Dr. Bradford Reaves
Crossway Christian Fellowship
Hagerstown, MD
www.mycrossway.org
We just finished a series in the Sermon on the Mount, and if you remember, Jesus started his sermon by listing the Beatitudes for the Kingdom of Heaven. Well, recently, I found the Devil’s Beatitudes, and it seemed to go along with my message this morning:
1. Blessed are those who are too tired, busy, and distracted to spend even an hour once a week in worship – they are my best workers.
2. Blessed are those Christians who wait to be asked and expect to be thanked - I can use them.
3. Blessed are the touchy who stop attending church when offended – for they are my missionaries.
4. Blessed are the trouble makers – for they shall be called my children.
5. Blessed are the complainers –for their complaints are music to my ears.
6. Blessed are the critical - for they fail to hear the Word.
7. Blessed are those who gossip - for they are my puppets
8. Blessed are those who do not give an offering – for in stealing from God you support me.
9. Blessed is he who professes to love God but hates his brother and sister - for he shall be with me forever.
10. Blessed are you who, when you hear this, think the preacher is talking about someone other than you– for I’ve got you right where I want you. (Credit: Matthew Sickling, Sermon Central)
The fact of the matter is, that though we were delivered from sin, most of us continue to listen to the voice of Satan. He deceives us, we believe what he says, and his schemes entertain us. The world is a place of increasing deception. The increase in deception is a sign of the coming antichrist; it is the spirit of the antichrist at work. Dan 8:25
By his cunning, he shall make deceit prosper under his hand (Daniel 8:25)
The truth is, deception in our world is nothing new. Satan uses the same tricks he used in the garden to deceive Eve. What has increased is those who are among the deceived, especially among believers. We could also call this apostasy.
Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, 12 in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (2 Thessalonians 2:11–12)
And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. 11 And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. 12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. (Matthew 24:10–12)
But this morning I don’t want to focus on the ‘what’ of deception, but instead the ‘how.’ And to do that, we are not going to go to the end of the Bible, but instead, to the beginning.
Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. (Genesis 3:1–6)
The Bible tells us that it is incumbent upon the believer not to be deceived, and with the myriad of false teachers who claim to teach God’s Word, it may seem daunting to discern the truth. Even some well-meaning people who claim to be pastors or teachers are teaching from God outside the Bible. This is one reason I teach prophecy in the news and apostasy in the church. With that, I want to share with you 5 steps Satan used in the garden and continues to use today to deceive God’s people.
Step 1 - Doubt God’s Truth
“Did God actually say...?” (Genesis 3:1)
We live in an era known as the Postmodern World. “Simply put, postmodernism is a philosophy that affirms no objective or absolute truth, especially in matters of religion and spirituality.” (GotQuestions.org). What Satan did in the Garden and what postmodernism does today is not question the reality of God, but rather, question the absolute certainty that God and His absolute truth can be known. If there is no absolute truth, there are no boundaries when it comes to morality or a moral law.
Pilate said to him, “What is truth?” (John 18:38)
The late apologist Ravi Zacharias would say, “When you say there’s too much evil in this world, you assume there’s good. When you assume there’s good, you assume there’s such a thing as a moral law based on which to differentiate between good and evil. But if you assume a moral law, you must posit a moral Law Giver, but that’s Who you’re trying to disprove and not prove. Because if there’s no moral Law Giver, there’s no moral law. If there’s no moral law, there’s no good. If there’s no good, there’s no evil.”
So Satan’s first scheme was to go to Eve. This is important for us to understand in spiritual warfare. The man’s job is to be the spiritual head of the household. Satan knew that God created God from the earth and Eve was created from Adam to be a “suitable helper” (Genesis 2:18). The first-line responsibility for spiritual protection and leadership was given to man. We will see God confront Adam and Eve, and He questions Adam first (Gen 3:9-13), even though Eve sinned before Adam. This is why Satan’s front-line attack against society is always the family.
And Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. (1 Timothy 2:14)
Paul tells us that the serpent deceived Eve, but Adam knew fully what he was doing. Instead of protecting his wife, he submitted to her deception.
As in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. (1 Corinthians 15:22)
The second part of this doubt of truth is that many see the Garden as the enemy - a ploy to confine man from our liberty. The enemy wants to convince us that our bondage (sin) is the liberty we desire, and what is given to us as liberty (righteousness) is the bondage.
This is the same message of our society today: in our schools, our entertainment, and even in some churches. The idea is that you are the ultimate determiner of your happiness. Even more, our happiness and fulfillment can be found and achieved apart from God. This leads us to Satan’s second step.
Step 2 - Question God’s Command
If you can question God’s Word as Truth, then you can question God’s command.
He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” Genesis 3:1–3 (ESV)
What Satan is doing is continuing an erosion of man’s trust in what God said. “Did God say that, or did He mean something else?” This attempts to show God’s command as something restrictive instead of loving. Do you see what happens here with the woman? When Satan questions God’s truth and love, Eve comes and retorts with God’s Word, but she changes it and makes it even more restrictive, saying they are not even allowed to touch it. However, that was not God’s word.
And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2:16–17)
So now, in Eve’s mind, she’s beginning to follow the deception through legalism that God is unfair and restrictive, and God doesn’t want her to have freedom by changing the command to something it was not - touching the fruit.
In recent weeks, during the war in Israel, I’ve seen many teachers falsely teaching replacement theology and changing the narrative about God’s covenant with Israel.
In a Presbyterian Church Pastrix, Rebecca Peters told her congregation that it was God who lied to Eve, not Satan. “Despite two millennia of misogynistic interpretations of Genesis and Eve, there have always been other ways to read this story. I love the story of Eve in the garden. . . . When we look at it with fresh eyes, it’s quite a remarkable story.” She continues, “Have you ever noticed God lied to Adam and Eve? While the serpent plays the role of the foil here, he’s meant to set Eve up for her role as the bringer of wisdom and moral agency to the human community. The set-up for her action is that God lied to her. God told the first couple, “You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you will die.” And the serpent reveals the truth, “You won’t die. God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God knowing good and evil.”
Every root of a church or denomination's departure from truth begins with the questioning or allegorizing of God’s Word, usually with the issue of creation and the deception in the Garden. Shortly thereafter, the inclusion of ordaining women was made. It is not about the ability of women that is at issue here. It is the spiritual nature of the headship of man. Just as Adam did not correct Eve or cast away the serpent, so it is when the man forsakes his God-given role to lead the woman in righteousness.
?And to Adam, he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain, you shall eat of it all the days of your life; (Genesis 3:17)
I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve; 14 and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. (1 Timothy 2:12–14)
Step 3 - Satan Openly Redefines the Truth
But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. (Genesis 3:4)
Satan, now that he has caused Eve to Doubt God’s Truth and Question God’s Command, is now able to openly and defiantly redefine what God's truth is. What Satan does is he makes God's command and judgment and illusion. Where God told Adam and Eve that the penalty for their sin to eat the fruit of the tree was death, Satan suggests that death and judgment are an illusion and they can do whatever they want because they would not die.
While evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. (2 Timothy 3:13)
Deceive was translated in the New Testament as planao. It means to lead astray, to cause someone to wander. We see it translated to the English word deceive, but it goes much further than deception. It is not just to cause you to accept something false; its purpose is to lead you astray and cause you to follow something deceptive.
Because of rebellion, the Lord’s people and the daily sacrifice were given over to it. It prospered in everything it did, and truth was thrown to the ground. (Daniel 8:12)
And you shall say to them, ‘This is the nation that did not obey the voice of the Lord their God and did not accept discipline; truth has perished; it is cut off from their lips. (Jeremiah 7:28)
This is where we find our culture in open practice today. This is why transgenderism is unbridled in our culture and the world. We reject the truth of God, even in his creation of man and woman made in His image. They are willing not only to mutilate their bodies but also the bodies of children. They believe if they change themselves, they can find true happiness. God made the mistake, and God’s Word is retraining them from being happy. But it doesn’t have to be with just transgenderism. It can be with addictions, pornography, relationships, and immoral behaviors. And so what happens is God becomes the villain, step 4.
Step 4 - God is the Villain
For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:5)
The deception is now complete, but Satan seals the deal by telling her the reason God gave them the command was to restrain them from being gods themselves. This is the highest form of human pride. It is what is the goal of humanism, Mormonism, Buddhism, Hinduism, New Age, and every other cult and false religion in the world, including the Word of Faith - that man’s highest achievement is to be equal with God.
The world is increasingly becoming evil, and there is increasing deception in this world - be it evolution, climate change, marxism, new age, COVID, or even some ideas in medical science that our highest ambition is immorality. Still, it all gets boiled down to the same deception of Satan. Don’t believe God; God is the villain because, as we see in Step 5 - We are to idolize ourselves.
Satan told Eve, “You will be like God.” What he was saying was, “You will be like me.”
Step 5 - You Are the Idol
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. (Genesis 3:6)
The goal of Satan was to deceive man into thinking he could define morals. Why? Suppose Satan can deceive man into believing he has the authority to define moral truth. In that case, he can also deceive man into determining what that moral truth should be, and in doing so, he leads man by the masses onto the broad path of destruction. Everything fails to be sacred under this reasoning.
Luciferians like Klaus Schwab want to define language, marriage, gender, life, parenting, community, science, and history. We’ve created Artificial Intelligence to satisfy our need for information and control - but it is only an illusion. And isn’t that what happened with Eve? She saw the fruit was good for food; the sight of it was pleasurable and enlightening. First, she gave in to the lust of the flesh (saw that it was good for food), then she gave in to the lust of the eyes (pleasant to the eyes), then she gave in to the pride of life (desirable to make one wise). Then she gave it to her husband.
Incidentally, Jesus was tempted in the same 3 ways (Matthew 4:1-11), except this time, the enemy was defeated.
Many churches today are all about feeling. Perception is more important than empirical evidence. But without truth and a clear understanding of sin, we will never understand what it means to require a Savior. Jesus will only be another Guru or someone to give us spiritual enlightenment instead of spiritual salvation. But redemption and sanctification are not about our enlightenment or reaching our highest spiritual potential. It is the realization that apart from Christ, we are what God told Adam and Eve would happen if they ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
Conclusion
Our savior is superior to any of the lies and deceptions brought to us and our culture by the enemy. But there are too many who are easily deceived by the world today.
And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. (Ezekiel 36:26–27)
Our weapon is the world of God - the sword, the blood of the lamb, and the word of our testimony.
Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. (John 17:17)
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1)
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)
even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. (John 14:17)
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. (John 14:26)
