Genesis 3
1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of 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 hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
8 And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.
How Did Eve End Up in Sin?
• Where was Eve when the story started? She was in the Garden. But WHAT was she doing over by the forbidden tree? What was Eve doing in the wrong part of town? Why was she over by wht was forbidden her in the first place?
• Why was she listening to the enemy’s talk? We get seduced listening to the wrong voices and being drawn slowly into the enemy’s snares, don’t we?
Let’s Talk About Adam
• You know what, Adam fell to peer pressure as most of us have at some point
• You know what – and this is for you single people - T¬¬he RIGHT partner won’t lead you the WRONG WAY! The RIGHT PARTNER won’t encourage you TO SIN, can I just tell you that?
- I met my husband when he was 20. I was 15, but passed for 19 or 20 all the time. I could go into bars uncarded, and did with him. Rick was an adult, he wanted a wife. But he fell in love with me. We got married. He wanted a wife, but he married a child. I didn’t know how to cook, I didn’t know how to clean. I didn’t know how to emotionally support a man. Don’t marry a child if you want a spouse, a partner. When you marry a child, that’s what you get. A child to take care of.
- You men looking who are searching for a virtuous woman – don’t fall for one showing everything she has, because that is NOT what virtue looks like, okay? If she is showing everything she has to you, she is also showing it to everybody else.
- You want a partner who will co-parent your children? Don’t look for the hottest thing on the block! Because they will STILL be the hottest thing on the block AFTER you are married to them! Somebody showing all they got is INSECURE and DESPERATE FOR ATTENTION. They still gonna want all that attention AFTER THEY ARE MARRIED, YALL – that’s a road that ends up in DIVORCE COURT, I’M JUST SAYIN
- If you want a partner that’s sober, don’t marry somebody that’s only been clean for 5 minutes
- If you want a godly marriage partner, you don’t marry somebody that’s been saved for 20 minutes when you been walking with the Lord for 20 years – THEIR WALK IS NOT PROVEN YET AND THEY COULD STILL GO EITHER WAY - YOU WANT A PARTNER THAT WILL WALK WITH YOU NOT ONE YOU HAVE TO DRAG AND WONDER WHAT THEY ARE DOING BEHIND YOUR BACK that you have to worry all the time what they are doing!
• DON’T BE LED AROUND BY YOUR FLESHLY DESIRES! Be led by His Spirit – walk in WISDOM. Wisdom is a rare thing these days. People of an excellent spirit like Daniel in the Bible are a rare thing these days. How your life ends up going has a lot to do with what or who you are being guided by. Remember The Donner Party? They were a group of 90 immigrants that left from Illinois in 1846 heading for what is now California, led by two brothers with the last name of Donner. First one thing and then another happened to delay their trip. Then they began following a route appointed by a guide who did not know the easiest way across the Sierra Nevadas, but acted like or thought he did. Following his direction led about half of them to their death. Only 45 made it to California the next year and according to legend even those who did had to resort to eating their dead friends’ corpses to survive. Following the wrong direction will lead you down the wrong path and you will end up at the wrong destination.
• You know, something I didn’t realize when I was believing for a spouse is that if the Lord had not sent me a spouse after 16 years, He probably wanted me to remain as I was! Think about that if you have been believing for a spouse for a long time.
• Eve took her eyes off of Jesus – she let the enemy lure HER FOCUS AWAY FROM GOD – THIS IS HOW SIN STARTS – when you KNOW you supposed to be thinking about your wife, but wow, that girl at the restaurant SURE IS CUTE and maybe you will go back there again tomorrow to that place. Suddenly you are hungry for that kind of food A LOT. STOP IT BEFORE IT STARTS because there is NO WAY THAT IS GOING TO END WELL.
- HOW DO AFFAIRS END? They end in someone getting hurt, someone’s reputation is ruined, a marriage ending in shame and disgrace – FINANCIAL LOSS, ministries being destroyed – they end in you getting STD’s they didn’t tell you they had (OR WORSE!) – they end in reputations ruined all over town – lost friendships because now no one wants their spouse around you. BLUNTLY PUT, AFFAIRS RUIN LIVES – LOTS OF THEM! AND FOR WHAT??? Chasing the Sexual Rainbow? For a few minutes of pleasure??? You think you’re gonna have a life and live HAPPILY EVER AFTER WITH THEM? Did you pray for THAT?? FOR A CHEATING SPOUSE?? Let me tell you something, if they cheat WITH YOU, they will CHEAT ON YOU!! A leopard don’t change its spots. Its NOT THEIR SPOUSE’S FAULT LIKE THEY ARE TELLING YOU
– THEY CAN’T BEAR TO TELL YOU THE TRUTH IS THAT THEY CAN’T BE HAPPY WITH JUST ONE PARTNER! You gonna build a life with THAT??? C’mon now – USE SOME WISDOM !!!
- Don’t go looking for someone who follows the rules behind bars either – yall know what I’m talking about!! THEY MAY LOOK GOOD, THEY MAY SOUND GOOD, but they have had lots of free time to learn how to charm people. Does their history show THEY WILL BE GOOD WHEN THEY GET OUT??? The answer to that question is almost always NO.
• Eve was in the wrong neighborhood, listening to the whispers of the enemy who only wanted to seduce her. She stared at what she couldn’t have instead of keeping her focus on Jesus, and that’s how she ended up being the Mother of All Sin. If we listen to the enemy, we will end up following in her mistaken footsteps. She was human just like us. She fell to temptation just like us.
• And pretty soon, she was left standing there, watching her relationship with God and her reputation just circling the drain…
• Adam fell to peer pressure – he was listening to the wrong people instead of keeping his eyes on God. And he TRUSTED his spouse and his spouse WAS NOT HEARING FROM GOD !
• Samson fell into sin because HE KEPT GOING BACK INTO THE ENEMY’S CAMP – You can’t hold hands with the enemy and not get into sin !!!
• Samson fell because he fell in love with the enemy. She did NOT love him back. The enemy will NEVER LOVE YOU LIKE YOU WANT TO BE LOVED – and the enemy HAS NO ABILITY TO LOVE YOU. GET AWAY BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE!! You desperately want that relationship to work, but some people are only in it for what they can get, just like Delilah in the Bible. She cared nothing at all for Samson, but he was blind to that. She just wanted what she could get from the situation with Samson.
• Delilah DEMANDED PROOF OF SAMSON’S LOVE FOR HER, WHILE SHOWING NONE TO HIM. Delilah only thought about herself.
• We must take GREAT CARE where we allow our affections TO LEAD US.
• The Word says GUARD YOUR HEART: Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. (Prov. 4:23)
• SO LET’S THINK ABOUT THAT FOR A MINUTE…. Your heart is where THE WORD OF GOD IS WRITTEN… Romans 2:14-15 (ESV)
14 For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law.
15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them
Hebrews 8:10: 10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
The Lord has a good plan for your life. Jeremiah 29:11 says 11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
BUT YOU HAVE TO DO YOUR PART - He can’t make you a full-time preacher if you want to be on drugs and chase loose women. He can’t give you a godly husband if you want to hang out in the clubs at night with all your goodies hangin out, alright??? Come on, now – LETS USE SOME OF THAT WISDOM HE GAVE YOU HERE!!
All you gonna attract in those clubs is what clubs are good for – A GOOD TIME. He’s looking for a GOOD TIME - NOT A WIFE, WOMAN OF GOD.
Clubs are no place for godly women, can I just tell you that??
And they are NO PLACE FOR GODLY MEN, EITHER.
• I’M TELLING YALL THE TRUTH TODAY, PLEASE LISTEN TO ME OR YOUR LIFE WILL END UP LOOKING LIKE A TRAIN WRECK WHERE A 3 YEAR OLD WAS DRIVIN’!!
- The Word of God says Colossians 3:2: 2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
The Word says in Matthew 6:33 :
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
WHAT exactly does it mean to seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness first?
Haggai 2:4-19 (ESV)
15 Now then, consider from this day onward.[a] Before stone was placed upon stone in the temple of the Lord,
16 how did you fare? When[b] one came to a heap of twenty measures, there were but ten. When one came to the wine vat to draw fifty measures, there were but twenty.
17 I struck you and all the products of your toil with blight and with mildew and with hail, yet you did not turn to me, declares the Lord.
18 Consider from this day onward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month. Since the day that the foundation of the Lord's temple was laid, consider:
19 Is the seed yet in the barn? Indeed, the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have yielded nothing. But from this day on I will bless you.”
So what the Lord was telling them is: When you didn’t put MY HOUSE first, I let you be in LACK. But when you put ME and BUILDING UP MY HOUSE FIRST, you’re gonna have PLENTY.
The Temple was their church back then. That was where they learned about God and where they went to church. It had been destroyed. God was calling for it to be built back up again so His people could come again to the Temple and bring sacrifices for their sins. So they could come and learn about Him, His laws (they were under the law then, 613 laws, also called The Mosaic Law because it was originally given to Moses, that they were all supposed to follow, and that told them what animals needed to be sacrificed for each sin and all that.
SO GOD IS SAYING HE WANTS HIS HOUSE AND WHAT HIS HOUSE NEEDS TO BE PUT FIRST. He wants us to THINK OF HIM FIRST, not what WE want. He wants us to put THE NEEDS OF HIS PEOPLE FIRST.
He wants to be FIRST IN EVERYTHING IN OUR LIVES!
LOSING SIGHT OF WHAT WAS IMPORTANT CAUSED SAMSON TO BE CAPTURED BY HIS ENEMIES. HE LOST HIS VISION, HIS REPUTATION AND HIS POSITION WHEN HE DID. But honestly, he was ALREADY BLIND, wasn’t he? In the same way so many of us have been before. He was blinded BY HIS DESIRES. DESIRES DO NOT MAKE GOOD GODS. Desires are TRAPS SET BY THE ENEMY OF YOUR SOUL TO TAKE YOU CAPTIVE.
Samson spent his WHOLE LIFE FIGHTING THE WRONG ENEMY. THE REAL ENEMY WAS HIS WEAKNESS FOR BEAUTIFUL WOMEN. If he had conquered that in the beginning of his walk, we would read many stories of his other conquests in the Bible. I’m sure God wanted to do MUCH MORE through him.
When King David fell to temptation with the beautiful Bathsheba and caused Uriah her husband to be killed by the enemy, peace was taken from his household. King David would never have fallen to that temptation if he had been out fighting with his men instead of laying around the palace, would he? Like Eve, he was found hanging out in the wrong neighborhood. Although he did go to war and conquer Rabbah-Ammon, all you really see after Bathsheba in the chronological timeline is the chaos in his household. Did he even win any more big battles? He had to stay in the palace and try to keep his household under control after that. It was never at peace again.
People he loved were constantly scheming against him. People were being murdered. It became a madhouse. NO woman, no matter how beautiful, could compensate for the loss of even one beloved child, much less not having peace for the REST OF YOUR NATURAL LIFE and WHERE SIN IS, THERE IS NEVER PEACE.
And you have to wonder if that hour or two of pleasure with Bathsheba was REALLY WORTH the rape of his daughter Tamar and the destruction of any respectable future for her, the murder of his son Amnon, the loss of his son Absalom and the end of King David’s being a mighty warrior??? AND THE LIST JUST GOES ON AND ON AND ON.
Psalm 111:10 (ESV): 10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding.
His praise endures forever!
King David feared God until he met Bathsheba, and it was all downhill from there. He let his desires OVERRIDE WHAT HE KNEW WAS RIGHT. WE HAVE ALL BEEN THERE.
BATHSHEBA WAS NOT GOD’S WILL FOR KING DAVID. If you get with the WRONG PARTNER, your life WILL GO DOWNHILL, TOO. God would have gladly given him as many beautiful women as he wanted, but not someone else’s wife! God will not send you the spouse of someone else, can I just tell you that? No matter how bad they say their marriage is, adultery is NEVER His will for you.
King David had gotten into idolatry. Idolatry is when you put a person, place or thing BEFORE WHAT YOU KNOW GOD WANTS YOU TO DO. All sin is idolatry at its lowest level.
So think about all the things that people in the Bible got in to trouble through – being in the wrong place, being led around by their desires, taking their focus off Jesus, peer pressure, listening to the whispers of the enemy….
The Bible says that wisdom is more precious than rubies. If you don’t want your life to look like a train wreck, pay heed to what the Word of God says. Meditate on it. Learn from the stories we have been given in it…
You can have a life of good choices based on wisdom. A life of peace. Or your life can look like a train wreck because you let your fleshly desires lead the way.
The choice is yours.
