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Through the revealing of the Truth, the Word revealed more clearly how a serpent could talk and deceive the woman into eating of its fruit, which resulted in the separation and death of man. Through His servant John the Baptist, the Word revealed to us the same concept that took place in the garden of Eden.
"Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan, And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins. But when he saw many of the
Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to
come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to [our] father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.
"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. I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and [with] fire: Whose fan [is] in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire" (Matthew 3:5-12).
Notice that John was not speaking idly about snakes that were crawling over to be baptized of him. He revealed to the Pharisees and the Sadducees that they were as vipers which needed to bring forth from the heart fruit worthy of repentance. And through the writing of the Psalms, the Word said, "The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies. Their poison [is] like the poison of a serpent: [they are] like the deaf adder [that] stoppeth her ear; Which will not hearken to the voice of charmers, charming never so wisely" (Psalms 58:3-5).
Jesus also said, "Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by [his] fruit. O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things" (Matthew 12:33-35).
"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. [Ye] serpents, [ye] generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
"Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and [some] of them ye shall kill and crucify; and [some] of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute [them] from city to city: That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation" (Matthew 23:29-36).
If you have eyes to see and ears to hear, you will understand from the Word that these verses speak not of snakes that crawled from the ground up into the trees, but were of men who speak the fruit of lies and deception from the heart. If we have found ourselves being numbered with them in speaking words of deception, I pray that we will repent of these things and become bearers of the Fruit of God.
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