In this sermon, the preacher uses the analogy of four gardens to explain the history of sin and redemption. The first garden mentioned is the Garden of Eden, where sin entered the world. The second garden is the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus conquered sin through his sacrifice. The third garden is the church, where grace is cultivated and believers are transformed. The final garden is heaven, where the glory of God will be fully manifested. The preacher emphasizes the importance of spending time with Jesus, the gardener, in order to experience spiritual growth and overcome the challenges of a busy world.

John chapter 20, beginning at verse 11. Our Lord's first appearance on Resurrection Day. John chapter 20 verse 11. But Mary stood outside the sepulcher weeping. Of course, this is Mary Magdalene. And as she wept, she stooped down and looked into the sepulcher and seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head and the other at the feet where the body of Jesus had lain. And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. And when she had said thus, she turned herself back and saw Jesus standing and knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him from here, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself and saith unto him, Rabboni, which is to say, Master. Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not, literally stop clinging to me, for I am not yet ascended to my Father. But go to my brethren and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God. Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord and that he had spoken these things unto her. Mary Magdalene was the first person to see the resurrected Christ and when she saw him she didn't know who he was. Don't be too critical of her. Many times Jesus Christ has come to our lives and we haven't recognized him. There are times when we've had to go through surgery, we've had to go through sorrow or difficulty and we've said, Lord, where are you? And he's been right there. He came to us in the thing that we feared the most and yet he was right there with us. Now she supposed him to be the gardener and really she was not making a mistake. He is the gardener. That's our theme for tonight, Jesus Christ, the Divine Gardener. We've been talking about the vocations of the Bible and here is one of the most important vocations of the Bible, the gardener. My father enjoyed his garden. It was not a very big one because the plot of ground on which our house sat was not very big. When I was a little kid the house I was born in and grew up in and spent most of my life in was on a narrow little lot. We had enough room in the backyard for my dad to putter around and grow some flowers. I recall one evening after supper he was out in the backyard taking care of his flowers and some rather well-to-do people went walking by. Why they were walking in our neighborhood I'll never know. But this lady looked down her nose at my father and said, my, you would think those people would let their gardener go home in the evening. My father got a big kick out of that and from that day on he wanted a salary as the gardener in our family. But I'm not much of a gardener. I'm grateful that my wife has a green thumb because I certainly don't. When we were in first grade and had to grow wheat in our little plastic trays, mine never grew. And I just don't have this gift of gardening. But I appreciate beautiful gardens. I appreciate the beauty of nature. You do too. I want you to think with me at the close of this Lord's Day on Jesus Christ the gardener. Because if you understand what it means to have Jesus Christ as the gardener it may help you in your own personal devotional life. It may help you in some of the responsibilities that we face as Christians in a very busy, difficult, pressured world. Now the best way to understand Jesus Christ as the gardener is to look at the four gardens that are in the Bible. Did you know that you can summarize all of Bible history in four gardens? You can. I want to do that tonight. First, the Garden of Eden, that is where sin invaded. And then secondly, the Garden of Gethsemane, that's where sin was conquered. And thirdly, the Garden which is his church, that's where grace is cultivated. And finally, heaven, which is God's eternal garden, where the glory of God forever is going to be manifested. Let's take these four gardens one by one. First, the Garden of Eden, that's the garden where sin invaded. You know the story from Genesis chapter 3. And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden and there he placed the man that he had made. Interestingly enough, Adam was created outside the garden and put in. Eve was created inside the garden and thanks to her they both went out. It blesses my heart that God began human history by planting a garden. He didn't build a fortress, didn't build a castle, he planted a garden. A garden speaks of life. A garden speaks of beauty. A garden speaks of patience. A garden speaks of fragrance, of fruitfulness. That says to me that my God is a God who is concerned about life and beauty and fragrance and fruitfulness. Because this world is certainly anything but a garden. Now when you look at the world as far as nature is concerned, wherever man has not invaded and ruined, you do find beauty. You thank God for it. But alas, when you look at this world as far as human nature is concerned, you find a wilderness. You find weeds. You find noxious poisonous plants. You find a rank growth of wickedness. That's the way James puts it in James chapter 1. And God planted a garden and in planting that garden God was saying I'm concerned about life. I'm concerned about beauty and patience and fragrance and fruitfulness. There are some theologians who believe that when God planted that garden in Eden and gave it to Adam and Eve to cultivate, his desire was for them to have that garden spread and spread and spread and take over so that the entire world would become a garden. Now we know that at that time the entire world was a good, glorious, beautiful world. But the entire world was not God's garden. Roaming around out there was Satan. And one of Adam's responsibilities was to guard the garden, which he didn't do. And the enemy came in. And the enemy first tempted Adam's wife and then Adam's wife tempted Adam and they sinned. And Eden is the garden where sin invaded. The first gardener in the Bible is Adam. Now Paul in Romans chapter 5 does a marvelous thing. Paul was a great rabbinical scholar, an inspired man of God. Paul reached back to Eden and picks up the first Adam. Then he takes Jesus Christ, the last Adam, and he puts the two side by side in Romans 5. Here are the two gardeners. Here's the first Adam, the gardener in the Garden of Eden, who failed. Here's the last Adam, Jesus Christ, who succeeded. The first Adam came from the earth. The last Adam is the man from heaven. The first Adam was disobedient. The last Adam was obedient unto death. The first Adam was tempted in a beautiful garden by Satan and he fell. The last Adam was tempted by Satan in a horrible wilderness and he succeeded and was victorious. The first Adam sinned because of a tree. The last Adam took our sins in his own body on a tree. The first Adam was a thief who because of his thieving was cast out of paradise. The last Adam turned to a thief and said today you'll be with me in paradise. The first Adam because of his sin brought death and condemnation. The last Adam because of his sacrifice brought life and salvation. Now if you want to know why the world's in the mess it's in, it's because in the first garden man disobeyed God and sin invaded. Now I have some bad news for you. You and I with all of our beauty and all of our strength, you and I with all of our wisdom and all of our glory, you and I with all that we think is so wonderful and so great, you and I were born outside the garden. Every time a little baby comes into the world and people say oh what a glorious little baby and it is, but that baby was born outside the garden. The only person I know of who was created inside the garden was Eve and she's a picture of the church. God from the very beginning had his eye on getting a bride for his son and so from the very start he said ah there's one day going to be a bride for my son and she's going to be a part of paradise. But you and I were born outside the garden. That means death. You and I were born outside the garden. That means sin. You and I were born outside the garden. That means defeat and if history stopped right there we'd all be in trouble. I don't believe it was ever God's plan that a home be a wilderness. He wants it to be a garden. It was never God's plan that a city be a wilderness. He wants it to be a garden. It was never God's plan that your life be a wilderness. Barren, fruitless, dark, ugly. It was God's plan that our lives be a garden. Which leads us now to the second garden. The garden of Gethsemane where sin was conquered. Actually there are three gardens involved in the death of Jesus Christ. When you read the record very carefully you find this. Well John chapter 18, verse 1, when Jesus had spoken these words, his high priestly prayer, he went forth with his disciples over the brook Chidron where was a garden into which he entered and his disciples. Now this was a frequently used place by the Lord Jesus. Judas also who betrayed him knew the place for Jesus often resorted there with his disciples. This is the garden of Gethsemane. The name Gethsemane means oil press. Oil press. It's a picture of something suffering that somebody may be helped. They would take those olives from those olive trees and put them in the press and the olives were crushed and out would come the oil to be used medicinally, used for cooking, used for anointing. Jesus Christ is saying to us I am about to go through the press. That corn of wheat will be placed into the ground and die. As it were my body is going to go into the judgment and from my death is going to come life. From this curse is going to come blessing. From this darkness is going to come light. It's interesting that John tells us that Jesus walked over the brook Chidron because that's what David did. Many many centuries before when David was attacked by Absalom his son, David had to leave Jerusalem and he went over the brook. That's what Jesus was doing because he was now being rejected by his own people. He came into his own world and his own people received him not. So he goes into the garden of Gethsemane. Now what happens in the garden of Gethsemane? You remember what happened. Our Lord left eight of the disciples out there and he took three of them and said now I want you to watch and pray with me Peter and James and John. Have you ever noticed the three times where Jesus called Peter and James and John all by themselves? He took Peter and James and John into the house of Jairus where Jairus' daughter had just died and they saw Jesus raise her from the dead. He took Peter and James and John on top of the Mount of Transfiguration where they heard Jesus talking about his death and they saw his glory. He took Peter and James and John into the garden of Gethsemane where they heard him pray, Father if it be possible let this cup pass from me. And the cup was not physical death. It was being made sin for us. Nevertheless prayed Jesus not my will but thine be done. In the household of Jairus they learned that Jesus was victorious over death. On the Mount of Transfiguration they learned that Jesus was glorified in death. And now in the garden of Gethsemane he wanted them to learn that Jesus was submissive to death. But they went to sleep. Our Lord in the garden of Gethsemane was facing the cross and in facing the cross his holy soul abhorred the very prospect of being made sin for us for he knew that when he was made sin for us he would be treated like a sinner and his father's loving face would be turned away from him. That was the cup he was talking about. But he prayed nevertheless not my will thy will be done. You see the first Adam in his garden said not thy will my will be done. The last Adam in his garden said not my will thy will be done. They came and arrested Jesus in the garden took him out and crucified him. Did you ever notice John 19 verse 41 a remarkable statement from the Apostle John. John 19 41 now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden and in the garden a new sepulcher in which was never man yet laid. Isn't that an odd place to put a garden right next to a place of execution? Is it not an odd place to put a tomb? Now Joseph of Arimathea owned that tomb and Joseph was a rich man. Joseph could have had a tomb almost any place in Jerusalem. All of the righteous Jews the Orthodox people wanted to be buried in Zion and Joseph being a wealthy man could have had a tomb any place but interestingly enough here was a brand new tomb that nobody had ever used in a garden by the place of execution. So many thoughts run through my mind as I think of that. Is it not unusual that somebody would plant a garden by a place of execution but I'm glad they did. You know life is made up of calvaries and gardens. Life is not all a garden and life is not all a Golgotha. Sometimes there is the cross, sometimes there is the beauty of the garden, sometimes there is the death, sometimes there is the life. God balances things. The thing that interests me is this man Joseph of Arimathea who cuts himself a brand new tomb in a garden by a place of execution. Suppose he were buried there and his loved ones came to pay their respects. Why they'd hear the cursing and the blasphemy of the people being crucified at Calvary. One of the ministries that we pastors are called upon to perform is that of burial and you know a cemetery is a quiet place even in the middle of the city of Chicago. It's remarkable. I have been in funeral processions here in the busy city of Chicago where we have been weaving our way through the traffic. It's been noisy and you get to that cemetery gate and you pull in and you're still in the middle of the city. You're still surrounded by airplanes going above and trains going there and automobiles and trucks but somehow when you get into that cemetery a holy hush hits you. And by the way the temperature goes down. This is so unusual. I've noticed it in cemeteries. It's quiet and often it's very cool. Why would anybody want to build himself a tomb next to a cross? Well because he didn't build that for himself. Joseph knew that Jesus would die and Joseph knew when Jesus would die and Joseph knew how Jesus would die. He and Nicodemus had gotten together and examined the Old Testament Scriptures and they had found out from Daniel and Exodus when he would die. He'd be the Lamb sacrificed. They knew how he would die. He'd be crucified. They found that in Psalm 22. They knew where he would die outside the gate and Joseph said you know if we don't find somewhere to bury him they'll throw his body out in the trash heap. He'll be treated just like a common criminal and we love him too much for that and so let's arrange to bury Jesus. And so there was a garden there and Joseph had this new tomb hewn out. Our Lord when he was born was born in a virgin womb and our Lord when he was buried was buried in a virgin tomb and they took him down from the cross and when they did that they defiled themselves and could not eat the Passover. They didn't care. They already had the Lamb and they put him in the tomb in the garden. The gardener who had surrendered himself in the garden is now buried in the garden. And of course when he arose from the dead he arose in the garden. Mary was right. He's the gardener and when he came forth from that tomb he came forth to do what Adam had undone. Adam had turned the world into a vast wilderness of weeds, tears and Jesus said I'm going to come now that they might have life and have it more abundantly. And so the gardener came forth from the tomb and he met Mary and she supposing him to be the gardener said where have you taken his body? Just tell me and I'll take it away. Can you imagine Mary that woman saying I'll carry his body. It took two men to take his body off the cross and carry it to the tomb and she said I'll do it. You know love is this way. Love never sees the obstacles. Love always sees the opportunities. And he just said one word to her. He said Mary. Now I admire this dear woman. At one time she was possessed of seven demons and Jesus delivered her from those demons. Please don't think that Mary had been a prostitute. I have seen some places where they have homes, Magdalene homes for fallen women. Mary Magdalene had not been involved in immorality. She had been demonically possessed and Jesus had delivered her and she'd given her life to Jesus because of what he'd done for her. And she loved him so much she was one of the last ones at the cross. And she loved him so much she was the first one at the tomb. And she loved him so much she stayed there until she found out where he was. And Jesus didn't have to preach a sermon to her. He just had to say one word. Mary. And her heart was so close to his heart that she got it immediately. And she said my master, Rabboni, Mary, my sheep hear my voice. I know them. I call them by name and I give unto them eternal life. And so Mary was blessed to be the first one to see the Lord Jesus. We have a rather sentimental song in our hymn book that we sometimes sing, I come to the garden alone. The message behind that song is sometimes hidden in the sentiment of the song. What the writer is saying is simply this, if you want to meet with Jesus you better get there early. If you want to meet with Jesus you better plan to be alone. If you want to meet with Jesus tarry long enough until he shows up. That's what he's talking about. He's the gardener. Gethsemane, the garden where sin was conquered. Now we don't stop there. I'm asking you now to turn to 1st Corinthians chapter 3 because in 1st Corinthians chapter 3 we have the third garden and this is so important. 1st Corinthians chapter 3. In the first four verses Paul compares the church to a family. He's feeding the family and trying to help them grow in the Lord. And then beginning in verse 5 he starts talking about the church as a field. Who then is Paul and who is Apollos but ministers by whom ye believe even as the Lord gave to every man. I have planted Apollos watered but God gave the increase so then neither is he that planteth anything. That's Paul. Neither he that watereth Apollos but God that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one. They're doing one work. And every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor not somebody else's labor. For we are laborers together with God ye are God's husbandry. We don't use that word anymore. Ye are God's cultivated field. I like one translation that reads ye are God's garden. He's talking about the local church. Now people look at the local church through different spectacles from different viewpoints. Some look upon the local church as an army and it is. Like a mighty army moves the church of God. We're sheep in the flock. We're children in the family. He goes on to talk about where we're God's building, God's temple. But pause for a moment and think of what it means to be a part of the local church as a garden. Now it doesn't take any imagination to examine this. Jesus said our hearts are like soil. Parable of the sower. He said why your hearts are just soil. You're made out of clay all of you and so your hearts are soil and the seed is the Word of God. And somebody came along and sowed that seed that got into your heart and you trusted me and fruit was born and now your job is to reproduce and some of you reproduce 30 fold and some 60 fold and some 100 fold. God gives the increase. The purpose of the local church is to increase. That bothers some people. They think we should work harder and harder to have fewer and fewer. But the word is used here, increase. God gave the increase. God gives the increase as we, God's garden, let the gardener do what he wants to do. You know what happens to a garden when it is left alone? You know you never have to plant weeds. No gardener ever says well today's my day for planting weeds. No. All you have to do is just let it go. Just keep your hands off of it before you let the weeds come up. That's why the heavenly gardener has to cultivate the soil of his church. Sometimes weeds need to be pulled out. Sometimes fences need to be repaired. Sometimes new irrigation needs to come in so the water of life can function and bring forth fruit in the garden. Sometimes there are pests that get in and start wrecking the garden. The local church can be fragrant and beautiful and fruitful and people can look at us in a local church and say oh that's beautiful. That's marvelous. Oh I remember when she was like this. I remember when he was like that. But look what God's done. It's marvelous. That's what a local church ought to be. When I was in high school there was a girl in our high school who was a very accomplished violinist. Of course I have no musical ability at all and I just was marvelous what she could do. And so one day at a special concert that the high school was giving she played. Oh she was, we were all real proud of her. She could, oh she just played so beautifully. And they introduced her instructor, her violin instructor and of course he came out and everybody clapped you know. And he said something I've never forgotten. He said I want to tell you a story. He said a man saw a vacant lot one day and the vacant lot was just overrun with weeds and bramble and refuse. And so he went to work and he cleaned up the vacant lot and he plowed it up and he put down fertilizer and he planted some seeds and it became a beautiful garden. And he was working in his garden one day and a man came along and said my that's a beautiful garden God has given you. And the man replied sir you should have seen this when God had it by himself. Now do you get the point? God wants us to be his garden. He expects us to do something to help him cultivate the soil. I hear people pray in churches oh Lord do this or they're supposed to do it. Now Jesus Christ is the gardener but he needs help. When God planted the first garden back in Genesis he appointed a man and a woman to help him take care of it. And he still has people to help him take care of it. But the average Christian in the average church today just finds fault with the weeds, criticizes this, walks by, doesn't do a thing to help. Have you sown any seed this past week? Have you pulled any weeds this past week? You should have seen this when God had it by himself. You see God in his sovereignty has ordained that if the talent in a young lady is going to be developed musically somebody's going to help her do it. God in his sovereignty has ordained that if there's to be a bigger garden of glorious beauty in Chicago somebody has to help him do it. And we are those somebodies. That's why we're having a singles conference Friday and Saturday. There are just tens of thousands of single young adults in the Chicago area who need to be a part of God's garden. That's why we have a Sunday school. That's why we have a camp. That's why we have an early childhood education center. Because we're out to spread the garden. God wants to give the increase. He uses Paul. He uses Apollos. He uses you. Or does he? It's much easier to walk around the garden and admire the flowers and criticize the weeds than it is to get down get your fingers dirty. That it is to pray, to work, and to knock on doors, and to use the telephone. God's garden. God's garden is his church. And Jesus Christ is the gardener. And one of these days he's going to ask you and ask me did you help to make my garden more beautiful? Did you do anything when you were there at the Moody Church or wherever you may attend to make that garden more wonderful? It's a big responsibility. The final garden that we look at is of course heaven. This is the passage we so often turn to at committal services. I do this very often when we're committing people's bodies to the ground in burial. Revelation 21 and 22. Somebody has said that human history begins in a garden and ends in a city. That's not exactly true. Human history did begin with a garden but it's going to end in a garden. God is building a garden city. When you read Revelation 21 and 22 you're going to find a dual emphasis. He emphasizes the the beautiful stones, the walls, the gates, the city, but he also emphasizes the luxurious and marvelously beautiful vegetation. He talks about the tree of life and he talks about the river of the water of life and he talks about all the beauty that's going to be there. You know what God's doing? He wants everybody to be happy in heaven. Everybody. Some of you are city people who love the city so he's building a city. Some of you are farm people who love the soil so he's putting a garden in the city. And God is building right now a garden city. He's going to put together a garden city where we're going to have the beauty and the fragrance of the garden and we're going to have the excitement of the city. Abraham looked for a city whose builder and maker was God. When you get to the book of Revelation chapters 21 and 22, John does such a beautiful thing. John says, you know, I'm writing the last book in the Bible. When I put my final amen on verse 21, that's the end. There'll be no more. So I'm going to reach back to the first book of the Bible and when I write these last two chapters, folks, I want you to see that in this heavenly garden city everything that was started in Genesis will be completed. Why, we could go on and on and on. We'll not do it. Back in Genesis, he created the heavens and the earth. I read in chapter 21 verse 1, and I saw a new heaven and a new earth. Back in Genesis, he made the night and the day, but I read in Revelation, there'll be no night there. Back in Genesis, he placed the sun to shine upon the earth, but I read there'll be no need of the sun because the Lamb shall be the light of the city. Back in the book of Genesis, Cain built a city to rebel against God, but in Revelation, I read God is building a city for those who have stopped rebelling against him, who are no longer his enemies, who have trusted him and been saved. Back in Genesis, God made the seas, but I read there'll be no more sea. Back in Genesis, God got a bride for the first Adam, but in Revelation, I read of a city prepared like a bride, and that city is going to be given to the bride when the bride and the bridegroom are wed, and they live forever in glory. Back in Genesis, there was a tree of life that brought death because of disobedience. Here in Genesis, I read of a tree of life that produces its fruits month after month after month, and there's no death. Back in Genesis, God said, I'm cursing the ground, but in Revelation, I read, and there was no more curse. Back in Genesis, they were driven from the face of God. He drove them out of paradise, away from his face, but I read here in the book of Revelation, they shall see his face, and they shall be like him, and his name shall be in their foreheads. Back in the book of Genesis, a lie got into the garden and brought all kinds of trouble, but I read in the book of Revelation that nothing's going to enter into that garden city that is of a lie, that which is dirty or unclean or defiling. It's going to be pure and holy. There'll be no need for a sanitation department. God's glory and God's holiness and God's power shall sustain the city. It's going to be a garden, and that garden city is being prepared by the Lord Jesus. So here's all of history. Makes sense. Jesus is the gardener. He planted the first garden where sin invaded. He came to that second garden, and he conquered sin through his surrender, his sacrifice, his resurrection. His garden today is his church, and in this garden, he's wanting to cultivate the beautiful things of God, that we should show forth all of the glory of God. And one of these days, he's going to take his church home, and the great gardener is going to show us the beautiful garden city that he's prepared, a city so beautiful that John ran out of words to describe it. I've seen many beautiful gardens, large and small. I suppose one of the most beautiful I've ever seen, and some of you have seen it, is the beautiful butchered gardens up in Vancouver, Victoria, British Columbia. Used to be an old quarry, an ugly old stone quarry, and some wealthy people got a hold of it and made it into a just a beautiful garden. As we walked through there one day, I thought to myself, my oh my, how wonderful that God could take some people and some resources and take an ugly stone quarry and turn it into this gorgeous garden. But that's what he wants to do with our lives. You know why our lives are not more beautiful? We don't have time to meet the gardener. We can't really say, I come to the garden alone. We're so busy running, hither and yon, we have so much to do. And yet each morning the gardener waits for us. Each morning our Lord Jesus, the gardener, says, look, let's spend some time together. Let me plant some seed, my word, into the soil of your soul. Let me pull out some of those weeds that have been causing trouble, those roots of bitterness that have been poisoning your life. Let's take care of that. Let's dig up some of this hard soil. I don't want you to have a hard heart. We don't take time for the gardener. And then we complain because our Christian lives are not producing fruit. Then we complain because our churches are not producing fruit. And really the fault doesn't lie with the gardener, the fault lies with the garden. Do you take time for the gardener? Are you like Mary, early in the morning? Are you alone to meet the Lord Jesus and let Him talk to you and you talk to Him? And He works in the soil of your soul to build a beautiful garden. That's what it's all about. That's what it's all about. Gracious Father, we're thankful that you can take the ugliness of our lives and turn them into beauty for Jesus' sake. You can take ordinary clay and plant the seed of the Word and pour on the water of your Holy Spirit, quicken the seed and produce fruit. Lord, we're sorry for the ugliness of our lives. We're sorry, Father, that we've been too busy to meet with the gardener. We're sorry, Lord, that we've locked the gate of the garden and He can't come in. And we would just now open the garden to Him and pray, Father, that He might cultivate the soil of our souls, plant the seed of the Word, take out the noxious, ugly things that hinder the growth of the Word, and that He might produce something beautiful out of our lives. I pray for those who have never been saved, who are still a part of the wilderness of sin. Oh, Lord, that tonight they might come to trust Jesus Christ the Savior and then have the joy of the gardener bringing beauty out of their lives. Do it for Jesus' sake. Amen.