The Temptation

Turn with me in your Bible to Genesis chapter 3. Genesis chapter 3, we're going to talk this morning about the temptation of man. We want to first of all look at the tempter.

Who is the tempter? Is it deity? Is it God? After all, God is the creator of all things, is He not? And by Him all things consist. And there are some people who like to blame God. The author of temptation. But if you have your Bible, turn with me to the book of James, the first chapter.

If you are with us in our study of this book. Not too long ago, we went through James chapter 1 and explained to you about temptation. And in James chapter 1, verse number 13, it says, Let no one say when he is tempted. I am being tempted by God, for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. The Bible is very clear: God doesn't tempt any man. Goes on to say in verse number 14, but each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then, when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.

Do not be dece, my beloved brethren. Or literally, stop being deceived. James says, I don't want you to be deceived about the fact that God tempts you. He does not do that. God is not the author of temptation, and yet there are people who like to blame him for their temptation. The very first word that Satan says are a lie.

And we know that the Bible says in Hebrews chapter 6 that God does not li. So, therefore, we know that the tempter is not deity him. It's not God. How about humanity? Is it your neighbor? Is it your friend? Is it someone you know because of some relationship? Answer to that is? Of course not. Oh, we'd like to blame somebody else, that seductress or that temptress or that person who lured me into sin. We'd like to blame somebody else for our temptation, and we'll talk more about this. Next week, as Adam and Eve would blame somebody else because of their sin.

But we can't blame humanity because of temptation. That's not the case. You're trying to blame somebody else for that temptation and ultimately for that sin. It's not deity. It's not humanity. It is your adversary. The devil, who goes about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. Satan is the tempter. He knows you well. He knows what you like, what you don't like. He knows your strengths as well as your weaknesses. And He is the one who is the temper. All you got to do is read your Bible.

In fact, I would encourage you to read your Bible and it sheds great light on commentaries. Did you get that? Read your Bible. The Bible is very clear. In fact, if you go over to John chapter 8, verse number 44, you know the verse very well. Christ had just been accused of being born in Immorality. He was an illegitimate child, and they would accuse his mother of being an adulterer. And listen to how Christ responded in John 8, 44. You are of your father, the devil. Now, you see, if we talk to people like that today, they'd say we are unkind, we're not caring, we're not sweet, we're not gentle.

And here's Christ telling the Pharisees, you are of your f. The devil. Read on. He says, This, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning. And does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. That's the adversary. He is a liar. He is a murderer and has been a murderer from the beginning. The tempter is not deity. The tempter is not humanity. The tempter is your adversary.

The Bible says in Genesis chapter 3 that this serpent would come to Eve and he would lead her astray.

He would begin to deceive her. Genesis chapter 3, verse number 1. Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field, which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, Indeed, has God said. Look with me at point number two, the tactics.

Satan has got some tactics. I want to look at four of them with you this morning. They're all in Genesis chapter 3. As we look at these four tactics, I want you to see how relevant they are today as they were way back in the garden.

When Eve was tempted by Satan, there are four of them. The first one is this: Satan com disguised. He comes disguised. He is not going to come with a big red suit with big horns coming out of his head and a pitchfork and fire all around him. Some grotesque figure slamming through your door saying, I am here to destroy your life. Satan is not that way. He always com disguised. Please understand that. That is so important for you to see. And so, therefore, we need to understand that whatever happened, we know this: that Satan is the master deceiver.

He is the master of disguise. And he came to her disguised. He's going to come to you the same way. He wants to get as many people with him as he can so that they will burn in hell forever. He is a master of the sky. So he comes disguised. Number two, he casts doubt.

He comes disguised in order that he may cast doubt. That's point number two of his tactics. Listen to what it says. And he said to the woman, Indeed has God said, you shall not eat from any tree of the garden. Now, this is the first question in the Bible.

Genesis chapter 3. And the first question in the Bible questions God. Questions God's provision, God's care for his people, God's concern for his people. And Satan begins this whole temptation process by coming disguised, excuse me, and then Casting doubt on the validity and authority of God in the life of Eve. And Adam. That's what he tries to do. Satan understands the power of God's word. He knows that by the breath of the word of God, he will be destroyed. He knows that. He knows that God's word is inspired, that is, God-breathed.

So he knows the power of God's wor. And so, what he needs to do is create doubt in your mind as to the validity, as to the veracity. And in terms of the superiority of God's word in your life, if he can do that, then he can get you to succumb. To temptation. He doesn't want you to read your Bible. He doesn't want you to come to church. You know as well as I do that whenever you as a family make a commitment to come to church, every Sunday morning is a battle. It's hard. The kids are sick. The kids are throwing up.

The kids are spilling juice all over the place. And Satan fights you all the way to church, and then he fights you all the way home because you went to church. That's just the way he is. He always says, you know, you maybe need to work this weekend. You need to get some extra money. Christmas is right down right on the corner. You got to work some extra hours. Don't go to church. Stay home, do this kind of stuff. He does anything he can to get you out from under the word of God because he knows the power of God's word.

Folks, let me reiterate something I said last week. It is so important for you to be a man and to be a woman of the Word of God. So Satan cannot begin to cast doubt in your life. Because he's going to cast doubt on God's authority in your life. He wants you to diminish and to devalue God's authority in your life. You need to know the word of God. It's going to happen. People will come to you and say, you know what? How come you do this? You say, well, because God said so. No, that's a wrong interpretation.

Let me tell you exactly what God meant when he said that. And then all of a sudden, Satan uses that person to begin to cast doubt in your life. About what is really true. What se is the main point. Number three, Satan's tactics, he comes disguised.

Number two, he casts doubt. And number three, He cleverly denies. He cleverly denies. He's got her right where he wants her. And he says in verse number four: And the serpent said to the woman, You surely shall not die. You're not going to die, Eve. You see, she questioned the severity of the penalty. And as soon as she questioned it, Satan said, It ain't going to happen. Don't believe that. God's not going to do that to you. He's not that way. And so he cleverly denies the truth in such a way that you believe it.

That you believe the lie. That the lie actually to you becomes reality. It becomes the truth for you. And that's how he deceives. Each individual, you shall not die. That's a direct lie. A direct lie. We can see that as we read this thing. He's lying to her. But boy, when you're in the midst of that temptation, when the doubt has been cast, because the disguised has been so clearly masked. You don't see it as clearly as those of us who are here today reading it, looking at it. But it's when it's in our own life, we got to be careful.

And then, last, his fourth tactic is that he charms deceitfully. He charms deceitfully. Verse number 5: For God knows that in the day that you eat from it, your eyes will be open, and you will be like what? Be like God. You're going be a God, Eve. Man, this is so good. You'll be in control. You'll have autonomy. You'll have power. Everything you so desperately want, you'll have. And that is the ultimate lie, Romans 1. 2. Romans 1. 2 says that they believe the lie. What 's the lie? The lie is you can become God.

You can make your own decisions. You have no accountability. There is no one over you. You are your own authority. Satan couldn't become God, but he's going to get you to believe you can. And that's what he says to do: you can become God. Knowing good and evil, you'll know everything. You'll be so smart. You'll be so. Intellectual, you will be so above anything or everyone else, Eve. That's Satan's lie. Oh, he charms deceitfully. But he's got her to a point, see? She already doesn't believe no longer in the author of God over her life.

And so Satan comes by and offers inst satisfaction. What 's he saying? When the woman saw that a tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Satan cleverly deceived her. And with his charm, got her to take the bait and swallow it, hook, line, and sinker. Then comes a tragedy. It says, she took from its fruit and ate, and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.

Eve was deceived. Adam disobeyed. Eve did not follow Adam's leadership. If she'd have followed Adam's leadership, she could have had a partial excuse for her sin. But just followed my husband. Just doing what was supposed to do. He was created first.

He is the leader. No. She deceived. She sinned first. Adam being with her, ate as well. Eve did not follow Adam's leadership. Adam did not lead. The silence of one man led to the sin of every man. Adam should have spoke up. Adam should have said something. God's word doesn't say that, babe. We can't do that. God's word is very clear as to what we can and cannot do, babe. We can't do that. How many of us, as men, don't speak up? We're silent. We just let our wives do whatever it is they want to do.

And say, hey, babe, we got to do what God says here. We got to lead our wives spiritually. Adam was silent. He did not lead. Adam being with her, Eve was deceived. Adam was just plain stupid. I mean, that's the bottom line. He rebelled against the authority of God's word. Eve was deceived. It says over in 1 Timothy chapter 2, verse number 14, these words. And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman, being quite deceived, fell in two. Transgression. Eve was deceived. Boy, if I can just get my husband to partake of this thing, I mean, every woman wants a smarter husband, right?

Boy, he's going to be more smarter if he eats this thing. He know good to evil. Come on, babe, let's get into this thing. And Adam, man, what happened to him? I want to, where's your leadership, man? Where are you at? Stand up for what's right. Have some backbone, Adam. Where were you, man? He was weak. Pray be to God, we don't have weak men. We need strong men who stand firm on the word of God, never faltering in its authority. That's what we need. God said this, thus we do. God said, don't do this, thus we don't.

That's what we need. Men of strong spiritual stature. Eve was deceived. She partook first, but I want you to know something.

By one man, sin entered the world, and death through sin. God blames who? Adam. Not Eve. Eve's still guilty. God bl Adam. Boy, that's a huge responsibility for me, man. How about you fellas? When your family goes to the pot, who's he blamed? You got it. It's you, fellas. Not gonna blame your wife. You're the leader. That's how God designed it. Lead. Lead God's way. Be God's man. Let the chips fall where they fall, but be God's man. Stand on the word of God. And let everything else go by the wayside.

But that's a tragedy. Eve was deceived, Adam disobeyed. The sin into the world, and from that time onward, everything has gone rapidly downhill. And as we go on through Genesis chapter 3, into Genesis chapter 4 and 5, and on following, we will see the effects of sin. You say, well, Pastor, what do I do? How do I handle all this? I'm going tell you right now.

Point number four: the triumph. Let me give you five words. Five words. And this will help you understand. You can't leave here in the midst of a tragedy. You got to leave here triumphant. So, how does it happen? One is this: ad. That's the first word: ad.

I want to praise my God. You know why? 1 Corinthians 13 tells me that there is no temptation taken you, but such as come into man, but God is what? Faithful. God is faithful. I want to let you know something: that no matter how disguised Satan is, no matter how clever he thinks he is, God has got one over always on Satan. And that is, there's nothing going to come your way. Nothing is going to come your way that is so bad, so tempting that you can't stand against it. And that causes me to adore my God.

My God will always provide a route of escape for me. 1 Corinthians 10:1. In fact, if you go over to 1 Peter chapter 5, tremendous, tremendous passage about how the lion goes about roaring, seeking whom he may devour. And in 1 Peter chapter 5, it says this in verse number. 9. But resist him firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren. Who are in the world? I know Peter says, I know Satan's going about like a roaring lion. He wants to destroy your life.

I want to let you know something. You're not alone here. He's doing this with all the rest of you, brethren. This is his tactics. This is what he wants to do. Read on. It says in verse number 10: And after you have suffered for a little while, Suffered mainly because of Satan and his devices, his temptation, his leading you astray. After you've suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who calls you to his eternal glory in Christ, will him perfect. Confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be dominion forever and ever.

Amen. Peter says, I want to let you know something. I was there. I was tempted by the evil one. I failed miserably, but I want to let you know I am stronger. I am more firm in my faith now than I ever have before because God has been. Than Satan, it should cause you to adore God. That no matter how strong his temptation, you can stand against him because Jesus Christ Himself is the victor, and therefore that should cause us to adore our God. That's where it begins: ad. Number two is petition.

Petition? You got to pray. See, old pastor, of course we pray. We know we need to do that. No, you don't. You don know you need to do that. How do I know that? Matthew:. Christ said, Could you not watch and pray with me for one hour? Watch and pray lest you enter into temptation. If the men of Christ. Who were with him for three years and saw what he did and engaged in ministry with him were not able to stay awake for one hour and to pray at the most crucial time in the history of the world. What makes you think that you know about prayer and I know about prayer?

We don't know about prayer. We take it for granted We've got to petition God. We've got to plead with God. We've got to watch and pray lest we enter into temptation. We have a high priest who can sympathize with our weaknesses. So the writer of Hebrews says, you go to him. You plead with him because he will take you through the difficulties. You see, we're in a battle. We can't win ourselves. We need God. We must call upon God. We must go before God. We must rely upon God that we might be what He wants us to be.

We can't do it without Him. That needs to be seen in our lives. And then, thirdly, the third word is memorization.

That's the third word. Adoration, petition, memorization. Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee. I like what the, I think it's the NIV translation, that word I have treasured in my heart. It's the most valuable thing I have. It's the most valuable thing I have. Christ said, it is written. How do you handle temptation in Matthew chapter 4? It is written. It is written. It is written. Folks, we have got to digest the word of God. We have got to memorize the word of God.

We have got to meditate upon the word of God. We must know God's word, or you are absolutely weak against Satan's temptation and devices. He will take you down, he will stomp on you, he will spit on you, he will kick on you, he will laugh at you all the way to the bank because you're going to fail miserably. That's why you've got to know the Word of God. It's so important. We're not asking you to do something that's impossible. Memorize God's word. Read it. Meditate. Memorize the word of God. So when Satan comes and tempts you, you say, It is written, Thus saith the Lord.

And boy, you're on your way. If Eve would have it is written, God said no, God said this, maybe things would have been different. But we don't know that. But they are as God has designed them. Therefore, we must submit to Him and follow Him. Adoration, petition, memorization, and fourthly, submission. Folks, you can memorize it. You can read it. You can pray all you want. But you've got to enact the Word of God. James says, you've got to be more than just hearers of the Word. You've got to be doers of the Word.

You've got to do it. You can't just come and audit church. You've got to do what the word of the Lord says, right? James chapter 4, verse number 7: Resist the devil, and he will flee. That's submission. Resist him and he will flee. You resist him because God is your authority. Nothing else is. And you become a doer of the Word of God. So important. Talked about it on Wednesday nights, Revel 1:3. Blessed are those who read, who hear, and who keep the Word of God. And lastly, one last word. And it's this mortific.

Mortification. Galatians chapter 5. Verse number 24 says, Now those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Mortific. The cutting off, the getting rid of, the crucifying. Crucif is a bloody experience. It's a costly experience. And Paul says, Those who are born again have crucified the flesh, its passions, and desires. Folks, when those passions and desires arise within us, they have got to be nailed to a cross. They have got to be mortified. They have got to be cut away from, taken off.

We got to take drastic measures. To get those things out of our lives. The principle of mortification. See, I got to tell you, I just found out about a friend of mine who's in the ministry, whose wife left him for another man. And she would not commit to mortification. She committed to counseling. She committed to prayer. She committed to church. But she did not commit to mortification, that is, cutting off of the relationship with the other man while going through all the other stuff. And therefore, She was blinded.

Her ears were dull to the hearing of truth because she was more committed to that sin than to anything else. Remember back up in verse number 15 of chapter 2? Adam was told to cultivate the garden and to what? Keep it. Guard it. Guard it. It's almost as if the Lord God knew, and He did know what was going to happen. Adam, guard the garden. Be careful who you let in. Be careful what goes on there. You guard it with your life. Proverbs tells us chapter 4, verse number 23, guard your heart, for from it flow all the springs of life.

Friends, I beg you, guard your heart. Guard it through the principle of adoration. Petition, memorization, meditation, submission, and mortification. Guard it with all your life. That you might not experience the tragedy of Adam and Eve, but that you might be able to experience the triumph that Jesus Christ wants you to experience. Let's pray.