It's a great joy for me to share
God's word with you.
There is a word in the book of
Revelation which says that as we approach the
end of time, the devil knows that his
time is short.
And when he knows that his time is
short, it says his wrath or his anger
is great.
Now the devil is a far more careful
student of prophecy than most believers are.
So he knows when his time is running
out, even if believers are ignorant of it.
So we're living in such times.
And the Bible speaks about Satan's schemes.
I want to read in 2 Corinthians 2.
Verse 11.
Paul says, In order that no advantage be
taken of us by Satan, for we are
not ignorant of his schemes.
If we are ignorant of Satan's schemes, he
will take advantage of us.
Because he comes in many ways.
He does not come as Satan.
He comes as an angel of light.
And God's word has been given to us
so that we are not ignorant of his
schemes.
God doesn't want any of us to be
deceived in God's great wisdom.
He has permitted Satan to be loose in
the world, just like he permitted Satan to
enter the Garden of Eden.
It would have been very easy for God
to keep Satan out of that garden so
that Adam would not be tempted.
Who was it who permitted Satan to enter
that garden?
It was God.
Didn't God know what Satan was going to
do?
Couldn't he have stopped Satan from entering that
garden?
Sure.
But that was necessary for Adam to be
tested, for Adam to become what God planned
for him to be.
He could never be accomplished if he was
not tested.
And so it was necessary for Adam to
be tested, for him to be holy.
Do you know that God can never make
a man holy without the man choosing him?
He can make objects obedient, like the planets
or trees grow according to laws.
Those things God can do automatically.
But God cannot make any of his creation
holy, as he is holy, if they don't
make a personal choice.
It's very important for us to remember that.
God cannot make you holy unless you choose
to, unless you want to be, unless you
choose it.
And the moment you speak about choice, there
must be some alternative.
Otherwise there's no choice.
If you're only given one fruit to eat
from, there's no choice.
If there's two, then there's a choice.
So, that's why it was essential for God
to permit Satan to enter that garden.
And that's why it was essential for God
to keep at least one tree in that
garden as forbidden.
Actually, it was very easy.
There were thousands of trees there, and only
one was forbidden.
And Adam had such a tremendous choice.
There was a vast number of trees that
he could have chosen.
It was a very easy test.
But he failed.
Now, the details of that temptation are given
to us in Genesis 3 so that we
can be aware of Satan's schemes and like
it says in this verse, not be ignorant
of Satan's schemes.
Paul says, we are not ignorant of Satan's
schemes.
So, I want you to turn with me
to Genesis 3 and see here what is
given to us in great detail as to
how our forefather Adam and Eve through whom
we all came were tempted and how they
fell.
And from it we can learn how Satan
tempts us because he hasn't changed his tactics.
And where people don't study the scriptures, they
fall in the same way that Adam and
Eve fell.
Even though it's been written there, the scriptures,
for at least 3,500 years.
Genesis was written 3,500 years ago.
For 3,500 years at least, if man
wanted to know, he could have known how
Adam and Eve fell, how Satan tripped them
up.
And if he had taken care to study
it, he would not have been tripped up
in the same way by the devil.
But because most human beings and most Christians
also are far too lazy to study the
scriptures, to study Satan's tactics, they fall in
the same way.
The scripture reveals how other people fell before
them.
And that's actually foolish because when it's written
there, we don't have to fall.
It's like if you have warning signs along
a road saying there's a pit there, and
you see those warning signs, and you see
another one, and you see another one, and
you still go and drive into that pit,
you got only yourself to blame.
And so there are warnings in scripture that
we want to look at, first of all,
in Genesis 3.
Now the first thing I want you to
notice here in Genesis 3, in verse 1,
is the devil came through a serpent because
the serpent was more crafty than any beast
of the field which the Lord had made.
In other words, the devil chose the cleverest
of all the animals to come through in
order to tempt.
And one of the things the scripture reveals
is that Satan is a very, very intelligent
being.
He wasn't created as the devil.
He was created as the highest of the
angels, gifted with tremendous intelligence.
There's a verse in Ezekiel chapter 28 which
says, where God himself says about Satan, you
are wiser than Daniel.
God considered Daniel to be the wisest man
who ever lived up to that time.
Not Solomon, by the way.
Daniel.
And God said to Satan, you are wiser
than Daniel.
So, Satan is a very intelligent being.
He's very clever.
And if any human being thinks he can
outsmart the devil with his cleverness, he's just
fooling himself.
You are not clever enough for the devil.
You may be clever enough to match your
wits with any other human being.
You may be smart enough to dupe and
cheat other human beings, but you are not
smart enough for the devil.
He is just too smart for you and
me and for everyone on the earth.
And he wants you to think that he
can't trip you up.
That's exactly what he wants you to think.
Because then he can trip you up without
any problem at all.
So, what I'm saying is, don't underestimate the
devil's cleverness.
He came through the craftiest and the cleverest
of all the animals.
And it's through his cleverness, he's like a
clever confidence trickster who deceives us without even
our knowing that we are being deceived.
Who steals what belongs to us without even
our knowing that we've been robbed.
I remember traveling in a bus once many
years ago in India.
And when I got down, I found my
wallet was missing from my pocket.
And I never felt a thing.
The pickpocket had done such a neat job.
I felt he deserved it because he'd done
such a good job of picking my pocket.
I never felt a thing.
The devil's like that.
You don't even know that you've been robbed
until very much later.
Some people at the end of their life.
It's too late.
I discovered at the end of the journey.
The bus had moved on and gone and
I discovered at the end of the journey.
I don't know when it was done but
sometime during my journey it was done.
And that's how the devil robs people.
Christians are being robbed.
I was robbed for many years of spiritual
wealth that could have been mine after I
was born again.
Because the devil blinded my eyes to truths
in scripture that would have set me free.
And as I've traveled around, I've seen Christians
of every denomination, different countries.
I can see they are poor when they
should have been rich.
They are defeated when they should have been
overcomers.
They are slaves when they should have been
kings.
They've got the devil sitting on their head
when the devil should be under their feet.
Because the devil has blinded them to their
rights in the gospel.
Blinded them to what Jesus Christ did for
them on the cross.
He's very clever.
He doesn't come with horns and hooves and
a forked tail.
We'd recognize him easily.
He comes as an angel of light.
He doesn't come with some strange religious book.
He'll come with the Bible.
Do you know how he tempted Jesus?
He didn't quote some heathen scriptures.
He quoted the Bible.
Saying, it is written.
If that's how he came to Jesus, that's
how he'll come to us.
Quoting scripture.
But misquoting it in order to lead us
astray.
So, our only hope to escape deception, to
escape discovering at the end of our life
that we were thoroughly cheated and deceived, is
to humble ourselves and come to the word
of God in humility and say, God, the
only way I can be protected from deception
is if you protect me and give me
light on Satan's tactics.
If you come to God in humility like
that, you won't be deceived.
Now, the other thing I want you to
notice here is when the devil came to
Eve, the very first question he asked her
was, has God said, verse 1, that you
shall not eat of the tree, any tree
from the garden of Eden.
Notice where he begins.
He begins by questioning the word of God.
Is that what God has really said?
Do you know the number of believers?
I'm not talking about unbelievers.
I mean, there I can understand.
Believers, who question what's written in this book.
Whether it's the word of God.
You really mean to say that God says
we should do it like this?
No.
That was a cultural thing in Paul's time.
We don't have to do it today.
That was the culture.
That was the culture of the Corinthians.
Oh, I see.
Devils deceived them left, right and center.
Has God really said?
It's the same old tactic.
And the millions and millions of Christians who
fall for it.
Even though that's the very first thing written
in scripture that that's how he made Eve
fall.
He makes people fall today.
It's not in big things.
Satan didn't tell Eve to go and murder
her husband or something like that.
That would have been such an obvious sin.
And he doesn't tell Christians to go and
murder somebody or do some terrible sin.
It's usually a very small thing.
A very small thing.
Why don't you disobey God here?
God hasn't really said it.
Think about it.
Has God really said like that?
No.
And once he gets Eve into a discussion.
You see the devil's aim was to get
Eve into a discussion about what God had
said.
And once the devil has got you into
a discussion.
Let's just discuss this particular passage of scripture.
I mean, do we really have to obey
this in the 20th century?
Yeah, some of those things are outdated.
Paul didn't realize in the first century how
things would be in the 20th century.
So we can't really.
We don't have to take it.
That was Paul's opinion.
It wasn't God's word.
And so you have so many different groups
of Christians following so many different things.
They say, and I'm talking about Protestants.
You see, I think the Roman Catholics are
at least more honest.
Because they say, we don't believe the Bible
is the only authority.
We believe the Bible and the traditions of
the Church.
What the Pope says.
Both together constitute the authority.
They have at least got some grounds for
doing what they do.
Because they don't accept the word of God
alone.
I think they are more, they've got more
integrity than a lot of Protestants who say,
God's word is the Bible alone.
But they don't follow it.
They follow some tradition of their own.
Be honest then.
And say, it's not God's word alone.
It's God's word plus my tradition of my
Church.
Which does not follow this particular thing which
is written in Scripture.
Okay.
I have a great respect for people who
got integrity.
I have no respect for people who lack
integrity.
Who are not honest.
Who pretend that they are following Scripture when
they are not following Scripture.
Be honest and say, I don't follow Scripture.
And I'd say if you, the other thing
I would say to people who pick and
choose various things in the New Testament as
to whether they can follow this or not
follow this.
I'd say, be honest.
If you can take away something from Scripture
in the New Testament and say, well that's
not necessary for today.
Please give the freedom to the other man.
Also to take out something else from the
New Testament and say, that is not for
today.
Sure.
The other man can say, well don't commit
adultery.
Hey.
That's for the first century, man.
Don't bring all those laws into the 21st
century.
Those who ignore anything in the New Testament
must give freedom to that man to commit
adultery also.
Because if you can modify Scripture, why can't
he?
Who said you are the only one who
can say that was for the first century.
He can also say that was also for
the first century.
So that's the first question with which the
devil came to Eve.
And if you want to be wise, I
would encourage you not to get into a
discussion with Satan or any of his agents
about the Word of God.
I don't.
For me, the final authority is, like it
was for Jesus, it is written.
See the difference between Eve and Jesus.
When the devil came to Jesus, he said
it is written.
That was the end of the matter.
No discussion.
And then, when the devil knew that Jesus
would only quote Scripture, you know what he
did?
He tried to quote Scripture.
He said, okay.
Let's go on Scripture.
It is written.
He will give his angels charge over you.
And Jesus said, no, it is also written.
He balanced out one Scripture with the other.
But for Jesus, Scripture was the final authority.
There was no discussion on it.
But for Eve, it was not.
We live in a day when I find
there are very, very few believers who have
such a respect for Scripture that they will
follow it literally, exactly as it is written.
Their understanding of Scripture is tremendously influenced by
what do other people around me think about
it.
And I say, I couldn't care less what
other people around me think about it.
For more than 43 years nearly now, since
I was born again, I've never bothered what
other people think about it or not.
I say, if it's written, that's enough for
me.
I may be peculiar.
I may be alone in my conviction.
That's fine.
It doesn't bother me.
And I'll tell you, I've never regretted taking
that position.
It's made me a very happy man.
It's made my life very blessed in more
ways that I couldn't tell you this evening.
Because I've decided that God's Word is the
final authority for every single thing in my
life, in my family life, how I should
relate to my wife, how I should bring
up my children, and in relation to my
local church.
Everything.
If it's not in the Word, I'm not
interested.
And if it is in the Word, it's
important.
Even if it's a small commandment.
You know that God tests us not in
the big commandments, but in the small ones.
That's where our obedience is tested.
It was a very small commandment God gave
Adam.
There are thousands of trees there, Adam.
I'm only asking you not to eat from
one tree.
Was that difficult?
If it had been the other way around,
and God had told Adam there are thousands
of trees and you should not eat any
of them, you must eat only from one.
That would have been difficult.
But it wasn't like that.
God said there are thousands of trees.
And there's only one tree I'm asking you
not to eat from.
In fact, there's a much lovelier tree down
the other side in the middle of the
garden called the Tree of Life.
That's really what you should go for.
It was very easy.
Have you noticed this verse?
In Matthew's Gospel chapter 5.
You know I was telling you that God
tests us not in the big commandments, but
in the small ones.
And that's what Jesus taught in Matthew 5
and verse 19.
In Matthew 5, 19 Jesus speaks about our
attitude, the attitude of the believer to the
small commandments of God's word.
Not the big ones.
Notice what it says here.
Whoever then cancels one of the smallest of
these commandments.
What's he talking about now?
He's not talking about the big ones like
don't commit murder and don't commit adultery which
we all keep.
He's talking about those who ignore or despise
or annul or cancel the least.
The least means God's commandments that are great
ones and least ones.
This verse itself teaches that.
Not all commandments are equally important.
So here's a list of the commandments and
Jesus makes a list of the greatest down
to the least.
And he goes to the bottom of the
list and says okay, this is the least
important of God's commandments.
And he says if you disobey that one
and you teach other people well that's not
so important brother.
That's one of the lesser commandments.
He doesn't say you'll go to hell.
No.
I think if you disobey some of the
greater commandments you will go to hell.
Sure.
He says later on how you can go
to hell if you lose your temper at
your brother.
Verse 22.
Or you lust after a woman.
He says in verse 29 you can go
to hell.
He's not talking about those things.
He's talking about the least commandments which don't
send you to hell but if you do
that and you teach other people well that's
not important.
That was way back in the first century
and things like that.
Then you will be called least in the
kingdom of heaven.
So you do get to the kingdom of
heaven but in God's eyes you'll be way
down in the least because your attitude to
the least of the commandments was one of
despising or not caring.
But if there is somebody who keeps all
the commandments right down to the last one
and the least one also and teaches other
people don't neglect the least commandments keep the
least commandments in God's word also such a
man will be called great in the kingdom
of heaven.
How many of you want to be great
in God's kingdom?
I want to be.
Isn't this a very simple way of being
great in God's kingdom?
Test your attitude to the least of the
commandments.
Isn't that how we test the obedience of
our children?
How do you test the obedience of your
children?
When I send my children off to school
little children to school in the morning what
do I tell them?
Now make sure you don't murder anybody today.
Make sure you don't commit adultery.
Make sure you don't rob a bank on
the way to school or on your way
back.
Are these the commandments I give him by
which I test his obedience?
He comes back and says Dad, I kept
all the commandments.
I didn't kill anybody.
I didn't commit adultery.
I didn't rob any bank.
What a wonderful boy he is.
That's not where his obedience is tested.
His obedience is tested when he is playing
cricket with his friends in the evening outside
the house and daddy or mommy says Time
to come in and do your homework now.
And he says just wait.
I've got...
We've got to finish these innings.
That's where his obedience is tested.
In the little things.
And that's where your obedience and my obedience
is tested by God also.
It's not in the big commandments.
It's in the small things that we discover
whether our children are obedient or not.
Not in the big things.
And it's in the small things that God
finds out whether you're an obedient child of
His or a disobedient child.
Not in the big things.
We all keep the big things.
So remember this.
This is how the devil came.
Very cleverly.
Very subtly.
Questioning God's word.
It's exactly the same way he comes today.
And he told her You know it's not
really serious if you disobey God's word because
he said the devil said No, sorry.
Eve said God has told us that you
shall not eat from this lest you die.
And here Listen carefully.
Here is the first sin that is mentioned
in the Bible.
I think a lot of Christians don't know
what is the first sin mentioned in the
Bible.
If you ask the average Christian What's the
first sin mentioned in the Bible?
They'll say Adam disobeyed.
No, that was second.
Shall I tell you the first sin in
the Bible?
Here it is.
A lie.
When the devil told Eve a lie.
That is the first sin mentioned in the
Bible.
You shall not surely die.
Wasn't that a sin?
Of course it was a sin.
To tell a lie.
To contradict God's word.
When God says you shall surely die to
say you shall not surely die.
That's a lie the devil has been telling
people throughout the ages.
What is that lie?
It doesn't matter if you disobey God.
It's not serious.
Disobedience to God is not so serious.
God is a loving compassionate God.
He doesn't matter so much to him if
you disobey a little.
After all, He created you.
He loves you.
You are eternally secure no matter what you
do.
The devil has been saying that for hundreds
of years.
And a lot of people believe it.
It doesn't matter if you obey or not.
You shall not die.
Don't worry, you won't die.
You won't go to hell.
You are alright.
God loves you.
It doesn't matter.
These little things don't matter.
That's exactly what he wants you to believe.
Because then you will fall right into his
lap one day when you have finished your
earthly life.
And that's where he wants you.
Why doesn't God come and stop us?
Come and intervene when the devil comes and
tells us that.
Why didn't God send an angel right there
at that time to tell Eve, don't believe
the lie of the devil.
There was no need to send an angel.
God had already spoken to them and told
them.
You will surely die.
Why do you need an angel to come
and repeat it?
Do you remember the story you read in
Luke chapter 16 about the rich man and
Lazarus?
By the way, that was not a parable.
It was a true story.
Proof?
In no parable did Jesus use anybody's name.
Here he used the name Lazarus.
Abraham.
That is the proof that this is not
a parable.
It's a true story of a rich man
and Lazarus that lived somewhere around Jesus' time.
And Jesus knew what happened to the rich
man and what happened to Lazarus.
Perhaps it happened before Jesus came to earth.
Whatever it be, it's a true story.
And when the rich man was in hell,
you know what he said?
He said, Father Abraham, Luke 16, 27, can
you please send Lazarus to my father's house
to please warn my five brothers, verse 28,
to repent lest they also come here to
hell.
Do you know what Abraham said?
Abraham said, verse 29, they've got the Bible.
They don't need an angel.
They've already got God's word.
Why do they need an angel to go
and repeat God's word to them?
No, he said, Father Abraham, but if someone
goes from heaven back there, they will repent.
No, he said.
Verse 31, if they don't listen to the
Bible, they won't listen even if a man
rises from the dead and goes and speaks
to them.
That's what heaven says.
They've got the Bible.
Why do they need an angel now to
come and repeat to them that if you
disobey God, you'll go to hell?
They don't need that.
It's written in the Bible.
They've got a Bible.
They can read English.
It's in their language.
They've got no excuse.
That's why God didn't need to send an
angel into the garden of Eden to repeat
to Eve what He had already told them
so clearly.
And that's why even when you disobey God
and even when you're on your way to
hell, God will not send an angel to
come and stop you.
Why should He send an angel to stop
you?
You've got a Bible.
You've been to enough meetings.
You've heard the word of God.
And you still decide to go your self
-chosen way.
God says, go.
I won't stop you.
But you'll surely die.
That won't change.
And Adam and Eve died.
Spiritually, they died immediately.
Their contact with God was broken immediately.
They were thrown out of the garden of
Eden that very same day.
They discovered that whatever the devil may say,
God is the person who keeps His word.
And one day all humanity will discover at
the judgment seat of God that God keeps
His word.
And that the devil is a liar.
And that God is true.
That sin is serious.
See, that's the lie of the devil.
When the devil told Eve, No, no, no,
no.
God won't let you die.
You are eternally secure.
Because God is a loving God.
Well, those are all the lies of the
devil.
Eve discovered finally that the devil was a
liar.
But it was too late to discover it.
It doesn't have to be too late for
you and me.
Because we've been given a warning.
Sin is serious.
And I'll give you two proofs that sin
is serious.
One from Genesis chapter 3.
That Adam and Eve disobeyed God once.
Not twice.
Once.
In what humanly speaking we could say, Well,
after all, it was not such a serious
sin.
They were attracted.
It says here that the woman saw the
tree was good for food, delight to the
eyes, desirable to make her wise.
And she ate.
One sin.
And Adam, she gave the fruit to Adam.
And Adam also ate.
One sin was enough for them to be
thrown out of God's presence forever.
Don't you think sin is serious?
How many holes do you need in a
vessel for all the water to drain out?
45 or 1?
It doesn't matter.
Whether it's 1 or 45 or 100, the
water all drains out.
Sin is like that.
For everything that God wants you to have
in your heart, for it to drain out
from your heart, you don't need to commit
a hundred sins.
One is enough.
Sin is serious.
And even as I tell you this, perhaps
the devil comes and tells you, No, it's
not true.
Don't worry.
God loves you.
One sin.
Ah, doesn't matter.
One sin.
After all, it's only one sin.
Most of the other things you're doing, okay.
That's exactly what he told Adam and Eve.
You're okay.
One sin, one bad habit, one thing which
is, you know, is against your conscience, one
thing that is violating God's laws.
After all, it's only one thing.
Think of all the other hundreds of areas
where you're doing everything okay.
One sin is not serious.
You won't die.
It's a lie of the devil.
For 6,000 years, he's been telling man,
You will not die.
Verse 4.
He said, You surely will not die.
Don't worry, Eve.
I know.
You will not die.
I wish all of us would listen to
that.
Listen to God's word, I mean.
And take a warning.
That is the devil who comes with that
statement that you will not die.
Sin is serious.
The second proof that sin is serious.
Number one, I told you from Genesis 3.
The second proof that sin is a very
serious thing, you find on the cross of
Calvary.
Now, if there was anyone God loved, it
must be his son.
More than you and me and everybody else.
He loved his son.
But when the sin of the world, your
sin, my sin, and the sin of the
world was upon his own son on Calvary's
cross, the father forsook him.
Forsook him so badly that he cried out,
My God, My God, why have you forsaken
me?
And you can be pretty sure that if
sin is on you and me, the father
will forsake you and me too.
If he forsook his own son, when sin
was upon him and not even his own
sin, what about you and me?
You think he won't forsake us?
When our sin is upon him, if it's
not removed, sin is very serious.
You don't need more proofs than that.
You see it in Eden, you see it
in Calvary, one message.
Sin is very serious.
To be forsaken by God is to die
spiritually.
And that's what Jesus endured.
He endured hell on the cross for three
hours.
He took our punishment there.
Sin is serious.
And the devil keeps telling us it's not.
Don't believe.
Well, let's move on in Genesis chapter 3.
I just want to show you something here.
That temptation came to Eve through something created.
Something that God had created.
And it says in Genesis 3.6, the
woman saw with her eyes that the tree
was good for food.
There were her natural desires were awakened.
That's what temptation does.
Awakens our senses.
Sin is attractive.
It's good for food, delight to the eyes,
and something desirable to make one wise.
Sin is attractive.
Comes through something created.
And she decided to eat.
Who made that tree so attractive?
Can you tell me?
Was it God or was it the devil?
Who created that tree?
Who?
God.
Who made women so attractive?
God or the devil?
Who made gold so attractive?
God or the devil?
Why do I mention these two?
Because these two are the means through which
so many people have been tempted through the
years and have fallen.
But you ask yourself, who made them attractive?
It's God.
Who made this tree attractive?
It was God.
Why did He make it attractive?
That's the question.
Why did He make this tree attractive?
Why does He make a woman attractive?
Why does He make gold attractive?
Why does He make something on earth attractive?
Because He was testing Eve.
And He's testing you and me.
What is the test?
Very simple.
In all temptation, the test is this.
God says, Will you be drawn by what
I have created?
Or will you choose me?
The choice is will you choose the creator?
Or will you choose what He has created?
There are a lot of attractive things young
people find in the world today.
Drugs.
Who created them?
You think the devil created those drugs?
Alcohol.
Sexual temptations.
The pursuit of money.
You look around at all these attractive things
that young people pursue.
Music.
You know it's God who gave us a
sense of music.
You know that dogs and cats and all
don't have any interest in the type of
music human beings have an interest in.
Why?
I mean, if God had given that sense
to a dog, the dog would be rocking
and rolling too, just like any other human
being.
But the dog's not interested.
He's not.
He's interested in bones and things like that.
He's not interested in music.
It's God who gave human beings a sense
for music.
But they abuse it.
So God created so many things in the
world to test man in a very simple
test.
Are you going to choose what's created?
Or are you going to choose the creator?
You're going to choose that attractive, good looking,
creative thing, or the creator?
That was the test here.
This looks so nice.
Looks so attractive to her eyes.
And I tell you, temptation does look very
attractive to your eyes.
It's meant to be.
Otherwise it wouldn't be a temptation.
Imagine if God had made that tree of
knowledge of good and evil, smelly and ugly
and full of thorns and horrible.
Do you think he would have ever gone
near that?
Never.
But then there wouldn't be any test.
I mean, what's so great about rejecting an
ugly, smelly, thorn-filled tree and saying, God,
I choose you.
There's nothing great about that, is there?
But when if she would reject a very
attractive tree, something that makes her mouth water,
something that's so attractive and something that can
make her wise and she says, no, I
still choose God.
That would have been wonderful.
Imagine if all the women in the world
were ugly and horrible looking and haggard and
with long faces and you say, I reject
them.
There's nothing great about that.
But when they're attractive and you say, no,
I choose my creator, that's really something.
There's no virtue in rejecting something which doesn't
attract you.
There's no temptation there.
The very essence of temptation is that it
should attract you.
You see, it's because that movie is so
attractive that you're tempted to see it for
so long when you haven't even read the
Bible that day.
I'm talking about believers.
I'm not talking about unbelievers who have no
knowledge of God.
I'm talking about how Satan leads believers astray
and they wonder why they don't become spiritual.
How can you be spiritual when every day,
morning till night you're choosing the created in
preference to the creator.
How can such a man be spiritual?
He won't be spiritual in a thousand years.
He can say, oh, I'm a child of
God.
I've accepted Jesus.
I've said the magic mantra, Lord Jesus come
into my heart.
I'm okay.
I'm better than that other person.
But he lives just like that other unbeliever.
He lives like that other unbeliever in this
sense that he chooses the created instead of
the creator just like that unbeliever chooses the
created instead of the creator.
What's the difference between this man and that
man?
Only thing this fellow goes to church and
that fellow doesn't.
I think he's got more integrity.
He doesn't even pretend to be a believer.
He says, I'm not a believer.
I don't believe all this rubbish.
I choose the created above the creator.
And here's a person who says, oh no,
I'm a believer.
I'm a child of God.
He also chooses the created above the creator.
I say, this fellow is dishonest.
He lacks integrity.
I think he should be honest and say,
I'm just like him.
I've got a nominal interest in Christ, but
I like creative things any day more than
the creator.
And whenever I get a chance, I choose
the created things above the creator.
Brother, that's fine, but be honest about it.
Don't claim to be a believer and disciple
of Jesus Christ and all that rubbish.
You're not a disciple of Jesus Christ.
You're just a plain old descendant of Adam.
And don't fool yourself.
The devil's not fooled.
Every day you keep choosing created things above
God and you say you're better than that
unbeliever.
You're not.
Now don't get angry with me.
I'm just trying to help you to be
ready for the coming of Christ so that
you can be ready to meet him.
I'm just trying to help you so that
you won't be deceived by the devil and
deceived by a whole lot of preachers who
told you lies because they wanted your money.
Deceived by the devil who says you will
not die when he knows very well that
you will.
Remember this, my dear brothers and sisters.
This is the essence of all temptation.
Whatever temptation there is in the world, it
is this.
A choice between that which is created and
the creator.
When I choose to live for this world,
and I choose to live for money, I
have chosen what Eve chose and Adam chose.
I've not chosen what Jesus chose.
When the devil offered him all the glory
of the world, he said, no, thank you.
I don't want it.
And that's the choice that faces you and
me.
And the devil says, hey, listen.
If you choose this, if you choose the
creator every time, you won't enjoy life, man.
If you want to enjoy life, choose the
created things.
And the true disciple of Jesus says, rubbish.
I can enjoy life when I choose the
creator.
Because the Bible says in Psalm 16 verse
11, in his presence there is fullness of
joy.
Do you know where this fullness of...
I mean, I know you can get a
little bit of joy out of sin.
I don't deny that.
The Bible talks about the pleasures of sin.
But every pleasure of sin is only partial.
For a moment you have that sexual pleasure.
For a moment you get that kick from
taking those drugs.
For a moment you get a little bit
of pleasure from money and things like that.
But fullness of joy, that's only available in
the presence of your creator.
Everything else will disappoint you, frustrate you, ultimately
destroy you.
And that's what the devil doesn't tell you.
Supposing the devil had told Eve like this.
Okay, Eve, let me give you the true
picture.
If you eat this, you're really going to
enjoy yourself for a little while.
It's very tasty, very attractive, you'll get the
knowledge of good and evil, but now let
me tell you the consequences.
Your first son will be a murderer.
He will kill your second son.
Okay?
And that's just the beginning.
And you're going to live for more than
900 years and you're going to see misery,
confusion, sickness, murder, violence, all your children will
be evil, they'll fight with one another and
then if he had given her a picture
of what's going to happen in the coming
years with chaos and confusion and war, he
said, this is what's going to happen to
your children.
Wouldn't you like to eat this fruit?
You think he said it like that?
If he said it like that, he would
have rejected it immediately.
Do you think when he tempts a man
to take alcohol or drugs, he tells him,
do you know what this is going to
do to you?
It's going to give you cirrhosis of the
liver and you'll die 30 years before you're
supposed to die.
And the person who's taking drugs, will he
tell him, listen, this is going to blow
your brain, you won't be able to live
a normal life and you'll ruin yourself, you'll
destroy yourself, but you'll get a little enjoyment
right now.
You think he tells him all that?
The devil gives them the short-sighted view.
I'll tell you what you're going to enjoy
for the next 5 minutes or the next
1 hour.
Oh boy!
You're really going to be in heaven for
1 hour if you take this.
That's what he says.
He doesn't tell you what's going to happen
tomorrow when the hangover comes or next week
or next year, the consequences of all this.
No.
He didn't tell Adam and Eve and he
won't tell you and me.
But God's word has told us what a
man sows he'll reap.
You can't escape it.
So, we can learn Satan's tactics here.
I just want to say one thing and
that is, God loved this man and woman
even though they had disobeyed.
And he loves you even though you've disobeyed.
Even though you may have done so many
things wrong believer or unbeliever in your past
life.
You should be the one seeking after God.
Adam and Eve should have been the ones
when they sinned, running, looking for God.
God, where are you?
We've failed you.
But it says here that God came looking
for them.
And his words were Where are you?
Verse 9.
Adam, where are you?
And I believe that's what God's saying to
perhaps somebody here tonight.
Where are you?
Where are you today?
Where are you?
Where do you stand spiritually today?
Do you claim to be a believer?
And have you chosen to live in your
own self-appointed way?
Choosing every day that which is created above
the creator.
Choosing to please yourself, walk your own self
-chosen way far away from God today.
Even though you go to church regularly, even
though you say your prayers, no living contact
with God.
You read the Bible and it's a boring
book.
God doesn't speak to you.
That's right.
It doesn't mean God doesn't speak.
But dead men can't hear what God speaks.
If there's a dead man lying here, no
matter how loud I shout, he doesn't hear.
The problem is not with me, it's with
him.
And some people don't hear God speak, because
they're spiritually dead.
All those who are living in this room
hear what I say.
And those who are spiritually alive can hear
what God says.
And the Lord says to you, where are
you?
He's the one who comes seeking.
And when he came, he came with a
message of redemption.
He told Adam and Eve, okay, you've made
a mess of your life, but don't worry.
I've got a solution for it.
He came with a solution for that problem
which Adam and Eve had created for themselves.
That's a wonderful thing we read in Genesis
chapter 3.
He came and told Adam and Eve, don't
worry.
The seed of the woman, verse 15, will
crush the head of the devil.
He promised that 4,000 years later, Jesus
would come and defeat Satan and provide a
solution for the mess that Adam and Eve
had created.
Isn't that wonderful?
I praise God.
That's how God is.
He's a good God.
The devil's a bad devil, but God is
a good God.
And if you can believe that and submit
to the Lord and his commandments, knowing that
every commandment of his is for your good.
In his presence alone, his fullness of joy,
you'll never find it anywhere else.
In choosing the creator, you'll always get the
best.
In rejecting what he has created and choosing
him, he's testing you, that's all.
You'll always get the best.
He comes to you also and says, I've
got a solution for your problem.
Even if you've made a mess of your
life, don't worry.
I've got a solution.
I want to say to you, I believe
God has a solution for every single problem
that any human being has ever had in
all these years, even today.
There is no problem too big for God.
There's no problem that he doesn't have a
solution for.
No problem that he can't handle.
And to me, that's the message I get
in Jesus.
When he was on earth, people came to
him with their problems.
What do you read in the four Gospels?
Do you ever find somebody coming to Jesus
and Jesus scratching his head and say, Boy,
that's a tough one.
I don't know how to handle that one.
Not even once.
There was never a man or a woman
who came to Jesus with a problem that
Jesus had to scratch his head wondering how
to solve that one.
Everything was solved like that.
And the message from that to me is
he's the same yesterday, today, and forever.
I can come to him.
The only reason why sometimes he couldn't help
people was they wouldn't believe in him.
Then, of course, he can't help people even
today.
If you don't believe that Jesus can solve
your problem, I'm sorry to disappoint you, my
brother and sister, but Jesus will not solve
your problem.
Not because he can't, but because you won't
believe.
There's a sad verse written in Matthew 13,
the last verse, which says he could not
do many mighty works there because of their
unbelief.
But if you can trust him, there's nothing
he will not do.
He's come to solve our problems.
So we should not be ignorant of Satan's
tactics.
We'll think more about them tomorrow evening.
Let's pray.
While our heads are bowed in prayer, I
want to invite you to respond to the
word of God that you have heard.
You can make a decision before the Lord
right where you are seated, in your chair.
A simple decision that from today onwards you're
going to choose the creator above everything created
whenever you are tested or tempted in the
coming days.
You're always going to put God above his
creation.
Make that decision.
Respond to the Lord today and say, Lord,
before I leave this hall, I want to
make that decision.
Jesus Christ is going to be first in
my life from today.
That sin which the devil has fooled me
with, deceived me with for so long, I'm
going to forsake.
That sinful habit which Satan has fooled me
with for so long, I'm going to forsake.
I'm sorry, Lord, that I haven't taken sin
seriously.
I'm sorry, Lord, that I have not taken
obedience to the little commandments in God's words
seriously.
I don't care what other people around me
think or say.
I'm going to be obedient from today.
Take it seriously.
It will lead you into the presence of
God.
If you'd like any spiritual help, as you
leave the hall, there's a little room.
As you go out on your right, let's
open a door.
You can go in there.
There'll be someone there to come and pray
with you or help you if you need
help.
If you'd like to record your decision or
give us your name and address, there are
cards on the book table at the back.
Please fill in your name and address so
that someone can remember you in prayer.
Take that decision now, wherever you're seated.
Say, Lord Jesus, I want to turn around.
I'm sick and tired of my defeated life.
I want you to come into my life,
Lord Jesus.
Be my Lord.
Help me to be a disciple.
Not just a believer, but a disciple.
I trust you.
You can solve the problems in my life.
You can deliver me from the mess I've
made in my life.
You can bring me to the place of
fullness of joy.
Heavenly Father, I believe you can do more
than we can ask or think, and I
pray for those who are calling upon you
right now.
Those who are longing for you, for a
touch from you, I pray in Jesus' name
that you'll meet with them tonight.
Lead them into the liberty of the children
of God.
I pray in Jesus' name.
Amen.