The Devil's First Sermon

Genesis: 3:1-6

“Now the serpent was more subtle 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? And the woman said unto the serpent, we may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden. 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. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die. 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. 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.”

The serpent was a preacher and Eve was the listener. A careful study of the Bible reveals that the serpent was beautiful and graceful. A lot of people do not have the right idea about what the devil looks like. They think that the devil is ugly, short, dark, looking fearful and terrible. The serpent was subtle, that is, it was hardly noticeable, clever, cunning, full of guile and highly fascinating. From Genesis 3: 14, we know that the serpent used to walk upright, otherwise the curse that it would be crawling on its belly would not be meaningful. He was wise. Even Jesus Himself says we should be as wise as serpent.

What was the method that the serpent used on Eve? The method was temptation. He put a question mark on what God has said. The last sentence in Genesis 3:1 says, “And he said unto the woman, Yea hath God said ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?”

He misquoted the Scriptures intentionally. In order to arrest it, Eve said unto the serpent in verses 2-3, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden. 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.”

In Genesis 2: 16-17, we see the correct thing that God said: “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shall not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” But Eve misquoted that Scripture. She added “neither shall ye touch it.”

When God’s word is doubted, it leads to sin. God said they shall die and the serpent in chapter 3 verse 4 said, “Ye shall not surely die,” and then trouble started. He showed it to Eve, and it was appealing to her. She said it was good for food, it was good for the eye and it was to make people wise. So, she went ahead and ate it.

In his message, Satan instigated Adam and Eve to become disobedient. He made them to doubt God’s words. He made them to question the goodness of God. He made the fruit to appeal to their eyes and appetite and gave them the idea that it could give them wisdom and they listened to the voice of their enemy.

Why are we going back to this basis? It is because the enemy’s method for derailing men and women and for dribbling them out of God’s will has not changed. It is the same old method. It is the same old serpent. He still uses the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life.

When the devil came to Jesus to tempt Him too, he used the same method. He told Him to convert stones to bread. There we see appetite. Then he showed Him the kingdoms of the world; again the lust of the eyes. Also, he asked Him to jump from the pinnacle of the temple - pride of life.

The question is, when the devil comes to you does he fail or succeed? The more the success of the enemy in a person’s life, the closer the person is to hell fire. The more the failure of the enemy in a person’s life, the closer to God he comes. If you want to know God intimately, then the enemy has to record failure in your life. But if the enemy is succeeding, like the devil succeeded in the lives of Adam and Eve, then you are getting farther and farther from God.