Grace Baptist Church of Springs Valley

THE MESSAGE of this parable-story with its Scriptural basis has received good response in my ministry as well as in the ministries of others in days gone by. It is my prayer that as the message unfolds you may readily grasp its import, embrace its teachings, and let the application be a personal one, whether for salvation or for dedication and service. May our lives be spiritual gardens watered by the Word of God and quickened by the Holy Spirit.

First of all, please read with me a portion of the Bible which is God's Word. We are reading from Genesis chapter two verses four through ten inclusively:


     4 These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created,
in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,
     5 And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before
it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man
to till the ground
     6 But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.
     7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils
the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
     8 And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom
he had formed.
     9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight,
and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of
good and evil.
     10 And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and
became into four heads.

     THERE ONCE lived a great king who was more powerful than all others. His kingdom was beautiful and large beyond measure. There were lofty mountains whose peaks ascended into the heavens. On either side of a large river, whose waters were sweet and pure, were broad fertile plains which produced abundantly of every kind of food. And in the distance were the forest-clad hills.

     One day as the king was strolling about his vast estate he suddenly felt very lonely. As he mused upon this condition it occurred to him that there was no one with whom to share his wealth and to fellowship with. Then he decided upon a course of action which would ultimately fill this void in his life and would, at the same time, benefit another. He would plant a beautiful garden in the midst of his vast domain.

     The first thing was to choose a suitable location for this garden which was to be the most beautiful spot on the face of the whole earth. Finally, he decided upon a certain place and called in workmen to make it ready. Everything that was rough, uneven, ugly, or useless had to be removed. Wild trees, weeds, and every undesirable plant and rock had to go. After the land was cleared and made ready the king called in still other workers who were to erect a wall around the garden area. This wall was to be so high that the most agile animal could not jump over it, its footings so deep that no burrowing animal could dig under it, and its thickness such that none could break it down. The garden was to have but one gate which was also designed and constructed to bar the entrance of any intruder. A steel bolt and sturdy lock ensured the garden's security.

     After the grounds had been prepared and the wall built to the king's satisfaction, he called in the builders. His plan called for the construction of a modestly sized house in one corner of the garden. The erection of this house employed all the latest materials and techniques. The specifications called for the installation of every modern convenience for the comfort of the one who should live there. That person would, without a doubt, be the happiest and best contented person in the whole world. He would be envied by all who saw his house and garden.

     The king was now faced with the most difficult of decisions: Who should occupy that cottage in the midst of the world's most beautiful garden?

     In selecting someone to fill a particular position certain qualifications are set forth which the applicants are expected to possess. In this case, we may be assured that the standard was unusually high. First of all, a young man was required. Since he would be directly responsible to the king, his appearance, education, manner, ability, etc., were all of utmost importance. As sole occupant of that house he would be the king's representa­tive in the garden. There were many applicants for the position of which two seemed to be well qualified. After much consideration the king chose a young man named Will.

     The king personally escorted Will to his new home. He showed Will the sturdy gate and the high wall and told him how they were designed to foil the attempts of any would-be intruder to gain entrance. As they walked about the garden the king showed him the fertile soil where Will was to plant the garden. Last of all, they came to the cottage where Will was to live and the king pointed out all the comforts and explained the functions of the various installations.
As the two sat talking, the king said," Will, the garden is yours to till and plant as you wish. You may plant trees, roots, seeds, and shrubs to bear all manner of fruit and when the harvest is ready I will come and gather the fruit." After talking at length the king again said to Will," Whatever roots, trees, seeds, or shrubs you desire to plant, you need only to ask and I will get them to you at once. Did you see that wire coming from my castle on the hill to your house here? Well, here is a telephone by which you may talk with me any time you wish." And with many other words of encouragement and instruction the king said," Goodbye" to Will and departed for his castle on the hill.

     For the first time Will was alone in his new home - a paradise! As he looked about the cottage and admired its comfortable furnishings, a great sense of pride welled up inside him. In great excitement he ran from the house to see the rest of his newly acquired home. Out in the center of the garden he called out," See, I am master of it all! I am the most fortunate young man in all the world. Oh, just look at my garden!"

     But the words had no more than left his mouth when he heard a voice say," Oh, no, this isn't your garden."

     In his excitement Will was totally unaware of the presence of another. He looked around in surprise to see who had spoken. He saw a tall, dark stranger standing just outside the barred gate. He had black, piercing eyes that seemed to look right through Will. Will was speechless.

     "Oh, no, you're not master" the stranger continued," as I can very easily show you. You are merely a servant to the king, who put you in there. He isn't what you think him to be. He is a hard and cruel master who doesn't love you at all and isn't in the least concerned about your welfare. After you have labored and toiled hard at tilling the soil and planting the garden, who will get the fruit? He will! You'll have nothing to show for all your trouble and sweat."

     As Will answered thoughtfully, he was noticeably perturbed," Oh, I never thought of it that way."
The dark stranger was quick to see Will's dilemma and taking advantage of it, said," Why should you serve the king? Why, Will, you are such a bright young man, you can be your own boss. You can be completely independent. There is the high fence and strong gate for your protection. You can easily rebel against the king and take the garden for your own."

     Will was now almost convinced. It surely sounded good and appealed to his pride. The garden was already in his possession. He could do as he pleased. The stranger, sensing his near victory, said," Besides all that, if you will open the gate I will come in. I will do the work of tilling the soil and planting for you. I will be your servant and plant all kinds of good and pleasant fruit which you shall eat to your heart's content."
     As Will listened to the words of this nice sounding speech, he also heard another voice saying," Don't do it. The garden isn't really yours. It belongs to the king." But the latter voice was so faint that Will easily put it from his mind. The soft, wooing words were drowned out by the wicked suggestions of the stranger and Will opened the gate. Immediately the stranger was inside the garden!

     The stranger lost no time in getting to work and did, indeed, work very hard and it seemed that hat everything was just as he had promised. Will could just relax and take life easy while the stranger did everything for him. In a very short time the entire garden was planted with all kinds of trees and shrubs and, because the soil was so fertile, bore fruit almost at once.
     Will did not even have to gather the fruit. As soon as it had ripened the stranger very thoughtfully picked it and brought it to Will saying," Here is the fruit I promised and there is lots more so eat freely of all you desire." Will ate very greedily of all the fruits, which tasted very sweet to him, especially as he was eating them. After a while, however, they became bitter in his stomach and he became violently ill. But in spite of this, Will found that he could not resist eating them. In fact, he developed a very strong craving for them. Soon he was. eating that fruit day and night and another effect became noticeable: the more he ate, the more his facial features changed.

     In the beginning Will's youthful face had had an open, bright, and honest appearance, but the more he ate of the fruit planted by the dark stranger the more Will resembled him. Soon they looked like father and son.
     Will often asked the stranger what the names of those fruit bearing plants were, but he declined to answer until one day, growing weary of Will's frequent questions, he told him, 'Will, here are the names of some of the plants in our garden: Anger, self-will, pride, lying, cheating, unkindness, uncleanness, malice, greed, and a dark far-reaching vine called strong drink. At first these terrible names frightened Will, but the strong craving persisted and soon he was eating more of the fruit than before.

     One day after he had been eating freely of those fruits for several months he happened upon an ancient mirror in a drawer in his room. I t had been a long time since he had seen his face so he was very glad to have the mirror. But as he stared into the mirror, he was astonished because he did not see the open, bright, and honest face of a youth reflected there. Instead he saw a cruel, hard, deceitful face as dreadful to behold as that of the stranger who had sown all those evil seeds in his garden.
"Oh," said Will to himself," look what's happened to me! What am I coming to, anyway? I've let this terrible fruit ruin me. But I'm going to leave it alone from now on."

     Then, running outside, he grabbed an ax and started hacking furiously at those trees and shrubs with all his might. Well, it wasn't long until every tree and shrub had been hewn down.
The sharp ax with which Will cut down the trees and shrubs had two words engraved on its blade. They were: GOOD RESOLVE.

     Will had a good feeling deep down in his heart as he thought to himself," I've gotten rid of that awful fruit and will suffer its terrible effects no more." Happiness filled his heart once more!
     But, sad to say, Will had forgotten one thing: the roots of the trees were still there! In the fertile soil of the garden the roots began to sprout at once and, in a remarkably short time, all the work done by the ax called GOOD RESOLVE was undone; the evil fruit appeared in greater abundance than ever before! Moreover, the old craving for the fruit returned and soon Will was eating just as freely as before.

     One evening as he was strolling about the garden thinking of the condition of his life and brooding upon his inability to control his appetite for the fruit, he was startled to hear a gentle raping at the gate and a sweet voice saying,- 'Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him “ (Rev 3:20).
     Will stopped and turned to see who was at the gate. He saw One standing there with a gentle and loving face, patiently knocking, and quietly pleading for entrance. His countenance gave the appearance of having been there a long time. There were scars on his hands and feet as of a terribly dreadful wound. He wore a crown on his brow, though not one made of gold and bedecked with jewels, but one made of thorns which pierced into his head. In his left hand he carried a light. It seemed as if Will had always known Him and his heart went out to Him instantly.

     As Will stood there beholding this newly found Friend there seemed to be a voice, such as the one he heard when the stranger first came to the garden, within him saying," This One can help. He is patient and loving and has overcome the stranger and will drive him out of the garden. He will undo all the shameful works of the stranger."
     Just at that moment, the evil one, the tall dark stranger, returned and began to whisper in Will's ears, saying," Don't listen to this fellow. He will take away your freedom and make you His slave. And He'll destroy all the seed I've sown and plant His own instead."
     But this last phrase of the stranger was his undoing for that was the desire of Will's heart. Then, as he opened the gate, Will said to the Saviour, “In that case, I welcome you to be my Lord and Master, and to undo the terrible things done by this evil one." As the Saviour entered the garden the evil one went out never to return again.


     Now let us watch together and see just what took place in the garden. Not a word was said by the Saviour (Who was none other than the King's Son) of Will's rebellion and disobedience, but they quietly went through the garden together. As they went from tree to tree, a strange thing happened. Those evil fruit bearing trees just withered and died in the light carried by the Saviour. And so it was from that time on, the light from the Saviour's hand was more than sufficient to restrain and wither the evil fruit trees the dark stranger had planted in the garden.
     Not only did the Saviour destroy all the evil works of that cruel one, but he planted nine other trees in their stead which took root and bore fruit immediately. The fruits planted by the Saviour were: Love, Peace, Longsuffering, Gentleness, Faithfulness, Meekness, and Self-control.

     Something else very strange and wonderful was this: As soon as the Saviour came in and destroyed those evil trees so did Will's appetite for their fruits cease; and just as soon as the newly planted trees bore fruit so Will desired to eat their fruit. His appetite was changed! And even more wonderful, as he ate these fruits there was a marked change in the appearance of his face. The more he ate the less he resembled the evil stranger and the more he bore the Saviour's likeness!
     Will now experienced true happiness. He talked earnestly and often with his new Friend, and he tried as hard as he could to please Him, He was so grateful that he was always trying to show his gratitude to the Saviour. He had never had a true friend before. Neither had he known such love, grace, goodness, and mercy. Will grew and grew in His love!
     There was, however, one fear lurking in Will's heart. It was, as it were, a secret fear, for it had never been voiced. But one day as he was with the Saviour he suddenly mustered up enough courage to ask, "Saviour, what would happen if you were to go away from the garden and leave me alone?" The Saviour answered ever so tenderly,"I will never leave thee nor forsake thee." (Heb 13:5)....And He never did.

     I BELIEVE the interpretation and explanation of this parable-story to be quite apparent. "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." (Gen 1:1) Upon completion of all His creation God formed man out of the dust of the earth and placed him in a garden called Eden. Eden was a perfect place, and man's dwelling there eternally was dependent only upon his obedience to God. But man, represented by Will, chose the course of disobedience and sought his own way which resulted in his expulsion from the garden. He lost the garden when he yielded to the voice of Satan, represented by the tall dark stranger, and chose the bitter fruit of sin. Then the great King (God) sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to save Will and to remove the bitter fruit from the garden of his soul and replace it with sweet spiritual fruit. While man is partaking of the fruit of sin from Satan's orchard, the Saviour, with His nail scarred hand and wearing the crown of thorns, stands outside the heart's door knocking - gently and patiently knocking. His tender voice still calls out to starving and sin-laden souls, “If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him.” (Rev 3:20)

Dear Friend, the Bible says, "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me." (Psa 51:1)  You see, man is born into this world, enters this life, with the taste of and for the bitter fruit of Satan's trees and the older he becomes the greater the craving for it. But at the same time, the older he becomes, the more he realizes he is being cheated of the better things of life and the more he longs to change things. The man puts forth great efforts in trying to straighten out his life. He often makes good resolutions and things seem to be better - for awhile, that is. The roots are still there, however, and invariably he returns to the old sinful habits and sinks even deeper into the mire of sin. These habits, the old taste for the fruits of the flesh, are all sinful and are of the darkness which when illuminated by the light of the Word, Jesus Christ, just vanish away.

Here is what takes place when the soul, afflicted by sin and starving for spiritual food, sees the Son of God, Jesus Christ, nailed to the cross with the sins of the world laid upon Him to be washed away by His blood. As the soul believes in Christ, accepts Him as the only begotten Son of God, receives Him into his heart as Lord and Saviour, that light floods the soul and all unrighteousness and sin hidden there just vanishes under that Light. Sin, being darkness., can not remain where there is righteousness and light, both of which are wrapped up in Jesus. Thus when we accept Jesus, God no longer sees our sins but sees the righteousness of Christ in our hearts. So then, our part is only to believe in the name of the only begotten Son of God, Jesus Christ, and God will save us – eternally.

May none reading this falter, saying, "I don't understand, so what's the use?" Let me assure you, no one fully understands God's love, His grace, nor His mercy in salvation. The steps of salvation, however, are simple and they are sure. Jesus said, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." (Mt 6:33) So then faith comes first, then knowledge and understanding are added as one grows in Christ. Here are the simple steps leading to salvation:

1.Repent: recognize your own sin, confess it to God, and repent of it just as Jesus said, "Repent ye, and believe the gospel". (Mk 1:15)

2.Believe: the above quoted scripture speaks both of repentance and belief. The necessity of faith is revealed also in the following verse. Again Jesus said,"He that believeth on him (Jesus) is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." (John 3:18)

3.Receive: to become children of God, it is necessary for the individual to receive Jesus into his own heart. In our story the young man (Will) was, without a doubt, the son of the evil one until he let the Saviour enter through the gate of his heart and received Him into his heart and life. Man, by nature, is an enemy of God and not God's child. The Bible says, "But as many as received him (Christ), to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." (John 1:12:)

4.Confess: yes, we spoke of confession in point one but please notice a difference; there, individual or personal sin was confessed to God, while here, personal faith in Christ is to be confessed before men. The Bible says, "That if thou shalt confess with thine mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." (Rom 10:9,10).

Dear Friend, please do not neglect the salvation of your soul. We do not know what tomorrow holds for us. In fact, ere tomorrow comes many souls will have been required of God who says to you," Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation."(2 Cor 6:2)
Bow your head just where you are, right now, follow the four simple steps of salvation as outlined above, and be saved!

Dear Christian, sometimes we allow weeds or trash to remain in our gardens too long and the beauty of our Christian lives is lost to the world and in some instances, to and, in ourselves as well. Let us allow that Light to shine in our hearts to the removal of all that is undesirable. Let us take the place once again of a servant to the Master of our lives.

Dale H. Breeden, ©1974,2007

Used by permission of owner