In Genesis 229 we read where God put the tree of life in the middle of the Garden of Eden. As long as Adam and Eve had access to the tree of life they would live. The tree gave life, thus when Adam and Eve sinned God cast them out of the garden, hid the garden, and placed an angel to guard the garden so they could not come to the tree of life and partake of its fruit and live. Because sin has entered into the world all men die (I Cor.15z2\), but God has given vs a"tree of ttfe'in the Bible where we do not have to die the second death which is etemal damnation in hell.

(i)Christ and the Bible Compared to The Tree of Life.

Christ is like the tree of life in that He gives life (Jno.10:10; 14:6). The Bible is like the tree of life in the fact it points us to Christ who gives life to dead souls. A "dead soul" (Eph.2:1) is separated from God and thus needs God (Rom.5:8-11). One who is spiritually dead (separated from God) has no prayer, no worship, no love for God. He needs to be reconciled (reunited) with God. Christ gives life to the spiritually dead when one obeys Him. One comes to know God by hearing His Word (Rom.10:17). The Bible is God's Word to man (2 Tim.3:16) this is what will lead us to eternal life if we follow it.

(a)Christ and the Bible Preserves Life"

Christ and the Bible are like the tree of life in that they preserve life. We need to be fed. Christ and His word are the bread of life (Jno.6:32,35,48). Just as Adam and Eve needed to eat of the tree of life to live we need to eat from the word of life for eternal life.

(b)Christ and the Bible Bring Joy 

God gave the tree of life to Adam and Eve as a gift so they could enjoy life. He gave His Son (Jno.3:16) so we could have etemal life (Psa.119:105). He gave His Word so we can enjoy life here and look forward to life beyond the grave. Christians should be the happiest people on the face of the earth for they have the most to forward too Q Thess.5:16).

(ii)Leaves from the Tree of Life.

Now let us consider some things we need to see from God's Word if we want to live in heaven for all eternity. If we don't eat from the tree of life, the word of God, we will experience etemal destruction away from God. Rev.22:2 John writes , "fn the middle of its street, ond on either side of the river, was the tree of ltfe, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding itsfruit every month. The leaves of the tree werefor the healing of the nations." Let us look at four leaves from the tree of life that will help or be a "cure" for the "sin ailments" we face in everyday life.

(1) A Leaf for Curinq Lying.

Notice the prayer of the Psalmist in Psalms 120:2, "Deliver my soul, O Lord,from lying lips Andfrom a deceitful tongue. " 'We need to pray that we be delivered from lying lips. God and His Word are truth and He expects us to be honest and true (Titus 1:1-3). God cannot lie and He wants His children to be honest (I Jno.5:20). The father of all lies is Satan (Jno.8:44) and it was Adam and Eve believing his lie in the Garden that brought forth sin and caused them to be cast out of the Garden of Eden and to be separated from the tree of life. We need to pray lest we fall into the trap of the evil one and use lying lips that can bring about destruction (Prov.19:9; Rev.2L:8). So a leaf or cure for lying is prayer.

(2) A Leaf for Curins Covetousness.

What leaf from the Bible do we see will cure covetousness? The cure for covetousness is gratefulness (Prov.3:9-10). lnstead of noticing what we don't have, we show gratitude for what God has given us. It is easy to be focused on what our neighbor has that we forget to be thankfirl for what God has given us. If we aren't thankfirl for what we have it is easy to be envious of what others have that we don't. Covetousness is a sin (I Cor.6:10) and ttre cure is gratitude to God for our many blessings. That is a leaf from the tree of life.

(3) A Leaf for Curing Pride.

The leaf for curing pride is to remember that whatever we are and whatever we have is given by God. James wrote, "But He gives more grace- Therefore He says: "God resists the proud, But gives groce ta the humble" (Jas.4:6). Pride is dangerous because it seeks to glonfy self instead of God (I Pet 5:5-6; Prov.6:17). The cure forpride is to take eyes off self and put them on God. As one fellow said 'Tlumility is not thinking too highly of oneself nor is it thinking too lowly of oneself, it is not thinking of selfl"

(4) A Leaf for Curins Sin.

Coming to Christ is submission, being baptized for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38). When one is immersed by faith into Christ, their sins are washed away, The Word of God says you can have your sins blotted out. After being immersed into Christ and are added to the body of Christ when we sin and fall short we now have the avenue of prayer to seek forgiveness (I Jno.l:9).

We need to eat from the tree of life daily...let us"study the'Word of God and follow it's Divine precepts.

It is a sad picture in life in what people constitute as "love stories." Some modern writers display lust as love and people are confused about what love truly is. There has been at the same time outstanding love stories-es that have gone down in history. Let us note some Great Love stories-es in Scripture.

(i)Some Loved the Wrong Things.

Notice some were in love with the wrong things.

(1) Diotrephes 3 Jno.9    Here is a man who had a great love. But, the love he had was for power in the local church. Here was a man who loved preemienence, he desired the respect of others, etc. He took authority that was not his putting out people from the church, etc. He loved to assr.me power that was not his.

(2) Rich Young Ruler Mk.10 This young man loved his riches and possessions. Jesus said, "go sell what you have." This troubled the young man, He appeared to have a love for the Lord and the Bible clearly says Jesus loved him, but the young man was divided because he loved his possessions. Do you see the love of that young man?

(3) Demas Loved the Present World 2 Tim.4 There was something in Thessalonica that lured Demas. We do not if it was something sinful. It could have been something that in itself was good, but to forsake Paul and the Lord for whatever was in Thessalonica was a great love, but not in the proper order. God comes first, anything we put before God becomes our idol.

(ii) Some Who Loved Correctly. Now consider some who loved correctly.

(1) Mary loved Jesus Jno.12 She expressed extravagant love in John 12:3 when she took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair. She displayed her love to the right one in the right way.

(2) Abraham loved God  Jas.2:23 James said that Abraham believed God. This man obeyed God by faith. He was justified by working out his faith lJas.2t24. He was called the friend of God. Jesus said in Jno.14:15 "If you love Me, keep My commandments." How I show my love for God is by obeying His Word.

(3) Paul Loved the Brethren and the Lost. He loved his brethren and was concerned about the church.                   2 Cor.12:28 He loved the lost and sought to teach them the truth. Rom.10:1-3

(iii) The Greatest Love Story of All Time.

The greatest love story is God's love for us. He loved us when we were: sinful, enemies,lIost, severed from Him, helpless, hopeless and had nothing to give Him (Acts 17).

(1) God gave His Son. Rom.5:8; I Jno.3:5; 4: 9

God is willing to be reconciled with us. We were the ones that "divorced" that caused the separation by our sin. He is willing to take us to be His bride (Eph. 5). One day the Bridegroom will return for His bride (church) to be with her forever. John speaks about the great wedding Supper in heaven (Rev.19:7-9;17). In heaven the church (the bride) will be presented to Christ (the Groom) to live with Him forever. Heaven is described as a place of no more tears (Rev. 21:4). This is the only time a story end with the words, ..they lived happily ever after" for it will be for eternity.