesus Christ and denying yourself the things of this world that hinder you in your walk with the Lord!

Ecclesiastes 10:10 If the iron be blunt, and he do not whet the edge, then must he put to more strength: but wisdom is profitable to direct.
The axe must be sharp and it must be swift. The axe must be true and the lumber jack for your soul must be willing to love the congregation enough to speak the truth so that the hearer is warned and makes a choice to surrender to the Lord or continue in sin.

Humans resemble trees in many ways

A “hazard tree” is a tree with structural defects likely to cause failure of all or part of the tree, which could strike a “target.” A target can be a vehicle, building, or a place where people gather such as a park bench,
picnic table, street, or backyard.

People resemble trees in the house of God, and a bad tree can be very dangerous.

An arborist is one who is educated about trees and they are able to inspect trees and identify infections and hazards that the tree can have. They are able to help the tree and to inform and educate others so that dangers can be identified and avoided.

Isaiah 62:6 I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the LORD, keep not silence,

The Pastors are the arborist’s of the churches. They are to watch their people, the trees for infections and hazards that can creep in and destroy the lives of the people.

Shepard’s should Inspect trees carefully and systematically. Examine all parts of the tree, including the roots, root or trunk flare, main stem, branches, and branch unions. Be sure to examine all sides of the tree. Use a pair of binoculars to see branches high off the ground.

This is what an arborist does. He keeps a close watch on the trees.

We are to be diligent and watching our brothers and sisters in the Lord.
Fathers and Mothers and all members of the body of Christ are to be looking for defects in our brothers and sisters.

I’m not saying to judge them but to warn them that Hey sister or brother I see a change in you, something is different your light is dim.

The world is in the shape that it’s in today because the Church has been silent for too long!

Listen to the similarity of trees and the congregation?

Tree Condition: Trees in poor condition may have many dead twigs, dead branches, or small, off-color leaves. Trees in good condition will have full crowns, vigorous branches, and healthy, full-sized leaves; however, green foliage in the crown does not ensure that a tree is safe. Tree trunks and branches can be quite defective and still support a lush green crown.

The similarity is amazing!
How many churches out there are filled with people that are dead spiritually? Their outside appearance in fashion or countenance reveals their inward condition just like a tree.
The outside can be deceiving too. All may look well and maintained but there can be an inward cancer, bitterness, unforgiveness, and hidden unconfessed sin that can destroy you and even though the outside looks good without warning you could fall and even destroy others around you.

Dead wood
Dead wood is “not negotiable”– dead trees and large dead branches must be removed immediately! Dead trees and branches are unpredictable and can break and fall at any time. Dead wood is often dry and brittle and cannot bend in the wind like a living tree or branch. Dead branches and tree tops that are already broken off (“hangers” or “widow makers”) are especially dangerous!

Did you notice I said Dead wood is often dry and brittle and cannot bend in the wind like a living tree or branch? When we are alive in Jesus Christ we are able to stand in the storms of life, but if we are dead and not in the Word of God or in communication with Him, we are at risk of drying out and breaking off from Him.

John 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

We are to be in Jesus Christ because without Him we are dead wood.

Mark 3:25 And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.

So many churches out there are divided because they are not being led by the Lord. Mankind has made the decisions and has done what is right in their own eyes and this is not acceptable in the eye’s of the Lord.

Trees that have cracks in them are warning signs of danger within the tree.
Cracks
A crack is a deep split through the bark, extending into the wood of the tree. Cracks are extremely dangerous because they indicate that the tree is already failing. Many churches are failing because of the crack that have been allowed to enter the house of God.

These cracks can come in the form of compromise. When we allow certain activities, music, fashions, and even distorting the Word of God to allow sin to continue for the sake of monetary gain.

Trees are protected by bark and when cracks begin to appear on the tree the bark can grow into the cracks and cause a separation within the tree and cause the branches of the tree to become weak.

The bark can resemble religion and religion can be the death of any church when congregants are separated by it. We can become judgmental and hard hearted towards the lost sheep that come into the church and we can create rules of religion and the spirit of the Pharisees can destroy the church. Crack must be filled and not left open.

Ecclesiastes 10:8 He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it; and whoso breaketh an hedge, a serpent shall bite him.

The church must have the unification in Jesus Christ and His hedge of protection surrounding it.

Trees can also have problems occur in their roots just like Christians. If your not rooted in Jesus Christ and your faith is not fully in Him then your foundation will be weak and you will not be strong when the storms come.

Psalms 11:3 If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?
We must no what we believe and we must be students of God’s Word until He comes for us, or we will be uprooted and fall.

We’re like trees and we have to be pruned. Tree’s have to b epruned when we see the following signs.

A branch is dead.
A branch of sufficient size to cause injury is cracked or decayed.
A weak branch union exists and one of the branches can be removed.
Branches form a sharp angle, twist, or bend.
A branch is lopsided or unbalanced with respect to the rest of the tree.

Pruning a tree properly early in its life is a good way to effectively avoid many potential problems when the tree is older and larger.

Just like people we must acknowledge the sin in our life and recognize that we’re in need of a savior to prune us and sanctify us to become more like Him, Jesus Christ.

Topping is a practice of pruning that is not recommended by arborist, large upright branches at right angles to the direction of growth, sometimes used to reduce the height of the crown. Tipping is the cutting of lateral branches at right angles to the direction of growth to reduce crown width. Both of these practices are harmful and should never be used. The inevitable result of such pruning wounds is decay in the remaining stub, which then serves as a very poor support to any branches that later form.

Shepard’s are forsaking to warn the unrepented sinner and they are not telling the congregations truth of their error and they are allowing them to continue in their sin. Believers are compromising the standards and the commandments of God and are making excuses to continue in their sin.

Pastors are just topping the trees, topping the congregation and hiding behind the excuse of love and tolerance to sin.
The churches are filled with light hearted messages that avoid the much needed trumpet of warning against immorality and sin.

Evaluating and treating hazard trees is complicated, requiring a certain knowledge and expertise. This message highlights some of the basic problems that may alert you to a hazardous situation. Never hesitate
if you think a tree might be hazardous. If you are not sure, have it evaluated by a professional. Consult your phone book under “Arborists” or “Tree Service.” Remember that trees do not live forever.

Also remember there is an appointed time for mankind to stand at the Judgment Seat of Jesus Christ.

Isaiah 5:1-6 1 Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill: 2 And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes. 3 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard. 4 What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes? 5 And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down: 6 And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. AKJV/PCE

Church of America get ready for the judgment that is at the door.
Luke 3:9 And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

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