Genesis 3:1-5 NKJV  Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”  (2)  And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden;  (3)  but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ”  (4)  Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.  (5)  For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

• Well church we have finally made it to chapter three of Genesis.
  • We have talked about the six days of creation.
  • We have talked about the seventh day sabbath rest.
  • We were introduced to God’s formal name, YHWH Elohim, meaning the all sufficient God, or quite literally “I AM God”.
  • We of course went over the creation of man and woman.
  • And we talked about the first ever marriage, the perfect marriage, and how that relates to eternity.
  • Last week we talked about this concept that sin brings shame, but where there is no sin there is no shame… and so Adam and Eve living in perfection had no sin.
    • BUT THAT ALL ENDS THIS MORNING.
    • Because in Chapter three Sin and Shame enter into the world.
      • Everything wrong with the world can be traced back to the verses that we just read this morning.
      • Every death, every illness, every war, every sorrow… it all started, at least for humanity, right here in the beginning of Chapter three… where we see the serpent tempting Adam and Eve to sin against God.

• Today’s sermon is titled Lies of the Enemy.
  • Because here in this passage we see three lies that Satan tells, and these three lies resulted in the downfall of all of humanity.

• But before we get into those lies lets just get a firm grasp on the events that have taken place.
• So, we have Adam and Eve, the first two humans ever created.
  • They were created for a variety of reasons…
    • They were created to work the land and tame the animals.
    • They were created to enjoy each other and keep each other company.
    • But most of all, they were created to glorify, worship, praise, and fellowship with God, their creator.
    • And they were placed in this garden, called the garden of Eden… Let’s look back at these scriptures for a bit…

Genesis 2:7-9 NKJV  And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.  (8)  The LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed.  (9)  And out of the ground the LORD God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

• So everything is perfect, there is no death, there is no sin, there is no problems.
  • And there in the garden was this special tree, the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil…
    • And this tree was special because it was the only tree that Adam and Eve could not eat from.

Genesis 2:15-17 NKJV  Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it.  (16)  And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat;  (17)  but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

• Now a natural question arises from this scripture…
  • Why did God put a forbidden tree in the garden?
  • I mean, if God did not put that tree in the garden, then there would be no opportunity for sin, right?
    • Well, not entirely, we know there were other commands given to Adam and Eve in the garden, meaning the opportunity for sin was already there.
      • Right? God said be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over every living thing.
        • If they failed to do those things, they would be in sin.
  • But even aside from that, may I suggest that God wanted to create beings who chose to love Him.
    • He wants people who chose to follow Him, chose to obey Him, chose to worship Him?
• Now there is a large portion of Christianity that does not believe that God grant’s free will…
  • But I am not that guy. I believe that God grant’s free will.
    • Too many times in the bible are we told to make choices… “Choose this day whom you will serve”… that line doesn’t make since if we don’t have free will.
    • There are too many “If” statements in the bible. “If my people who are called by my name turn from their sin and pray… Then I will heal their land” that scripture doesn’t make since if there is no free will.
      • And if you think I am preaching heresy by suggesting that God created us with free will, if you think I am wrong to teach that God gives us free will because you believe that there is no free will…
      • Then you logically MUST believe that God is causing me to teach that heresy right now.
        • So you can be mad at God, and not me…
• But I think God want’s us to chose to love, honor, and obey Him. And if that is the case, there must be an alternative… there must be a second choice.
  • Sometimes my kids ask “What’s for dinner” and I respond “Taco’s”
    • And they say… “Can we have something else”
    • And I say “Sure, you can have taco’s or you can have taco’s”… I am being funny, because that is not really a choice, is it?
• So God introduced a choice by introducing the forbidden fruit.
• And it is important to note that God DID NOT tempt Adam and Eve with the forbidden fruit…

James 1:13 NKJV  Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.

• No, it was not God who tempted Adam and Eve, it was Satan… if it was not for Satan, there would be no temptation… the choice would be there, but it would be a dumb choice.
• But then Satan enters the picture.

Genesis 3:1a NKJV  Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field…

• “Now hold on Pastor, you said ‘Satan’ but how do we know the serpent  is Satan?”
  • Good question! A few scriptures in the New Testament and one from the Old make it pretty clear:

Revelation 12:9 NKJV  So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Revelation 20:2 NKJV  He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years;

• So from these verses we hear the Devil called “The serpent of old”… but if that is not enough, this verse from Ezekial makes it pretty clear. You See Ezekial 28 gives us the most robust description of Satan in the scripture… and verse 13 says this about Satan:

Ezekiel 28:13a NKJV  You were in Eden, the garden of God…

• So Satan is the Serpent of Old who was in the Garden of Eden… pretty clear that the serpent in Genesis three is Satan…
  • And y’all, the Devil is a liar!
    • And He has been lying from the beginning, from the Garden… so, let’s pull out the three lies of Satan from our key text… I am going to read it one more time, and see if you can identify all three lies… all three deceptions:

Genesis 3:1-5 NKJV  Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”  (2)  And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden;  (3)  but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ”  (4)  Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.  (5)  For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

• In this passage we see three lies, three tricks, three deceptions if you will… that Satan used in the garden and is still uses today, and for the rest of our time this morning we are going to go over these lies.
  • Satan’s Three Lies to Eve
    • Question God’s Word
    • Calling God a Liar
    • Suggesting God is Withholding Good Things
• Let’s get into it by talking about this first lie… Questioning God’s Word…

Lie One – Questioning God’s Word

Genesis 3:1 NKJV  Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”

• Now, if you are a literalist like my son, I already know what you are thinking “Questioning God’s Word” is not a lie!
  • And I felt that way as I was writing this… but no other word fit… my spirit wanted me to write “lie”… after all, the Devil is the father of lies!
    • And here is the thing about a good liar… they don’t just outright lie, they have to convince you to believe the lie.
    • If Satan just came out and said “God did not say you can’t eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of good and evil”…
      • If Satan had said that, then it is simply Satan’s word verses God’s Word… and God’s Word is going to win every time…
    • Instead, this sneaky snake, wants to implant the lie into Eve’s head…
      • “Hey eve, didn’t God say you couldn’t eat any fruit from any tree in the garden?”
        • THIS IS A LIE… why, because Satan KNOWS that Adam and Eve can eat from trees in the Garden, and that there is just one tree they can not eat from… but Satan want’s eve questioning God’s word…
        • And look, this lie bears fruit.

Genesis 3:2-3 NKJV  And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden;  (3)  but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ “

• So Satan plays stupid and asks this dumb question “Did God REALLY say you can’t eat any fruit from any tree?”
  • And now Eve starts thinking about it… what she should have done was said “AH A TALKING SNAKE! GET AWAY!” instead she was like “Well… hm… you know… God did say we could eat from MOST of the trees… but there is one tree we can’t eat from… we are not even allowed to touch it”.
    • Now at this point you might think “Hey, no harm no foul… she figured it out”.
    • But Satan’s lie is already doing work… because Eve just added to God’s word…

Genesis 3:3 NKJV  but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ “

• THAT’S NOT WHAT GOD SAID! God never said you can’t touch it… you just made God’s law more burdensome then it actually is… a common trick of the enemy and our flesh…
  • And it is on the heals of this thought… that “we can’t even touch it” that the deception takes root.
• And here is the thing church, Satan still uses this lie.
  • “Did God really say…”
    • If you ever here someone asking that about something that God clearly said, shut that conversation down immediately.
      • It destroys relationships with God…
      • It destroyed Adam and Eve’s relationship with God, and it destroys Christians relationships with God.
  • “Did God really say ‘Homosexuality is a sin’… but didn’t God also say ‘Love your neighbor’”?
  • “Did God really say you have to tithe 10 percent?”
  • “Did God really say that Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven?”
  • “Did God really say that hell is real… are you sure you’re not just reading into it?”
  • “Did God really say that you can’t look at pornography, I mean who is it really hurting?”
  • “Did God really say you can’t steal? Is it really stealing if you are taking from the rich?”
• Church, the “Did God really say” lie has destroyed so many people’s faith… because it starts the person questioning God’s word. And it has other forms too:
  • Jesus didn’t say that, Paul said that…
  • Well that is Old Testament…
  • I just read the Red letters…
  • Some of the Bible was lost in translation…
  • That was just because the culture was different back then, it doesn’t really apply now.
• Listen, I serve the God of the Bible, so to question God’s Word is to question God… because what I know about God comes from His Word…
  • I have known far to many believers destroy their faith and their lives by questioning God’s word… because once you are comfortable questioning some of it, then you become comfortable questioning all of it. Once you are comfortable changing some of it, then you become comfortable changing all of it.
• Church, DON’T QUESTION GOD’S WORD.
  • STUDY GOD’S WORD, YES… GET A GOOD UNDERSTANDING OF GOD’S WORD. BUT WHAT GOD HAS SAID, GOD HAS SAID… DON’T TRY TO CHANGE IT! Amen?!
• That brings us to the second lie of the enemy… Calling God a liar…

Lie Two – Calling God a Liar

Genesis 3:4-5 NKJV  Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.  (5)  For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

• Again, any good liar doesn’t just outright lie… here the liar mixes truth with a lie…
  • “God knows that the day you eat of it your eyes will be open, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil”
    • That part is TRUE… more on that latter.
  • But Satan mixes the truth with a lie… “You will not surely die”.
    • YES YOU WILL! GOD SAID YOU WILL. GOD IS NOT A LIAR. YOU ARE THE LIAR SATAN! NOT GOD!
  • “You will not surely die”… at this point Adam, who was standing next to Eve, should have stepped in and said “WE DONE! You don’t get to call my Father a liar and keep talking to my wife. Get ye behind me Satan”
    • But of course Adam did not interfere… who knows what he was doing at the time…
    • And Eve didn’t protest either.
      • Eve knows God said she would die.
      • Satan knows God said she would die.
        • Satan calls God a liar and Eve entertains the thought…
        • WHAT NONSENSE.
        • GOD MADE YOU FROM YOUR HUSBANDS RIB… And you are like “Yeah maybe God was lying…”

Numbers 23:19 NKJV  “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?

• So no, Maverick City, God is not a Man of His Word… because God is not a man. God is a GOD of His Word…
  • And there is a difference, because a man of his word has the ability to lie but choses to speak the truth.
    • But Hebrews 6:18 says that it is IMPOSSIBLE for God to lie.
    • GOD CAN NOT LIE.
• Listen church, if God said it… then it’s true.
  • If it makes you uncomfortable, it’s still true.
  • If it means you have to change your lifestyle, it’s still true.
  • If your friends and family say it’s not true, it’s still true.
  • If society says it’s not true, it’s still true.
    • GOD CAN NOT LIE AND GOD CAN NOT CHANGE.
• So when you read your Bible, and God is telling you to do something… DO IT.
  • Never let anyone talk you out of believing Scripture.
    • But if people try to talk you out of believing scripture… they will probably try Satan’s last trick… Implying that God is Withholding Good Things.

Lie Three – Implying that God is Withholding Good Things

Genesis 3:5 NKJV  For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

• Now like I said in the last point, this statement is TECHNICALY true. Because what happened after they ate it… we can skip ahead to verse 7 and see that in fact this statement is true… it did open their eyes to know good and evil…

Genesis 3:7a NKJV  Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked…

• So again, why is this a lie? Because Satan is a good liar… the statement is true, but what it is implying is a lie.
  • Like when my son says “I brushed my teeth” when I asked him if he is ready for bed… technically he did… but in reality, he only brushed for like 2.5 seconds… he was speaking a technical truth, but he was implying a lie… he was implying that I would be satisfied with his level of teeth brushing.
    • The lie is not in the statement, but in the implication…
• So what is the implication here… what is Satan implying?
  • He is implying that God is withholding good from Adam and Eve.
    • If he said fully what he was implying it might sound something like this…
    • “God doesn’t want you to know how great it is to see the difference between good and evil… God want’s you to stay stupid… God want’s to keep you under control so He is trying to horde all the wisdom and knowledge for himself… you would be so much happier, so much smarter, so much better off if you just disobeyed God and eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”
  • He didn’t say all that because he didn’t have to… just the implication was enough to get the lie into Eve’s head.
• And this is what the devil does today.
  • A few weeks ago I preached on how God hates divorce… I have had people say to me when I tell them they can not have my blessing for a divorce… they say “Why don’t you want me to be happy?”
    • What?! Who told you that?! I DO WANT YOU TO BE HAPPY! And going against the word of God is not the way to go about it. The way to go about it is to do the hard work to fix your marriage.
  • Well Pastor I only get drunk to ease the pain… after all, God made alcohol…
    • Yeah, and God said that drunkards can not inherit the kingdom of God… I would rather you be in heaven then drunk…
      • But pastor it is THE only thing that works to make the pain go away.
        • ARE YOU SURE?! ARE YOU SURE IT IS THE ONLY THING… have you tried prayer, and fasting… building yourself up by praying in the Spirit? Studying and meditating on the Word of God? Worship and praise?
        • Have you tried getting your endorphins in check by exercising regularly?
        • Have you worked with your discipler on it?
        • Have you tried these things… or are you just making excuses?
• Y’all I have counselled people who told me “I think God wants me to leave my wife for this other girl in church I have been sleeping with”.
  • NO HE DOESN’T! THAT GIRL IS A HOMEWRECKER, SHE WILL CHEAT ON YOU JUST AS FAST AS YOU CHEATED ON YOUR WIFE. FIX YOUR MARRIAGE BRO.
• I have had people tell me “You don’t understand how hard it is to live on the streets, sometimes you just got to do certain things”.
  • No you most certainly DO NOT have to do those things…
• I have heard far to many preachers and churches say things along the lines of “Do what makes you happy”.
  • NO! What makes you happy is stupid and will ultimately destroy you… temporary joy is not worth eternal pain.
    • I am sure that forbidden fruit tasted REAL GOOD when Adam Eve was eating it…
    • Probably didn’t feel like it was worth it the next day when they were outside the garden, cold, scarred, and in pain…
• You know the reason I don’t do meth? It’s not because it would not be fun… I have heard descriptions… sounds like a party, probably would be the best time of my life…
  • No, I don’t do meth because I have seen how it destroys people’s lives…
    • I have seen the meth zombies who have tried to eat their own teeth and scratched away their own skin.
    • I have mourned with wives who lost their marriage to the drug.
    • I have visited prisoners who have spent decades behind bars because of meth.
  • When my parents taught me not to do drugs they were not withholding good from me, they were giving me a MUCH better life.
• When God said “Don’t eat from this tree” He was not withholding good, He was trying to protect Adam and Eve from death, and He was trying to protect them from the BURDEN of knowing good and evil, we will talk more about that next week.
  • But remember church, GOD DOES NOT WITHOLD GOOD.

Psalms 84:11-12 NKJV  For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold From those who walk uprightly.  (12)  O LORD of hosts, Blessed is the man who trusts in You!

• No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly. Blessed is the man who trust in you… you want to live a blessed life? TRUST GOD.

Conclusion

• Back in 2019 the worship leader from Hillsong walked away from the faith…
  • It wasn’t some big incident that made him walk away from Jesus… it was a slow fade of lies from the enemy…
  • When he walked away from Jesus he posted this to instagram:

“Time for some real talk… I’m genuinely losing my faith.. and it doesn’t bother me… like, what bothers me now is nothing… I am so happy now, so at peace with the world.. it’s crazy / this is a soapbox moment so here I go xx how many preachers fall? Many. No one talks about it.

“How many miracles happen. Not many. No one talks about it. Why is the Bible full of contradictions? No one talks about it. How can God be love yet send 4 billion people to a place, all coz they don’t believe? No one talks about it.

• This guy LEFT JESUS because he began questioning God’s word, because he believe that God was a liar and a hypocrite… because he thought God was withholding good…
  • “How many preaches fall. Many. No one talks about it…”
    • Actually, Marty, the Bible talks about it A LOT. Go read First and Second Kings, First and Second Chronicles… even Judges… Numbers… Exodus even…
      • So many priests, so many kings, so many leaders fell in the Bible and the Bible talks about it IN DETAIL.
  • “How many miracles happen? Not many. No one talks about it”.
    • Are you suggesting God is withholding good things?
    • I mean… first of all you say “Not many miracles”… so that still means some miracles… how many do you need?
    • Second the Bible is full of Miracles… You wrote songs about these miracles.
    • Third… I can’t speak for Hillsong, but our church is FULL of miracles… and WE TALK ABOUT IT.
  • “Why is the Bible full of Contradictions? No one talks about it?”
    • Apparently someone was talking about it, because someone put that thought into your head…
    • Saying “The Bible is full of contradictions” is a fancy way of saying “Did God really say? Because the Bible is FLAWED so it can’t be God’s word”…
      • But bro, get a good commentary, any supposed “contradiction” in scripture is talked about a TON and every single one is CLEARLY not a contradiction when you just take a moment to think about it.
      • The Bible is perfect, and that can be proven and has been proven… you are just believing the lies of the enemy.
  • “How can God send some many people to hell? All because they don’t believe? No one talks about it”
    • Actually, no, God does not send people to hell because they don’t believe, He sends them to Hell because they sinned against an infinitely holy God.
      • You sir just added to God’s word, exactly like Eve did…
    •  The Bible says that even the Devil and his minions believe and tremble… belief has nothing to do with it… It’s about SIN…
    • And we talk about it a lot… multiple people have left our church because I “talk about hell too much”.
• Marty questioned God’s word… and now he has destroyed his relationship with God… Satan did it in the Garden and Satan is doing it today.
• But listen church, for every Marty Samson out there… there are hundreds if not thousands of believers who trust in God’s word. Who strive to do it God’s way. And who are blessed because of it.
  • Families that stay together.
  • Miracles that overflow.
  • Financial blessings and stability.
  • Children, grandchildren, great grandchildren who follow Christ, get good jobs, stay out of jail, and have stable families of their own.
  • Families who love each other and love God.
  • Individuals who fight the good fight and are rewarded in this life and the next.
    • Y’all you can live the dream, you can have the good life… not necessarily the easy life, but a good, satisfying, fulfilled and content life… if you would just take God at His word, and resist the enemy and his lies.