DATE
WHY DO WE SIN?
Genesis 3:1-14.
Ge 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?
Ge 3:2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
Ge 3:3 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.
Ge 3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
Ge 3:5 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.
Ge 3:6 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.
Ge 3:7 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.
Ge 3:8 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.
Ge 3:9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
Ge 3:10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
Ge 3:11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
Ge 3:12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
Ge 3:13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
Ge 3:14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: (KJV)
INTRODUCTION: Why do we sin? We sin because we are sinners. We sin because we want to sin. Most sin because they enjoy certain sins and look at them as enjoyment. Yet there is more to it than just being sinners.
Why did Adam and Eve sin? We can see our own failings in their life also. They had never seen wrong before. They didn’t know what sin was. They probably knew that evil was unrighteousness and was against the very nature of God, but having never experienced it didn’t know the full consequences of it. God had never told Adam and Eve to quit doing a certain thing because it was wrong and shouldn’t be done. They had not been corrected for wrong before their first experience with sin.
The only command they had to keep was to not eat of the fruit of the tree in the middle of the Garden. Nothing else was off limits to them. Anything they could think of to do was acceptable to God except eating of that one certain tree.
How many of you have told your children to not do a certain thing, and then they would do it anyway. Mine never did to that. They never did anything wrong. Ask them and they will tell you they were perfect children.
All children can think of hundreds of sins to do without having to be taught to do them. How many had to teach you child to stomp their foot on the floor when they didn’t want to do what you told them to? You didn’t have to give them lessons on ignoring your instructions. They just knew how to do them on their own. That’s called self-will. Apparently Adam and Eve didn’t have a self-will until after their sin. Nothing they could have done would have been wrong.
They only had one temptation and yielded to it the very first time.
Why did they sin?
I. THEY DIDN’T TAKE SERIOUSLY GOD’S WORD
Ge 2:16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
Ge 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. (KJV)
Psalm 119 is known as the Psalm of the Word.
In Psalm 119 alone there are 38 mentionings of the Word of God. That is one reference ever 4 ½ verses.
Ps 119:11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. (KJV)
Ps 119:101 I have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep thy word.(KJV)
Ps 119:105 NUN. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. (KJV)
Ps 119:133 Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me. (KJV)
A. The Seriousness Of Obedience. “Thou shalt not eat…”
1. Today’s Christians treat his word the same as did Adam and Eve.
2. Many don’t take it serious.
3. You would never be able to make me believe otherwise had Adam realized at that moment the far reaching effect sin would have on his family he would have refrained.
a. Had he seen the relationship between Cain and Able that would eventually come.
b. Had he seen the heartache and the strife he would have refrained.
B. We Announce The Monthly Tract Day – Less than 10 percent of the church comes to participate.
I wonder if the other 90 percent took it serious. I understand that some may be sick and others may work.
“That’s a preacher thing, Bro. Ivan.” It’s more than that. It is a “God thing.” God commands this church to “Go ye into all the world…”. He doesn’t just say certain members. He doesn’t include certain ones and exclude all the others.
If any were excluded, none are, but if any were, it would be the pastors. Pastors are shepherds of the flock. Shepherds lead the sheep. Sheep produce sheep. Shepherds lead sheep. The pastors are sheep also, and are to reproduce sheep, but the sheep are to be busy about bringing in new sheep all the time.
We are trying so hard to get some new programs going of “fishing for new souls”. But none of them will work if all the “sheep” don’t get involved in the effort of “fishing”.
So I am asking each of you to take seriously God’s command of going out and bringing in.
They not only didn’t take seriously God’s word.
II. THEY LISTENED TO THE WRONG PERSON 3:1,6.
Ge 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? (KJV)
Ge 3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
Ge 3:6 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. (KJV)
Ge 3:8 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. (Sin will cause man to want to hide from God.) (The times that I disobeyed my dad I didn’t want to see him right then – I loved him very much.)
Ge 3:9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
Ge 3:10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
Ge 3:11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? (KJV) Adam was supposed to be naked – God had made him that way, and had not changed any procedure concerning Adam’s appearance.
God said, “Who have you been listening to?” Vs. 11.
Ge 3:11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? “Adam who have you been listening to? You are supposed to be listening to me only. I am your Guide. I am the one who will give you directions.”
May you and I today realize that God and God alone is our source of instructions and directions. Don’t listen to anyone else.
Anytime you listen to anything contrary to God’s Word you are listening to a spokesman of Satan. It matters not who the spokesman may be. It could be your spouse – maybe a trusted a friend.
I know of situations where parents of adult children have told their children they didn’t need to be so involved in the things at church. If that has happened to you then that is a spokesman of Satan. Don’t allow anyone to deter you from listening to God. He alone will always lead you correctly.
Too many Christians let someone else do their thinking for them.
Don’t let Hollywood think for you.
Don’t let the liberal government think for you.
Don’t let this humanistic society think for you.
I don’t mean to make this sound wrong, but my in-laws tried to talk my family out of going to Kentucky to Bible School in 1973. Had we listened to them it would have been a terrible mistake. They weren’t trying to be evil nor harmful to us, but they didn’t know the will of God for our family.
Don’t listen to the wrong people. You will become whom you hang around. If your friends don’t challenge you to live better Christian life then change friends.
Why is it that so many Christians will take the word of a lost or even backslidden friend over the Word of God? I can’t understand that. Ps 12:6 The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. (KJV)
The Bible says, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.” That is the very word of God speaking and so many of you will allow some unsaved friend talk you into going against the Word of God.
Who have you been listening to?
Don’t you listen to some unspiritual person tell you you don’t need to go to church every Sunday. Don’t you let them tell you that that church is just trying to take you for all you have.
Don’t listen to that infidel that would tell you that if you didn’t tithe you could buy a $200,000 home.
Don’t you listen to anyone try to lure you away from walking with the Lord Jesus Christ daily.
Young people don’t you let some wicked TV star influence you into thinking that you can look like sin itself and still be OK. You can’t. Don’t let the fashion of sin pull you down.
You can’t change the fashion of sin by making it fashionable.
Don’t you let some wicked rock or rap singer tell you to turn against the things of God and follow their god. Don’t you listen to them.
Dad’s and mom’s don’t you listen to some wicked philosophy that says don’t discipline your children because it will warp their personality. Don’t listen to that garbage.
Don’t listen to some TV preacher that tells you to send your tithes and offerings to them and you will have prosperity and be healed from some disease. Don’t listen to them.
God has placed you here in this church and this it the place He wants you to get your instructions from. The Bible is opened, taught from and preached from every service. Don’t listen to anyone else that might try to tell you different. If what you hear at work, school, the grocery store, or on TV differs from what it taught here from the KJV don’t listen to it. Turn a deaf ear to it. Get away from that kind of talk. If it happens to be someone that you consider a friend, break friendship with them. If it is a family member that is telling you wrong, get away from them. Break relations with them. 2Th 3:6 Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us.
1Ti 6:5 Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself. (KJV)
It is more important that you follow truth than have a certain friend.
Who are you listening to?
III. THEY DIDN’T TAKE SERIOUSLY GOD’S PENALTY FOR SIN
Ge 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. (KJV)
He reaffirms this in James.
Jas 1:15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. (KJV)
If each of us really realized the ultimate penalty for sin we would do much less sinning on purpose.
A. Adam And Eve Didn’t Understand Death.
They had never experienced anyone or anything dying before. They didn’t know what death meant. Up until their sin they had lived a protected life. They had never seen anything vile, evil, or vain. They had never seen anything wrong. When god spoke of death, they didn’t totally understand what was meant. I’m am most certainly not making excuses for them. They chose to sin. They chose to go against God’s command, and they had been warned against doing such and was told the penalty.
B. It Brings Separation From God.
No presence of or influence from God.
Let me illustrate it like this: We have all seen a dead animal along the roadside somewhere that had been there for a while. The carcass was saturated with worms and bugs of all kinds. They were crawling everywhere. A thick mass of filth. All that could be seen was the worms. Hell will be filled with demons. They will be everywhere you can see. They will be thicker than the worms in that dead carcass. The will be surrounding you everywhere. You will hear them breathing and making demonic noises. There will be gashing and gnawing of teeth They will growling or whatever kind of noise they make. They will be crying in pain and torment as will every other living being in hell.
What I am saying is that if each of us could really see the real penalty of sin there would be much less sin in our lives.
Any and all sin must be and is punished by death. It doesn’t matter how small you may consider your sin to be it still must be paid for by death. It may be the sin of adultery, or a simple word of gossip – all brings the death penalty.
TESTATOR, A man who makes and leaves a will or testament at death.
In John 10 the Lord is talking about His coming death.
Joh 10:18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father. (KJV)
John 12:27 “….but for this cause came I unto this hour.”
His will at death was the forgiveness of mankind from sin. “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.”
It was His will to die.
It was His will to give His life a ransom for you and me.
It was His will to suffer for sin of all men for all time.
It was His will to pay the ultimate price for sin.
It was His will to please the Father in the matter of redemption for sin.
It was His will to die on Calvary’s mountain.
He was the testator. He provided the will of the Father for sins debt.
When Christ looked at the Father and cried, “My God, My God, why has thou forsaken me?” God could not come to His rescue. Sin was being eternally for permanently judged. Had God listened to the Son, sin and Satan would have won the victory that day, but the Father fulfilled the will of the Trinity to let the Son die for sin. Sin’s debt was forever paid and the penalty was abolished. Death is not longer sin’s victory. Christ paid the ultimate price.
2Ti 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
2Ti 1:8 Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;
2Ti 1:9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
2Ti 1:10 But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel: (KJV)
IV. THEY DIDN’T UNDERSTAND GOD’S PLAN OF REDEMPTION
Ge 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. (KJV)
What or Who is “IT”. It refers to the seed of the woman. This is the promise of the redeemer that would come and be nailed to a cross and in doing so give His life for the sins of all mankind. That redeeming of sin is the bruising of the heel of Satan that God is talking about in Vs. 15.
A. They Didn’t Understand That God Would Have To Die In Their Place.
What happened was their sin not only brought about their own death, but the death of the One that created them.
When any of God’s children sin it brings to His memory of the death of His Son that paid for all sin.
B. You And I Don’t Understand God’s Plan Of Redemption Either.
We know that Jesus Christ died for our sins. We know that God gave His only Begotten Son to die in our place. We have been taught that and believe it, but if we really got a hold of the fact that sin truly brings death, we would see our sin much different.
Look at it like this: Suppose every time you sinned God would require someone you know to die in your presence. You commit a sin, and someone around you drops dead. Once a day, maybe two times a day, you sin and someone drops dead in your presence. Maybe 25 times a day or even perhaps a hundred times a day you experience someone dropping dead as a result of your sin. What would that do to you? It would cause each of us to literally hate sin with all our being.
That is the way God wants you and I to look at sin. Sin nailed His Son to the cross.
Sin separated God and Adam – sin brought the curse of God upon the earth.
Sin always brings death.
Heb 10:26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,
Heb 10:27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.
Heb 10:28 He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:
Heb 10:29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?
Heb 10:30 For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. (KJV)
I am not trying to imply that any of us can become sinless. We can’t. We are sinners. If you are saved then you are a saved sinner. However, each of us can and should be daily progressing more and more like Christ and thus sinning less and less each day. Redemption has provided a means that we might be overcomers. Overcomers of sin in our daily life.
How do we overcome sin? Stay close to God. Read His Word daily. Study it constantly. Pray often. Testify of and for Him at every opportunity.
INVITATION
BETH HAVEN BAPTIST CHURCH
PO BOX 891523
OKC OK 73189-1523
405-691-8701
www.bhbc.net
This sermon and thousands of others are available on a CD Disk that may be purchased for $75.
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