Gtcotr/ss090819
I
have become spiritually aware of two great concerns facing the Body of Christ
in the 21st Century. First is the Doctrine of the Gospel of Christ.
We cannot afford to be ignorant of the truth and power of God’s Word. Only the
Gospel has the power to save the souls of man. I am
concerned about those who learn to practice Christianity instead of coming to know
the person of Christ. Only a personal relationship with Jesus can save a
soul from hell.
The
second concern I have is twisted truth. The Bible is clear. We may not like it
and we may not live it but, it is clear. I am concerned
about those who mix the Word of God with human philosophy and embrace it as
truth.
This
morning we are going to take a brief look at a very familiar passage of
scripture to reveal how A Little Truth can be deceiving …
Genesis 3 NKJV
1 ¶ Now the serpent was more
cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to
the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the
garden’?”
2 And the woman said to the
serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden;
3 “but of the fruit of the
tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not
eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ”
4 Then the serpent said to
the woman, “You will not surely die.
6 ¶ So when the woman saw
that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the
eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and
ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.
Before
we begin our studies this morning, allow me to deconstruct and reconstruct the
accepted image of Eve. How do we think God saw Eve?
·
The
Bible does not paint Eve as the evil-hearted, rebellious, nagging, have it “my
way”, selfish kind of woman that many have imagined.
·
She
was God’s first daughter, He made her with His hands.
·
Pure
and innocent, loving and kind with the nature and spirit of God.
·
She
was a new creation and her first breath was the breath of God.
·
Of
course she loved God and God loved her.
·
Eve
walked with God and talked with God in the cool of the evenings with her
husband in a beautiful garden God made to be her home.
·
There
has never been and will never be another woman like Eve …
o Perfect in every way:
intelligent, capable, beautiful and godly
o She is the only
woman ever born or created without sin
o Eve was the one
woman chosen to be the mother of all living
·
She,
along with Adam, was given dominion over all the works of God’s hands …
including beasts and serpents … (Genesis 1:26)
o Every living
creature was under her governance
o She was the Queen of
Eden with rights and responsibilities
·
When
the serpent approached her with his question:
o It seemed reasonable
… he was the submissive one … not her
o Perhaps he needed
information, instruction, or correction.
o She could’ve easily
felt it her responsibility to answer his query.
o Little did she know,
it was the devil in disguise, working through someone she trusted, and he had
an agenda.
·
Eve
failed to recognize the enemy speaking through one of her subjects
·
Her
fault was not willful, nor did she fall or rebel against God on purpose.
·
Eve
simply mistook the serpent’s motives and his agenda
·
She
miscalculated his intent, no excuse, however she was the victim
·
She
was not used to walking around the garden, her garden, on guard; protecting herself
from her Father’s creations.
·
The
devil snuck in unaware … the serpent he chose to work through was so cunning
·
The
devil still uses the same tactics today. (2 Timothy
3:6)
The
moment Eve ate of the forbidden fruit, let’s just call it an apple, or maybe it
was passion fruit, anyway, sin was born - not on purpose, not out of an evil
heart of rebellion but rather because Eve was deceived. She believed she was
doing what was best for her and her family - she was wrong.
1 Timothy 2:14 … but the
woman being deceived, fell into transgression.
One
of the biggest problems with deception is that it is so deceptive. If you know
you are deceived, you are not deceived. We can know someone is attempting to
deceive us and we can know if we have been earlier deceived, but we cannot be
living in deception and know it. This may sound strange, but it is true. Once
you know you have been deceived you are no longer deceived … you are
participating with informed consent.
Perhaps
the most damaging sin in the world is not the sin which is born from an evil
will or purpose but rather the sin which is a result of deception. This is the sin which a Believer will defend and even back it
up with the twisted Word of God. And, teach it to others.
The
devil wants to deceive every child of God. He wants to distract, detour, derail
and destroy their potential. He already has all of the lost people; they belong
to him. God left us the Bible account of the original sin so we could
understand the strategy and avoid the temptations to believe a lie.
What
steps did the devil take to deceive God’s precious little girl?
1.
Opened a Dialogue With a Hidden Agenda
a. The serpent was
cunning, more cunning than any other beast of the field that God had made.
b. He gave Eve no
reason to imagine his request was not sincere.
c. At face value it
appears he only wanted to understand the Word and the Will of her Father for
her life.
d. However, his ultimate
goal was to get Eve to do what he wanted and not what God wanted.
e. We cannot know if
this was the first time the devil had tried to deceive Eve or if it was the 101st
time. God only left us one record of the one time it worked.
2.
Shared Common Ground
a. The devil used a
non-threatening approach
b. He approached her on
her turf … in her garden
c. He made a simple
request
d. Which would have seemed
rude for her to ignore
3.
Appealed to Her Kindness
a. Eve was the Queen of
Eden … she did not have to stop and talk to this serpent … but surely, she
imagined her subjects deserved a reply.
b. Eve probably felt a
sense of responsibility to help the serpent understand her Father’s will.
c. It was critical to
the devil’s plan that he engage her in conversation in order for the plan to
work.
d. He only needed her
to open her mind just a little to plant his seeds of deception. (The real
battle is in the mind …)
4.
He Offered Comfort For Her Greatest Fear
a. By saying the one
thing he thought would make her feel safe
i. “You will not surely
die!” (the only existing threat)
ii. It won’t cost you
anything to do this …
iii. Nobody will know …
iv. It’s just between me
and you …
v. Don’t worry, I’ve
got this …
vi. What have you got to
lose …
vii. Come on, give it a
try …
viii. Trust me …
ix. Just once … if you
don’t like it, I’ll stop …
b. He has his own
agenda
i. If the devil would
ever have said, “Eat the apple Eve”, she would have recognized it for what it was …
ii. But he was cunning
and very patient
iii. That sneaky snake
never asked Eve to do anything against God’s word or will.
iv. He only:
1. Opened a dialogue
2. Shared common ground
3. Appealed to her
kindness
4. Offered her comfort
v. And then he
5.
Dropped the Golden Coin of Truth
a. Nothing else sounds
like truth …
b. We are designed to
hear truth with a different ear …
c. Truth hits us in a
place that rings like a golden bell
d. Truth is designed to
confirm decisions and direction
e. The devil knows the
power of truth in the life of a Believer
f. Nothing can seal
deception better than a bit of truth
g. Hoping he had found
or created some small crack into which a seed of his will might have fallen, he
quickly dropped a golden coin of truth to seal and fertilize the seed before
Eve could register another thought. He said:
h. “For God knows that
in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God,
knowing good and evil.”
i. This is the truth -
The misapplied, twisted truth …
ii. A golden coin of
twisted truth
Genesis 3 NKJV
22 ¶ Then the LORD God said,
“Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil …
This
is the same tactic the devil used on Jesus in the wilderness.
Luke 4 NKJV
9 Then he brought Him to
Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are
the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here.
10 “For it is written:
‘He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you,’
11 “and, ‘In their
hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ”
12 And Jesus answered and
said to him, “It has been said, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.”
1.
He
opened a dialogue
2.
He
shared common ground
3.
He
appealed to His kindness and willingness to converse
4.
He
offered Jesus food, and comfort, and promotion …
5.
Then
the devil quoted the twisted version of God’s Word to Jesus, hoping some seed
of deception had found a crack in His mind that would distract, detour or
derail Jesus from God’s will. But it did not …
Then
the one final step the devil took with both Jesus and Eve was to:
6.
Leave the seed to take root and grow.
He
wanted to give it a little time and see if it made the impact he wanted it to
make or not. If not, he knew he could always try again later …
Luke 4:13 Now when the devil
had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.
That’s
the devil’s tactic … if it doesn’t work this time, I’ll come back …
Of
course, Jesus recognized the devil and realized he was just trying to deceive
Him. (Mark 1:34 & Luke 4:41) Eve did
not …
Genesis 3:6 So when the woman
saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the
eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and
ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.
What
can we do to help us recognize and resist temptations to be deceived?
1.
Never fully trust someone with a self-serving agenda
a. Especially if
they’re trying to hide it.
b. If someone has
something to gain and they won’t take no for an answer, beware …
2.
Don’t go for anything that is advertised as being all about you …
a. Jesus saw through
the devil’s attempts to crown Him as king …
b. Eve fell for the
promise to get everything she wanted
3.
Resist every temptation to disobey God’s Word.
a. Since the Bible
says:
i. There is only one
God
ii. Don’t create or
worship false idols
iii. Don’t use God’s name
as a curse word
iv. Remember to trust
God and rest in His finished work
v. Honor your parents
vi. Don’t murder or say
bad things about other people
vii. Don’t steal
viii. Don’t commit
adultery, even in your thoughts
ix. Don’t lie, mislead
or deceive others
x. Don’t imagine you
should have what belongs to someone else
b. Since the Bible says
to love your neighbor as you love yourself
c. Since the Bible says
to not treat anyone any way you don’t want to be treated yourself
d. Stop allowing the
devil to make excuses for you …
What
lie of the devil are you Believing; Protecting; Teaching to others?
Remember,
you can run the devil off with the good Word of God …
