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#10107 - The Devil is A Liar - Genesis 3:1-8 · Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast

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Welcome to the study of God's word with pastor and author.
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Ed, Taylor recorded live from Calvary Chapel in Aurora,
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Colorado to learn more about the many resources available,
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through abounding Grace media, visit us online at Calvary
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Aurora dot org, or download our free app on all platforms.
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And now, here's Pastor Ed to take us into our study.
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Amen. Amen!
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Take your Bibles, would you just Genesis Start a new chapter in
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our study verse by verse through the Book of Genesis Genesis
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chapter 3. We're going to tackle the first
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few verses and the Bible study I've entitled the devil is a
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liar. Amen.
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The devil is a liar. He didn't know that already.
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Now you do, the devil is a liar and let me just say we're in one
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of the most important chapters in all the Bible.
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If you were to read chapters one and two and then skip chapter 3
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and move into chapter 4. For you wouldn't be able, you be
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filled with so many questions. What happened?
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What happened from God, declaring everything good to the
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chaos that happens in chapter 4. If you skipped three, it's so
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critical and foundation and understanding why?
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So many difficulties exist today.
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I mean, it's like, if you don't know the beginning, like
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studying the Book of Genesis here on our midweek and then
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studying the book of Acts on, Weekends, if we don't know the
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beginning of something, it's kind of like walking into a
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movie late, you know, you're 10 15, 20 minutes late, you walk
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into the movie, and you've missed all of the foundation
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that they were building for the rest.
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And you know, what is happening here and who's this person here?
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And where are they? And what's the plot line?
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What? We're studying the plot lines
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that God has given to us as we learn of his character and his
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nature. We don't want to jump in.
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Midway we want to understand what God is doing.
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Specially in Genesis. As we come to chapter 4 and Skip
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3, we have to ask questions like what happened to man's
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innocence. What happened to the perfect
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garden? Why isn't man in fellowship with
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God and he longer Whi beginning in chapter 4 is where did this
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jealousy come from? Where did the anger the lying,
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the murder, the corruption, the Rebellion, the Judgment, where
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did all that come from? Well, in chapter 3, in Just 24
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short verses that explains all those questions and more.
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The chapter clarifies so much we're going to The devices of
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the enemy, how he functions, how sin enters into the world.
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We're going to learn about prophecy, substitutionary,
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atonement man, separation from God, God's love and pursuit of
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man. And it's one of the reasons I
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was going in preparing this particular study, one of the
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reasons I just so appreciate, can him because the ministry,
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the drum that he beats. If he had just one drum that he
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beats, is that you need to understand Genesis in order to
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Stand life. It gives you the foundation of
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everything and we don't want to neglect the foundation of how
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God laid before us the promise, not only the problem but the
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promise of Messiah. And so we're going to go a
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little bit slower through chapter 3 in the coming weeks to
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learn a little bit. Notice with me in verse 1 of
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Chapter, 3 of Genesis. Now, the serpent was more
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cunning than any Beast. Of the field, which the Lord God
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had made. And he said to the woman and
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Mark these words, because they're familiar words has God.
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Indeed said You shall not eat of every tree of the garden.
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So let's just pause there for a moment to gain some
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introduction. To this chapter, you know, back
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in California, Southern California, where I grew up
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every July. All the fireworks stands would
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pop up and the most popular fireworks, stand.
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When I grew up was Red Devil fireworks and there was a Red
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Devil fireworks stand, every corner and the mascot was what
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you would think. A little comical character, a
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little cartoon character with a pitchfork and horns and a big
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tail. And there's the Little Red Devil
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selling. His fireworks makes sense,
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selling things related to fire, of course, and many today.
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Believe that's a true picture of the devil, just a little
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character kind of like in the The cartoons, because I also
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grew up with cartoons, that had a little angel on one shoulder
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and a little red devil on the other one, and they're trying
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pulling You One Direction or the other.
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And, and we learned today that the devil is real and he's not
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some comical character. He has one goal and that's to
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our utter lie, destroy your life and you can view them like a
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cartoon or you can't deny him. It says that the serpent here,
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of course, the serpent. Now being in dwelt by the very
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person of the devil was more cunning than any beast of the
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field. You can right next to cunning,
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you can say, you could right next to it.
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He was subtle and crafty That's the idea behind this Hebrew,
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word, cunning subtle, and crafty, the serpent, the Hebrew
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word for serpent here is shining one.
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So he comes with this attractiveness, but he is
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cunning. So let's learn a little bit
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about the devil from other passages.
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Would you hold your place in Genesis and turn with me to
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Isaiah chapter, 14, Isaiah chapter 14.
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We get a little insight to the devil here.
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From the word of God. In Isaiah 14, we're going to
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pick up when we get there in verse 12.
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It says how you have fallen from Heaven o, Lucifer, son of the
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morning, how you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the
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nation's for you have said, in your heart, I will Ascend into
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heaven. I will exalt my throne above the
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stars of God. I will also sit on the Mount of
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the congregation of the first farthest sides of the north.
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I will Ascend above the heights of the clouds.
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I will be like the most high yet.
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You shall be brought down. She or to the lowest depths of
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the pit, those who see you will gaze it.
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You and consider you saying, is this the man who made the Earth
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tremble, who shook kingdoms, who made the world, as a Wilderness
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who destroyed it cities and who did not open the house of his
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prisoners from Isaiah turn over to Ezekiel now.
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Turn over to Ezekiel again to the right, Ezekiel chapter 28,
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we have these descriptions of The real essence of the devil
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Lucifer of Satan and, again, pick up when you get to Ezekiel
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38 in verse 14. Ezekiel 38 verse 14, he says
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therefore son of a prophesy and say to God.
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I'm sorry I'm in the wrong. Did I say 38?
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Go to 2838 great but that's end times prophecy. 28 Ezekiel 28:14
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There we are much more comfortable verse.
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You are the anointed cherub, again, an angel who covers I
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stablish. You, you were on the Holy
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Mountain of God. You walked back and forth in the
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midst of the fiery Stones. You were perfect in your ways
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from the day. You were created until iniquity
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was found in you. So we have this dual
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description, both of world leader and also the heart of the
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devil, the essence of the devil, and what was the great sin of
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Satan. It was the sin of pride.
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That was his problem. He was so beautiful, he believed
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he could be God. He wanted to be God, he wanted
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to place himself above God and like it did with Satan.
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Bringing his enjoyment of the presence of God, to an immediate
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in immediate judgment Pride will also tear you down instantly.
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You see Sinton, begin on Earth, it began in the heart of Lucifer
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declaring war. Scott in his heart.
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But his war against God is also a war against you and against
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your life in your fruitfulness. The reason he is against you and
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I'm not overstating. This the reason he's against you
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is that you are the apple of God's eye his prized Creation.
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The Devil is consumed with envy and pride, and in his arrogance,
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Taking you down. Brings him great.
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Joy. Now we aren't told how he
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exactly or when he exactly got into the garden coming back to
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Genesis 3. However in Revelation 12 speaks
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of the casting down of the third of the angels with him so he was
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expelled from heaven and now we find him in the garden talking
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to Eve. The first thing, the devil does
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is he approaches the woman and the first mistake she made was
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having a dialogue. With the serpent in verse 2, the
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woman said to the serpent, we may eat of the fruit of the
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Trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in
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the midst of the garden, God has said, You shall not eat it, nor
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shall you? Touch it, lest you die.
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The her first mistake was having a dialogue with this Serpent and
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here we are in the moment of time that will Mark all of human
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history. But can I say that?
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Just some of the things you here today, they won't be simple.
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They might even sound repetitive however, knowing that the Bible
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study moves far beyond even our own Fellowship.
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I don't think you would be surprised that some of what I'm
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sharing today. Will be new for people partly
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because they haven't yet to read the Bible but also partly
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because they've been taught wrong and you're not to talk to
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the devil. You're not allow God to be your
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Defender, you don't have a conversation with the devil, but
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even before the conversation, let me warn you.
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It's important that you not open your mind to entertain the
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suggestions of the devil. That that is the Warfare, the
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Warfare that you and I face is. And that's why I believe the
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helmet of salvation is so important that protective helmet
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of God that he gives us in Ephesians 6 to protect our minds
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because the assault What will come of your salvation?
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Because if the enemy can undermine and cause you to doubt
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your salvation, it really your it's not a doubting of
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Salvation. It's a doubting of the God who
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promised to keep you. Remember what we learned in
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Peter, Peter told us that God we are kept by what the power of
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God. And so the enemy is going to
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constantly assault your relationship with God.
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And the place of a soul, it's not exclusive, but it is.
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Often is your salvation in mind as you and you start doubting
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your salvation, you're going to doubt everything else.
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You just going to doubt what people say, you're going to
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doubt the word of God. You're going to doubt the author
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of God, so we want to be careful.
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Not to open our minds to entertain the suggestions of
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Satan. Why?
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Because the Warfare comes not by the devil.
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Possessing Believers. But opressing believers.
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Listen, as a Believer, you cannot be, you cannot be
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possessed by the devil. Alright?
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Don't even worry about it, don't even worry.
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About demon possession. You are sealed by the Holy
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Spirit and the Bible couldn't be clearer.
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Light and darkness, don't go together.
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Double doesn't doesn't can't has no ability to dwell in you that
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you're filled with and you're sealed by the Holy Spirit.
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However, it doesn't mean he's not formidable.
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And it doesn't mean that he can't mess with you and it
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doesn't mean that he can't mess with your mind, your own.
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Oh, you never mess around with strongly.
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I'm in the word all the time. I can mess with your mind.
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And who am I? I'm a can make, you think all
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kinds of things. I can, I can make you think of a
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pink Cadillac and the person that gives them away, who is the
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person that gives pink Cadillacs away?
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I just messed with your head. Mary, Kay pink Cadillac right
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now. You're going.
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No, I won't think of pink Cadillacs, but you're saying
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them. Yeah, I mean, we have this
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external ability to mess with people even in fun, you know,
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just fun as I'm watching, you know, people that can do
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sleight-of-hand, magic, you know, that messes my head, I am
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so desperate to find out, how did they do that?
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Because it's just slide a hand and they mess with me.
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And I willingly allow them to both the devil.
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You don't want to be messing around because he does the
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sleight of hand in a much more dangerous way and he will
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continue to assault you in your Mine and in your thoughts and in
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your beliefs because he knows sometimes even more than we do
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that. What you believe, dictates how
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you behave and if you believe and you live and doubting God
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your luster, your life will be doubt.
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And if you doubt God's word then you won't live with confidence.
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And so there's an onslaught. If you think you're going to be
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bound by that send the rest of your life, you have presented
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yourself to be bound to that sin and as long as you present
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yourself to send, you are a slave to sin.
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But if If you believe your identity in Christ is that you
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have been delivered. You can walk free in the light
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looking up, living out, God's calling your life, you know,
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where you're going to do, you're going to live your calling on,
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in the presence of the Lord, whatever you believe God if you
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understand like God does God, God does everything possible in
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his word to reveal to you and me how important you are?
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How loved you are, how much he's changed you?
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How much he's gonna change you? How you're a son or daughter of
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the king. How a father takes care of his
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kids and even if a kid wanders away dad's going to love him
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even more. When you get like your identity
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in Christ, you have been set free.
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You are hidden in Christ, your sins have been forgiven, you
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know, the devil does everything he can to keep you out of the
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word of God because he doesn't want you to live out your
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identity. He doesn't want you to live out.
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The destiny that God has laid before you.
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He doesn't want you to live in obedience.
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He wants you to live with this confused mind.
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Always wandering off. Always regretting, always upset.
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Always In the Flesh. And before you know, it man,
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life passed you by, and it's just been one long flesh Fest of
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your life. And it's just a miserable way to
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live. It's a miserable way to live.
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So what does he do? He places them.
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Listen, he places himself in between you and God.
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He says I'm going to come between Eve and God.
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And what does he do? Not only does he approach her
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but secondly, he questions the word of God.
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He questions. It's one of the reasons on our
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live show that we don't give time to weird stuff.
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If you're going to call the show with weird stuff, there's a
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button right there. That says hang up, it doesn't
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say hang up but that's what it is right there.
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Hang up. We don't want you stumble, you
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people with your weird questions.
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I don't mean real questions. I mean people that called it
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just want to stumble the listeners.
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I don't mean genuine questions. I don't mean those that you want
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to grow and understand and although it might be an
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interesting question, I'm talking about the people that
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purposely want to use what's been dedicated to God, to
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stumble, believers The God doesn't, like, believe his
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children being stumbled. Just like you don't want your
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children being stumbled. You don't want your children
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being told lies. You don't want your children,
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you want you. If anyone has influence on your
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children, you want them to influence them.
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The same way you do, you want to point, you want others to point
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your kids to the Lord? You want them to give them the
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truth. You want?
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You want those? You want those that are strong
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in your kids lives to love them and point them to the Lord.
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What God loves us even more than we love our own kids.
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And so what does he do? He says He says, has God indeed
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said. Now, of course, things could
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have been different if he just said, you know what, I don't
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want to talk to you and walk away or don't even say anything
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in walk away. Or say why don't you ask God?
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He's the one you are questioning.
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Why don't you ask him directly? But I want you to see that
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before any law was given before. Anything was revealed on Mount
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Sinai. Any covenants were made apart.
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You know, in writing from God, There's a direct challenge to
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God's word. And a choice between right and
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wrong was given to Eve here even before the fall.
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And I believe how each person answers the question of Good and
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Evil. How you ask when you're faced
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with a situation? You're faced with the decision
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and you have to make a Discerning choice between right
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and wrong, good and evil, how you make that determination will
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decide decide? Your Eternal destination, as
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well as your daily life. Like it will determine the
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direction and the trajectory of your life and the fate of future
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Generations, how you discern? Good, and evil will affect your
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kids and your grandkids, how you decide?
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What's good and evil will affect your boss and your co-workers,
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how you discussed, how you decide, what's good and evil,
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what's right and wrong will affect people that you drive on
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Hampton down Hampton or I-25? I want you to think of the
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significance of this, just in light of a culture and Society.
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As you're driving today. And you're heading home.
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Just a few moments, you have to make a decision.
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Is it the right thing or the wrong thing to drive on the
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right side of the road? I know you don't make that
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decision. You just it's just kind of
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normal. But actually you do make that
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decision. Every time you get in the car,
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is it right or wrong to stop at the red light?
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Is it right or wrong to stop at the soft sign?
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Is it right? Or wrong to go 15 miles an hour
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in a community that, you know, nothing about.
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But whoever put the sign there knows that there is a deaf child
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that lives around the corner. Do you know, do you, how you
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decide if that's right, or wrong to follow that, 15 mile an hour
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speed limit? Like how you decide just in
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everyday life, the decisions you make the power of decision that
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God has given you. How you decide can actually
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affect Generations. so, when you agree, it would be important to
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Choose Wisely and rightly That this question that's presented
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to Eve, is a question of right or wrong.
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It's a question of. Good or bad and the desire, the
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enemy here is to cast doubt on the word of God which dictates
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to us ultimately right and wrong because then as the doubt would
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come then Eve would then be suspicious of the truthfulness
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of God. And after all, if God's word
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can't be trusted, then everything on which they base
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their lives in the garden would be false.
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They have enjoyed for as long as we know, like, we don't know how
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long it was but Adam and Eve is enjoyed sweet fellowship with
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one another and with God, on a level, we've never experienced
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before without sin that they've just had a sweetness about them
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and a beauty about them and it's just been glorious and wonderful
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that something we can look forward to when Paradise is
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restored. And then, we've got this, this
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questioning I mean can you really trust God?
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After all that you experience after all that you have enjoyed
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can you really trust? God and I don't want you to miss
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here. Not only was the mistake of
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dialoguing with Satan with the serpent wrong but I don't want
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you to miss in verse 3, I want to spend a lot of time on it but
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notice Eve added to the word of God in her answer when she said.
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But of the tree, the fruit of the tree which is in the midst
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of the garden. God said You shall not.
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Eat it, lest you die. Well, she added nor shall you
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touch it? So there she is adding to the
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word of God, which is forbidden. Many times in the scriptures
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Deuteronomy chapter 4, rubber revelation, 22, Proverbs Chapter
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30 adding to the word of God is unwise and disobedient and going
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to lead you down a wrong path. Eve had the truth but she's way
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out of bounds with her Edition. Which by the way, corrupted, the
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true message. The, she applied something to
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God that he never said. It reminded me of the parable of
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the talents, remember the biggest issue with the parabola
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Talent, with the guy that hit his talent?
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Is he misunderstood as master and when he misunderstood his
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master, he wasn't buried the talent and started blaming his
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master for his. Unfaithfulness, that's what
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happens when you don't know your savior.
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You don't understand his love and his Mercy.
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That on one, side of the coin is Holiness.
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On the other side is Love on the one side of the coin is
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obedience on the other side is Grace.
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You understand the fullness of God's character.
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Well, notice verse 4 now. Serpent response and the serpent
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said to the woman, you will not surely die.
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And this my friend you can write in your Bibles, is this is the
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LIE. This is a lie.
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And the lie you shall not. Surely die is really an
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undermining undermining of what God Said and the character of
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God, you know, you will not God's God's not telling you the
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truth. You're not going to die.
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Can I just show you something? Turn over to John chapter 8, and
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all these cross-references will be very helpful to you.
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For those that doubt, the significance of the devil, or
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the Bible teaches, a real devil all of these throughout.
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You know, Jesus believed in the devil, you know that Jesus
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believed in the devil, he knew it.
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He described them to a tee and let me just give you one of the
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descriptions of the devil. This is not a study entirely on
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the devil today but I do want to give you Insight from the lips
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of Jesus. Notice in verse 44 of John's
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gospel, chapter 8, John 8:44. So, Jesus believed about the
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devil, you are of your father, the devil, and the desires of
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your father, you want to do, he was a murderer from the
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beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no
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truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks
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from his own resources for, what does your Bible say?
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He say with me, he is a liar. And the father of it.
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This is what he's doing with Eve here.
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He moves from questioning. Casting suspicion to flat-out
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contradicting. What God Said.
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And that's often what it's often added is truth mixed with error
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truth mixed with error, you will not surely die because God is
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not telling you the truth. That's what is Li was.
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So not only is it contradict God's word, but he also
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misrepresents the goodness and love of God.
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It's almost like he's telling Eve here.
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God is holding out on you. But it's almost like he's
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saying, if God really loved you, then he wouldn't have put this
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prohibition. Remember earlier in an earlier
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study, in Genesis, we learned about the limitations of God, it
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is God's prerogative for us, as God's prerogative for him to
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limit us, and he does Place limitations Upon Us in a variety
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of ways. Giving us a free will choice to
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obey or not. And here he says, in verse 4,
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you will not surely die. And now he listened for verse 5
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for God knows that in the day that you eat of it, your eyes
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will be open and you will be like, God knowing good and evil.
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Now, that's not what the intent of God was at all.
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God placed a whole bishan upon them to protect them.
25:22
To protect them and we can think of a lot of examples that we
25:26
would give to protect others that may not be so comfortable
25:30
for others. I think of using the app Waze
25:35
and when you're using Waze and, you know, the way home, but ways
25:38
takes you 10 minutes out of the way you're like, no, no.
25:42
I know how to go home. No, no.
25:43
But, you know, with the crowd sourcing and Crowley's has a GPS
25:47
program on your phone. By the way, is a little app, you
25:49
can get. And what it is is it brings all
25:51
this crowd crowd sourcing information of people going.
25:54
Oh, there's an accident here. This they're here and it will
25:57
real-time reroute you to get you where you're going fast around
26:01
the Formation that shared with them real time, but if you think
26:07
already, you know, where you're going and what you're doing, you
26:11
may not even want to use ways but if you are using Waze just
26:14
think about it ways of saying no I want you to take this route
26:17
and you'll no, no I already know this area.
26:19
I don't want to take that route. I want to take this route and
26:21
ways is like you know you're not arguing with your GPS.
26:23
I hope. But if you did there's just like
26:26
saying no, it's only stuff. The boys going know you're going
26:28
this way? No, you're not.
26:30
I'm going this way. Know you're going this way.
26:31
You know, why? And then you say forget, I'm not
26:34
going to do it, you turn it off, you know where you're going.
26:36
You go the way you're going, what happens.
26:37
There's a multi-car accident there, and it was just trying to
26:40
help you. It's not even a real person
26:43
either, but it was just trying to help you.
26:46
Just saying I can I can save you and so where you are you stuck
26:49
on there for two hours can't back up because the guy behind
26:52
you did the same thing and so did the 300 cars behind you?
26:56
So now you're stuck. If you were just taking the 10
26:58
minute detour you would have been home by now. and of course
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in matters of life and death, we don't We don't want to go our
27:08
own way. The Bible says a man plans, a
27:10
man plans his way but the Lord directs his steps.
27:16
The Bible says that there is a way that seems right to a man
27:19
but the end thereof is death. One of the purposes of in being
27:25
in the word, one of the purposes of systematic Bible study,
27:29
reading our Bibles every day, as we're learning the directions of
27:32
God. Even for the day, even for what
27:36
God has for US, Open to the Holy Spirit.
27:39
He might give us a detour. He might send us in a New
27:42
Direction. He might impress upon us a name,
27:45
or a person or a place, so that we might be more usable to him
27:49
and protect us like today. Some of you are experiencing a
27:53
real Difficult hard situation because you want to go one way.
27:57
But God has you going another way?
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I don't know exactly what God's doing, whether he's protecting.
28:03
I do I can't speak to that but I do know this whatever God is
28:06
doing. You can trust him.
28:09
You don't need to go your own way.
28:11
You don't need to plow through a closed door.
28:13
You don't need to make anything happen.
28:15
If you don't need to take things into your own hand, you don't
28:18
just need to end it. Now, what we need to do is trust
28:21
God. Surrender our life afresh and
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Anew. We trust him with the situation.
28:27
We trust him with the outcome, we trust him with the future.
28:32
Because this is this doubting of God, not trusting.
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God is the Fertile ground of Temptation.
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Because when you don't trust God, there's always a convenient
28:44
option available to you. That's one way you can remember
28:48
Temptation. You could be remember temptation
28:51
as a convenient sinful option. It's not just a simple option.
28:56
It's a convenient one. And it's not just convenient
28:59
many times The Temptations. Well, I would say most times I
29:03
would say almost every time a real Temptation also is
29:06
attractive. After all, why would we ever
29:10
fall for such a dumb thing? If we didn't want to do it,
29:14
that's the problem with sin and Temptation, single, man, I can't
29:17
believe it said. Why am I sinning?
29:19
Well, part of the answer is you liked it.
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If you didn't like it, you wouldn't do it.
29:25
However, there is that once you choose the route of send, then
29:31
immediately start the realm of condemnation which makes you
29:34
feel like I don't want to do it and there's the battle of the
29:36
Flesh and the spirit But I mean, in the flush, of course you want
29:40
to do it, and of course, you will do it.
29:43
And of course, you will suffer the consequences.
29:46
This all happens with Eve. We're reading it and we've spent
29:49
some time talking about it and learning from it.
29:52
But this all happens in milliseconds, this quick.
29:56
I mean, if you read verses 1 through 5, if you're done in 30
29:59
seconds and it's all happening real time for her, it's as
30:03
quick, and it's all in jumbled up in her mind.
30:09
Because the devil is always going to challenge the fairness
30:11
of God. And the devil is always going to
30:13
challenge the justice of God. And the devil is always going to
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challenge the love of God. He's always going to challenge
30:20
his love for you. Not just the abstract but your
30:22
love it. There's always going to be a
30:24
Temptation someone in your life. Will of God is such a god of
30:27
love then. Because it's a challenge from
30:31
the Devil. Now of course it can be a
30:34
reasonable question. It can be someone that's truly
30:36
searching for answers but it also is often a direct
30:40
challenge. That's inspired by the Devil
30:43
Himself. The devil has been tampering
30:46
with the word of God from the beginning.
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Now, just a brief question before we move on to the final
30:53
verses today. But, you know, there is the
30:54
question that many asking is why would Eve talk to a serpent
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because if if you're going to the Denver Zoo to the reptile
31:04
area and somebody's having a conversation with a double, it's
31:07
just not know. I mean, with the with the snake
31:09
it's not normal and you may go up to him.
31:11
Hey, don't talk to snakes of devil might be there, you know,
31:14
it's just not normal. People aren't talking to Anna
31:16
but I want you to remember prior to the fall.
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Man's relationships with animals was very different than what we
31:23
experienced today, so it's just different.
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So it's not unusual. That there would be this
31:29
comfortableness with animals. It's not, this is all prior to
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the fault. It's very different than what we
31:35
currently experience. However, there's a spiritual
31:39
significance behind this, too, because, you know, we think of
31:43
the Devil, he's just going to show up in a pitchfork and he's
31:45
going to look like the little cartoon character.
31:47
And we're just going to know when the devil shows up.
31:50
But that's not the truth. He's cunning and subtle and
31:54
clever and deceitful. That's what Paul would you turn
31:59
over to Second Corinthians chapter 11.
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This is what Paul said about him.
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Notice with me 2nd Corinthians 11:13.
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You know that you think when the devil's going to call your
32:14
house, you know your phone's going to turn red hot and it's
32:17
going to caller. ID is 666?
32:19
That's not going to happen. He's not going to reveal his
32:22
cards like that. A subtle and listen to what Paul
32:27
says, is pretty powerful. Look at verse 13 with me, he
32:30
talks about the false teachers, false Apostles, deceitful
32:33
workers, notice what they do, these false teachers, false
32:36
Apostles, they transform themselves into Apostles of
32:40
Christ. Now that's not a literal
32:42
transformation. They don't, they're not becoming
32:44
bad to good. They're presenting themselves
32:47
that way. They're transforming their
32:50
appearance. The way they come off.
32:53
How they, how they provide, you know, how they were messing with
32:56
the Corinthians and undermining their faith.
32:59
They came with genuineness or Avail genuine sincerity.
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And he says, this is no wonder verse 14 for Satan, himself,
33:08
transforms himself into an angel of Light, so it's no great
33:13
thing. If ministers transform
33:15
themselves into Ministers of righteousness, whose end will be
33:18
a Turning to their works. Just like Jesus said, there's
33:21
Savage wolves Paul said in Acts chapter 20 and Jesus said,
33:25
you'll know a tree by its fruit. You don't know.
33:28
You know. It's all a disguise.
33:32
He's deceptive, not obvious. He comes with subtlety and
33:36
craftiness and what does he do? He comes in the form of a
33:39
serpent here and dwelling this this snake.
33:42
The Shining one And it's enough to say but I'll repeat it when
33:49
it comes to temptation, just don't start talking to the
33:52
devil. Let the Lord deal with the
33:55
Demonic. Let the Lord deal with the
33:58
Temptations. Just find yourself.
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I think the safest place for a Believer is to be hidden in
34:03
Christ. To stay it.
34:05
Stay in the Lord. Let him deal with the issues.
34:09
He's the father of Lies. Well, verse 6.
34:13
Back in Genesis. It says when the woman saw Mark
34:17
that the tree was good Mark that for food that it was pleasant to
34:22
the eyes and the tree was desirable Mark that to make one
34:26
wise she took of its fruit and ate.
34:30
She also gave it to her husband with her and he ate.
34:33
And then the eyes of both of them were opened and they knew
34:36
that they were naked and they sewed fig leaves fig leaves
34:41
together and made for themselves coverings.
34:45
They heard the sound of the Lord.
34:46
God Walking In The Garden in the cool of the day and Adam and his
34:49
wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among
34:52
all the trees of the garden. So you see the progression?
34:57
Eve saw eve took Eve ate and she gave when she saw it gives us
35:06
insight to the strategies of the devil.
35:08
When she saw this is Satan's desire to turn your look into
35:12
lust. When she took it, Satan's desire
35:17
to turn your desire into a decision.
35:20
When she aided Satan's desire to turn your choice into slavery.
35:26
And finally, when she gave it, Satan's desire to turn the
35:29
center into a Seducer. He didn't go after Adam because
35:34
once he was involved, she could go after Adam.
35:38
He could wipe his hands of it all.
35:43
Turning look into lust desire and to decision choices into
35:47
slavery and turning the center into a Seducer.
35:51
You don't need to turn there. But let me read to you, what
35:52
John writes in his epistle. In first, John, chapter 2 verse
35:56
16, he says all that's in the world.
35:58
The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of
36:01
life, it is not of the father, but is of the world and the
36:05
world is passing away and the lust of it, but he who does the
36:08
will of God abides forever. And Adam ate, but I want you to
36:13
understand Adam was not deceived.
36:16
He sinned wilfully. He had no interaction with the
36:20
serpent, which could be a whole other Bible study that as Eve's
36:25
husband, he left her vulnerable because there's no mention of
36:29
her in this conversation. He's the covering of e but he's
36:34
also the federal head of humanity.
36:37
The responsibility of sending passed down to you and me.
36:40
Is this guy Adam? Because he wasn't deceived.
36:43
He sinned wilfully. In 1st Timothy, 2:14 it says
36:47
Adam was not deceived but the woman being deceived fell into
36:51
transgression. No, Adam sinned wilfully.
36:55
And the evil here wasn't in the beautiful tree or it's important
36:59
in his its ability to impart knowledge and wisdom but in the
37:02
fact that man tried to fulfill in Disobedience his own desires,
37:08
according against the will of God.
37:11
And the pathway of Temptation is no different today.
37:16
You see, you take it eat and then you pass it on.
37:22
Because no one ever sends a loan.
37:25
And the consequence of sin are never shared alone.
37:29
There are people that love you and care for you.
37:31
There are people that look up to you and follow you.
37:35
There are people that depend upon you, you know, we often
37:39
kind of look at it, sometimes in a negative way, I don't think we
37:41
ever should, but there are people watching you.
37:43
They don't even know. But you're not to be freaked out
37:47
about that. They're watching you because
37:48
they know you have a relationship with Jesus.
37:50
You said so and they're just watching you because they're on
37:53
the fence. Oh yeah, maybe some are watching
37:57
you waiting for you to fall but look how long you've been living
38:00
with the Lord walking with the Lord that they just keep
38:02
watching and they can't see you fall but they see a faithful.
38:06
Isn't that great? They want to see something bad
38:08
but you've offered them, something totally different
38:10
because this is what a faithful, you know, made a mistake here
38:13
and there, I stumbled here and there's for sure but man, this
38:16
is what faithfulness looks like in the life of the believer. and
38:20
their eyes were opened and the very first thing they do is they
38:23
hear God You see that their eyes were opened?
38:29
And they knew that they were naked.
38:33
And they sewed fig leaves together and they heard the
38:37
sound of the Lord, walking in the garden.
38:39
Again, this is all happening together as they find
38:42
themselves. With a consciousness of sin that
38:46
they never had before. And the first conscious, the
38:49
first Consciousness is sin, was one of Shame and they try to
38:53
cover themselves and it was foolish, you know, putting big
38:56
leagues in your private areas is not a wise decision, so it's
38:59
just sent upon, you know, mistake upon mistake and they
39:02
run away, try to hide the here, the Lord.
39:04
And now they don't want the Lord.
39:07
You found that to be true. It's like you're in you
39:09
committed since not confessed or whatever and you don't want the
39:12
Lord anymore. That's why people become very
39:14
antagonistic toward Church, very antagonistic toward Ministry,
39:18
very antagonistic, maybe towards you, because they're filled with
39:22
guilt and shame and it's got to come out somewhere.
39:26
They could come clean right now, they could come clean before the
39:28
war. They know how to do it because
39:31
now they know sin, but they don't, they run away.
39:34
They try to conceal. Verse 8, it says the first time,
39:39
as they hear the sound of the Lord, walking in the cool of the
39:41
garden. They hid themselves from the
39:44
presence of the Lord. They it says, in verse 10, they
39:49
were afraid. And now they don't have that
39:52
old. Holy off some reverence of
39:55
relationship. Now because of sin, they're
39:57
afraid of God and the consequences that come from
40:00
their behavior. And it seems as if this is a
40:06
similar choice that we see so often.
40:09
Those that send they run away from God instead of coming to
40:13
him. Running away instead of just
40:17
doing exactly what the Bible says.
40:19
If just confess your sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us
40:23
of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
40:26
And even today, men and women are on a quest to conceal, their
40:29
own sin. And they're doing all kinds of
40:31
things that make no sense. Just like fig leaves, there's
40:36
like, do you know what you're doing?
40:37
Yeah, it's very uncomfortable. We were uncomfortable before but
40:40
now it's more uncomfortable. I know.
40:43
It's going to continue until you come clean with God.
40:47
You got to come clean with God, you want to keep going back to
40:49
send and keep paying the price for it.
40:53
Keep fearing God, not in the Holy sense, but like, running
40:56
away from him. Like, he's going to hurt you or
40:57
harm, you it's not God. That's going to find you out.
41:00
He already knows we've already learned.
41:02
Its end, it'll find you out. It'll be review.
41:06
Sin has taken Adam and Eve from Full Fellowship to fear and
41:10
isolation. It's what it does.
41:13
All the time those of you that live in pride and arrogance,
41:16
knowledge puffing up, you are living in a fear and isolation.
41:20
You don't know the love of God. You don't know the father love
41:25
of God. And if you do, you're not
41:26
experiencing it, you misunderstanding it.
41:28
You running away hiding, you hear God but you don't want God.
41:32
Imagine that you hear God believer but you don't want God.
41:37
That's a miserable place to be. The the hearing of God goes
41:42
hand-in-hand with wanting him and enjoying him even as you
41:47
are. Listen, the devil is a liar and
41:52
a deceiver and a fraudster. And he uses the same weapons and
41:56
tactics over. And over again, the lust of the
41:59
flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life.
42:02
This is exactly what I've dealt with, and it's still the same
42:05
today, sin is attractive. The Bible says it's pleasurable
42:09
for a season, but you have to make up your mind to follow God.
42:12
You know, it was his 40 years 2000 to make up his mind to
42:16
follow God, but he did. And I just know that God is
42:20
Among Us right now. He knows every one of us, both
42:23
near and far, he knows our stories.
42:25
He knows those in compromise, he knows the hurting, he knows
42:29
those with doubts, he knows those with rejoicing, he knows
42:32
that at those that have returned.
42:33
He knows those that are fighting sin because it's one thing to
42:36
present yourself to send, but it's another thing to fight it.
42:40
To fight it in the strength of the Lord, to present yourself,
42:43
to God, a sin to righteousness, and then you're in the fight.
42:47
Well, it's a fight. For some it's not going to go
42:50
away right away. It's gonna constant be a
42:52
Temptation. It's part of the consequence,
42:55
but man, the Lord is with. You don't love the world.
42:58
The Bible says, or the things of the world, if anyone loves the
43:01
world, the love of the father's, not in him, lust of the flesh,
43:05
the lust of the eyes, the pride of life.
43:07
It's something we all deal with And we're reminded today.
43:10
If you love the world, there's no room for the love of the
43:12
father and you so stay focused, forsake the world decry the
43:17
Loess come clean, be honest. Let the Lord do a work cleansing
43:21
in your life so you can go back to a place of rejoicing.
43:24
So why you can hear the Lord and enjoy the life, you can hear the
43:29
Lord and serve the Lord, you can hear the Lord and long to be
43:34
with others that are hearing the Lord.
43:36
You can hear the Lord and have his heart for the loss.
43:38
You can hear the Lord and pray for the product.
43:41
You can hear the Lord and enjoy. That waiting life for his soon
43:46
return. Why?
43:48
Because the Blessed hope brings about purity and strength in
43:53
your life in mind. So father, thank you for the
43:55
privilege of your word tonight. That truly We look at Adam and
44:01
Eve at times. I mean, forgive us if if there
44:03
are those Among Us ago, man, if I was in the garden, I wouldn't
44:05
have done that. And here we are.
44:10
This notching ourselves a little bit better than the next guy and
44:14
a little bit better, but truth be told or we're all in
44:17
desperate need. Of your sustaining power in our
44:22
lives. The baptism of the Holy Spirit,
44:27
the power of the Holy Spirit, the infilling of the Holy
44:30
Spirit. Thus the ceiling of the Holy
44:33
Spirit, we need your person and presence to consume us.
44:38
And so Lord. I just pray for your spirit to
44:40
move Among Us that we might walk in the truth.
44:44
Not trying to cover up. So some fig leaves but to come
44:49
clean before you like, And even in the consciousness of our own
44:53
sin that we might walk in the freedom that's available to us.
44:56
So we might enjoy you and enjoy each other and enjoy life to the
45:01
fullest. In Jesus name, amen.
45:09
We pray that you've been encouraged by this Bible.
45:12
Study delivered live from the sanctuary of Calvary, Aurora for
45:16
prayer or a copy of the study, call us at 877, 30 Grace, that's
45:22
eight 77304, 2:53 or visit us online at Calvary, Aurora
45:29
dot-org, be blessed as you worship Jesus this week.