#1 (THE "TEMPTATION" SERIES)
"TEMPTATION
TO GO OWN WAY!"
TEXT:
Gen.
2:25-3:24
INTRO:
The world scoffs at the Christian message about sin and the fall of man
in the persons of Adam and Eve.
Their attitude is: "So what is the big deal over eating an
apple?" What they don't
understand is the effect of that one act of disobedience. Temptation and sin are no minor
problems, and it is not a laughing matter!
ILLUS:
IN 1868 A FRENCHMAN IMPORTED A FEW GYPSY MOTHS TO THIS COUNTRY TO
CROSSBREED THEM WITH SILK WORMS.
ONE NIGHT A FEW OF THEM ESCAPED FROM THE CAGE AT HIS HOME IN MELROSE,
MASS. HE WAS TERRIFIED AND QUICKLY
NOTIFIED HIS NEIGHBORS FOR HELP, BUT THEY LAUGHED AT HIM FOR MAKING SUCH A BIG
DEAL OUT OF A FEW SMALL MOTHS! 20
YEARS LATER EVERY BIT OF GREEN FOLIAGE FOR MILES AROUND MELROSE WAS DEVOURED,
AND TODAY WE SPEND IN EXCESS OF $75,000,000 EVERY YEAR JUST TO KEEP THE GYPSY
MOTH UNDER CONTROL IN NEW ENGLAND!
WHAT SEEMED SMALL AT THE MOMENT HAS SHOWN JUST HOW REALLY DEVASTATING A
DECISION CAN BE LATER! -- SUCH WAS ADAM AND EVE'S SIN! – Source
Unknown
The
greatest temptation and the easiest to fall into is the temptation to go our own
way in life! It was this temptation that led to the
fall of man in the beginning ... and it is still the greatest temptation that
many yield to.
PROP.
SENT: The Bible
will teach us that we must be careful not to yield to the temptation to go
our own way, to think that we can do just fine without
God!
I. DOUBTING GOD'S
WORD!
2:25-3:3
A.
Secure!
1. Notice that this verse states that
"Adam and Eve
were both naked and they felt no shame."
(NIV)
a. There was no sense of evil, no
shame ... they were in perfect harmony with God and each other ... no
sin!
b. There were no questions at this
point about God's Word ... they accepted His Word without question; they walked
in perfect obedience to God's Word.
c. No wonder David so often talked
about how wonderful it was to those who loved God's Word, there is security in
His Word.
2. They had nothing to “hide” so to speak, nakedness was not a
problem for there was no sinful nature to deal with.
3. They felt quite safe and secure in
God's Word ... no doubts ... YET!
ILLUS:
A MAN WAS ATTEMPTING ONE NIGHT TO CROSS A WIDE FROZEN RIVER THOUGH OTHERS
HAD ASSURED HIM HE COULD JUST SIMPLY WALK OVER WITH EASE. HE COULD HAVE TAKEN THEIR WORD ON IT BUT
HE WAS DOUBTFUL ABOUT THEIR WORD!
WHEN HE BEGAN, OUT OF SIGHT OF THE PEOPLE WHO HAD GIVEN THEIR WORD, HE
DROPPED TO HIS STOMACH AND BEGAN THE LONG SLOW CRAWL OVER THE ICE. HE WAS NERVOUS THE WHOLE TIME FOR A
CRACK TO BEGIN AND FOR HIS LIFE TO SINK INTO THE FROZEN WATERS. IT DIDN'T MATTER THAT THE NATIVES HAD
GIVEN THEIR WORD THAT IT WAS MORE THAN SAFE, HE HAD HIS DOUBTS ... AFTER A LONG SLOW
CRAWL ON HIS BELLY AS HE WAS NEARING THE MIDDLE OF THE RIVER HE HEARD A
SICKENING SOUND ... IT WAS LOUD AND SOMEWHAT IN THE DISTANCE COMING TOWARD
HIM. HE NEARLY PANICKED AND NOW
FELT HIS DOUBTS WERE CERTAINLY JUSTIFIED. COLD, FROZEN AND FEARFUL HE LOOKED UP AND
LOW AND BEHOLD COMING TOWARD HIM WAS A HEAVY TEAM OF HORSES PULLING A LOAD OF
PIG IRON. IT WAS MAKING ITS REGULAR
CROSSING AT THIS TIME OF THE YEAR WHEN THE RIVER WAS SO FROZEN THAT IT COULD
SUPPORT A TRAIN IF NECESSARY! NOW
HE FELT STUPID ON HIS STOMACH CRAWLING SLOWLY OVER THE ICE AS THE TEAM OF HORSE
AND THE WAGON OF PIG IRON PASSED HIM BY!
HIS DOUBTS HAD KEPT HIM FROM MAKING PROGRESS LIKE HE COULD HAVE. HE COULD HAVE BEEN ACROSS ALREADY EASILY
AND WITHOUT GETTING FROZEN IN THE PROCESS, BUT HE DOUBTED THEIR WORD! DOUBT HAD CERTAINLY SLOWED HIM
DONE! – Source
Unknown
4. Without doubting they were secure
and free, but this would soon change as Satan plants a little seed of
doubt!
a. Sin always begins with doubt about
God's Word!
b. Doubt then flows into
disobedience!
B.
Suspicion
3:1-3
1. Of all the creatures, the serpent
was quite crafty. Satan employs his
nature to get Eve!
a. This is always the way Satan works,
he uses and exploits other’s, he uses their qualities and twists things to his
own ends!
b. Satan’s ploy is to create doubt
about what God said!
c. This is still the way he works in
the world today.
2. It
should be no surprise to us that unbelievers doubt the validity of God's Word,
this is what keeps them from having to confess their
sinfulness.
a. If they really believed the Word of
God they would be faced with the reality that they are sinners and lost without
Christ!
b. They would be faced with the need
to confess Christ and get saved!
c. It is doubt that keeps them from
acting on God's Word!
3. Satan throws suspicion into the
mind of Eve about what God’s Word!
a. And notice that it seems to be
working too!
b. Notice also that Eve adds something
here to God's Word, she adds, "... and you must
not touch it...” but God
hadn't said that, only that she shouldn’t eat it!
c. Is it possible that her addition
about touching it indicated that she had been hanging around that particular
tree!?
4. Her statement indicated that the
doubt Satan was trying to plant was working:
a. She was playing with the temptation
if she was even thinking about touching it, but wasn’t planning on eating
it!
b. How many times have people gotten
themselves in trouble by "playing"
with temptation!?
ILLUS: A BOY NAMED BOB WAS TOLD ONE DAY
BY HIS MOTHER NOT TO GO IN SWIMMING IN A NEARBY POND. SHE TOLD HIM NOT TO GIVE IN TO THE
TEMPTATION AS HE WALKED BY IT ON HIS WAY TO THE BALL PARK. HE ASSURED HER THAT HE WOULDN'T GIVE IN
TO TEMPTATION. HOWEVER, LATER HIS
MOM DISCOVERED HE HAD DISOBEYED AND IN TALKING WITH HIM FIGURED OUT WHY? BOB SAID HE TOOK HIS SWIMMING TRUNKS
WITH HIM JUST IN CASE HE HAD TO GIVE INTO TEMPTATION, BUT HE INTENDED ALL ALONG
NOT TO GIVE IN! HOW MANY DO THIS
TODAY? THEY INTEND TO FIGHT CERTAIN
TEMPTATIONS … BUT THEN THEY PUT THEMSELVES RIGHT NEAR OR IN THE SITUATIONS THAT
OFFER THEIR TEMPTATION A WAY TO BE FILLED!? – Source
Unknown
5. Once the doubts were in place the
next logical step … DISOBEDIENCE!
II. DISOBEYING GOD'S WORD
3:4-20
A.
Seduction! 3:4-5
1. Now comes the next stage of temptation,
from doubt about God’s Word to outright rejection of God’s
Word!
a. Satan now offers an outright lie,
mixed with some truth!
(1. “You will not
die” (The lie!)
(2. “You will know
good from evil.” (The truth)
b. Satan has always been good at
mixing truth with lies; this is what makes people fall for his ways! (This is what happens in
cults)
c. Satan has seduced this world into
thinking that they can solve their own sinful nature problems, without Christ of
course!
2. Satan tries to make disobeying God
look beneficial, they will be so much wiser and much more independent without
God! This is the same tactic he
uses with the world still!
a. Satan was claiming God lied to
them; it was therefore their choice who now to believe!
b. Tell people you believe God's Word
and see the response you get!
3. Satan knows that should they choose
to not believe God's Word he has them right where he wants
them!
4. Satan makes their disobedience look
attractive. He tells them how much
they will come to know good and evil, just like God!
a. He makes the goal attractive and
positive sounding!
b. He still does the same today with
temptation to sin.
ILLUS:
DURING THE MIDDLE AGES WHEN THE APOSTATE CHURCH WAS PERSECUTING THE REAL
PEOPLE OF GOD, THE SPANISH INQUISITORS USED AN INSTRUMENT OF TORTURE CALLED THE
"VIRGIN." IT WAS A
BEAUTIFULLY FORMED STATUE OF A WOMAN DRESSED IN GORGEOUS ROBES WITH AN INVITING
SMILE ON HER FACE AND HER ARMS OUTSTRETCHED TO EMBRACE YOU. INTO HER ARMS THEY WOULD LEAD THE POOR
VICTIMS, AS THEY EMBRACED HER THEY WOULD SUDDENLY FEEL THE THRUST INTO THEIR
BODIES OF SEVERAL DOZEN HIDDEN KNIVES!
WHAT APPEARED TO BE BEAUTIFUL WAS DEADLY! THIS IS JUST THE WAY SATAN ALWAYS MAKES
SIN LOOK … AND WITH THE SAME EFFECT -- DEATH! – Source
Unknown
B.
Self-Reliance!
3:6-7
1. Notice how Eve responds to Satan’s
request to go ahead and eat, she begins rationalizing the positive side to
Satan’s temptation!
a. Eve reasoned the fruit was good for
food – desirable and beneficial use!
b. Eve noticed it was "pleasing to the
eye" (looked good!)
c. She even saw a way to make herself
better than the way God had made her.
(Independence from God, to doubt that He had been
good)
2. Satan was offering Eve a chance to
make something of herself apart from Adam, and from
God!
a. Our culture is doing the same with
marriage today, instead of uniting a couple it is breeding “independence” as the way to
go.
b. This was not how God had made Adam
and Eve, they were not made to be independent of each other, NOR independent
from God.
3. Sin is nothing more than the
elevation of self!
a. This was Satan's sin at his
fall!
b. He now seeks to drag others down
with him, still his goal today!
c. But to do this, he must make
choosing sin a good, beneficial, and appealing choice!
ILLUS: A FATHER AND SON WERE WALKING
ALONG THE STREETS OF PARIS ONE NIGHT.
THEY PASSED A PLACE THAT WAS BRILLIANTLY LIT; IT WAS DECORATED WITH ALL THE COLORS OF
THE RAINBOW. SOFT MUSIC EMANATED
FROM WITHIN, AND THE FRAGRANCE OF ARABIAN SPICES FLOWED OUTWARD FROM THE OPEN
WINDOWS. THE SON ASKED, “WHAT IS THAT FATHER?” THE FATHER ANSWERED, “THAT MY SON IS HELL!” THE BOY LOOKED QUITE SURPRISED AND HE
ASKED HOW THIS COULD BE WITH ALL THE COLOR AND GLITTER AND GLAMOUR EMANATING
FROM WITHIN? IT ALL LOOKED SO NICE;
IT SMELLED SO NICE, ETC. WHAT’S
MORE, THE SON POINTED OUT THAT THE SIGN OUT FRONT READ, “FREE ADMISSION!” THE FATHER SAID TO HIS SON, “IT MIGHT BE FREE TO GET IN, BUT IT WILL
COST YOUR SOUL TO GET OUT!” IT
MIGHT LOOK GOOD, IT MIGHT BE APPEALING, BUT WITHIN IS DEATH, MAYBE NOT
IMMEDIATELY, BUT IT IS THERE. SIN
IS MADE TO BE APPEALING, AND DEADLY! – Source
Unknown
4. Those who sin like to take others
with them, notice that Eve took the fruit and gave some to her HUSBAND WHO
WAS WITH HER! 3:6b
a. It makes it easier to give in when
you have someone to do it with you!
b. This is why it is important to
break away from those you have learned sinful habits with, especially when we
are trying to break free from certain sins!
5. Adam too buys into the "self-reliant" logic and so participates
in sinning along with Eve.
6. The biggest temptation of all is
SELF-RELIANCE, that we don’t need God!
a. This is the basic stance of the
world today!
b. This is the trumpet blast of
unbelievers.
c. It is also the thing that leads to
the fall of Christians today!
7. Sure enough, part of what Satan
said came true after they ate, “their eyes were opened,” and now they felt
ashamed and naked!
a. They knew good and evil, but unlike
God they knew it from a fallen nature and not as God who had a perfect
nature. They were NOTHING like
God as Satan had promised them, Satan’s lie hit full force now, they were
quite the opposite of God!
b. In an attempt to hide their sense
of “being exposed” (naked) they sew
fig leaves together to cover their sense of shame, their attempt to regain a
sense of dignity.
c. You will note however that their
OWN ATTEMPT TO COVER THEIR SIN AND SHAME failed! How do we know? They still went and hid themselves from
God!
d. One does not hide from God when you
are “clean.”
B. Shame! 3:8-20
1. As God’s presence comes near them
they run and hide.
a. This is still the reaction to God’s
presence by unbelievers, why do you think they get uncomfortable in
Church?
b. They feel exposed and naked; they
are ashamed! This is the fruit of
sin.
2. One of the first things sin brings
is FEAR!
a. Hence they hide from
God.
b. They are now afraid of
God.
3. God however is still interested in
them, this is GRACE! He asks them
why they are hiding, and who told them they were naked? God was seeking them out, as He
continues to do today.
a. And now we see the fallen nature
and its true spirit. Adam blames
his wife Eve for his terrible situation, a pattern still found in the world
today – we blame others for our shortcomings and sin.
b. Actually, in a sense Adam was
actually trying to BLAME GOD!
Notice Adam’s statement, “The woman YOU GAVE ME did give me to
eat…”
c. And of course, Eve turns around and
blames the serpent!
d. The serpent says nothing. If Satan was still nearby, he must have
been laughing!
4. Now God announces in reverse order
the price tag for their rebellion against God, for their attempts at
self-reliance. In one sense God
is going to give them what they wanted and what they sought … a chance to do it
on their own, and this will mean hard tough work!
a. The serpent is the first to get his
punishment, he is cursed to eat dust and crawl on his belly all his days and to
be at odds with humanity.
Prophetically in verse 15 there is a
hint however that the seed of the woman would one day crush the serpent
altogether, the first real glimmer of hope for redemption for
mankind.
b Eve will find bearing
children a painful experience and her role to her husband will now change from a
perfect equal to more of a subservient role (not less in value to God, but sin
will destroy true equality in society)
c. For Adam, he will find providing a
tough task ... the earth will rebel against his rulership even as he rebelled
against God's rulership. Thorns and
thistles will slow the production of crops and thus his needs being
met!
d. Ultimately, they both will return
to the dust they were made from, indeed the seed of death started the very day
they ate! Their spirit died
immediately the day they ate, the warning from God was that the day they ate of
the fruit they would die, this is what caused the immediate sensation of being
"exposed" or naked!
5. What great loss from so small an
act! But it only appeared to be a
“small act” … in reality it was a
huge statement … to turn away from God!
a. It wasn’t the fruit that was evil;
it was their act of disobedience and independence from
God.
b. This is the way sin is, it is what
we do … going our own way and ignoring God’s Word that always gets us into
trouble.
Ill. DELIVERANCE GOD'S WAY!
3:21-24
A.
Sacrifice
3:21
1. God needed to solve their problem
of shame and nakedness. Their own
attempts to cover their shame with the fig leaves hadn’t worked ... they were
still hiding even with them on!
a. These fig leaves represented man’s
best efforts at covering his own sinfulness – a failed effort both then and
now!
b. God had a better covering for them,
one that will at least for now cover their shame, but it involved something
innocent dying! God made the first
blood sacrifice in order to "put skins" on them!
(1. This is no doubt how man first
discovered the principle that there must be the "shedding of
blood for the remission of sin."
(2. God
offered the first blood sacrifice ... and ultimately in Christ the last one
too!
c. Adam and Eve witnessed the shedding
of blood in order for them to be properly clothed and their shame covered,
something else died for them to live!
2. This is the very basis behind Christ's
sacrifice, all our "fig leaf” attempts in this world to cover our
sin will prove fruitless. Our own
mechanisms for covering our sins will never be good enough. We MUST be clothed upon with Christ’s
righteousness; His sacrifice for our sins must be accepted. It was the shedding of His blood and the
covering of His righteousness that alone covers our sins.
a. They now could approach God again
after He covered them from the blood sacrifice He alone had
made!
b. Jesus did this for all mankind, we
must accept the “SKIN” however in order to be covered, that “SKIN” is Christ’s
own righteousness, not our own.
ILLUS: IN EUROPE There is a lamb carved high up in a bell tower
of a church. a visitor asked for an
explanation, stating that they had seen several carved images of lambs
throughout europe but never one in a bell tower. the EXPLANATION was this: years ago when the church was being
built a man who was working on the tower fell from the scaffolding just when
they WERE placing a rock in the tower.
after his fall, the workers all rushed to the GROUND to see if he was
still alive and to their amazement they found him just fine! He had fallen into a flock of sheep
below and had landed on a lamb which had absorbed the fall for him LEAVING HIM
fine and unhurt, however, the lamb was dead. That lamb had saved his life at the cost
of its own, exactly what the “lamb of god” (Jesus) had done for us. So they carved the rock into a lamb to
remind them of the saving work of christ!
– Source
Unknown
B.
Safety
3:22-24
1. Now, God in an act of mercy drives
Adam and Eve from the garden, WHY?
a. This was not an act of punishment
as much as it was an act of mercy and love … for in the garden was another tree
called the “tree of life,” and if they ate from it now they
would live forever in the fallen state of sin with no hope of redemption. God did not want them to be condemned
forever, so He drives them out from further damage, to put into place a plan to
redeem them forever.
b. This was therefore an act of
kindness of God's part, to allow for healing them completely
later!
2. God was concerned about their
safety, their eternal safety!
a. If they fell to the temptation to
eat before they were a sinner what might they do with the tree of life now that
they were a sinner?
b. God therefore removes from them
this next temptation so that they could be saved
again!
3. God's great love has made a way for
us to escape the temptation of going our own way, have you taken it? His name is
JESUS!
CONCLUSION:
How ironic, Satan said, "take and
eat" and it led to man's
destruction, later Jesus comes and says, "take and
eat" and it leads to our
redemption! Satan's design was
to separate us from God, Jesus’ design is to unite us back to God …what a
difference! The essence of sin is
acting independent from God, to go it alone and do it our own way! Man's problem has always been to go it
alone! Apart from God there is no
life, for we are only the creature -- He alone is the Creator! Moving away from God is moving away from
Heaven, that leaves only Hell as the final destination! The greatest temptation you will face
will be to do it your way, not His way, to go it alone without Him and to avoid
His Word! Don't take this route; it
is full of shame, fear, nakedness, and death. Don't repeat Adam and Eve's
error!