There are men and women of the cloth in our country, and countries across the world, who are starting to teach things that are different than what we find in Scripture. It may seem like all of these things that they are teaching is new, and some of that is true. Turn to John 16. We’re hearing preachers say that when you sin you don’t have to repent because it’s all by grace.
In John 16, verse 13, the Bible says “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.”
If you are listening to preachers, including our pastor and me, more than you are listening to the Holy Spirit, then you are setting yourself up to be deceived and, now listen to me, you are setting yourself up to potentially walk away from your salvation.
In Matthew 24, when the disciples asked Jesus what would be the sign of his return, the first thing he said, and we see this in verse 4, “Take heed that no man deceive you.” The first sign of Jesus’ return will be an increase in deception – an increase in the teaching of wrong doctrine.
There is a reason that Jesus said this and we find that reason back in Genesis. But before we go there, look at 2 Corinthians 11.
(1) Would that God ye could be with me a little in my folly; and indeed bear with me.
(2) For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
(3) But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
It’s not by accident that Paul says “as the serpent beguiled Eve … so your minds should be corrupted.” He’s making a point. The corruption he’s talking about is your mind no longer thinking the way God thinks. You and God are no longer on the same page. How do you know that Bro. Barry? Let’s go to Genesis 3.
In Genesis 3, well, hold your finger there and go to Genesis 2 and look at verses 8 and 9.
(8) And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man who he had formed.
Now, in Hebrews 9:23 it says the things of this world are a pattern of the things that you see in heaven. In Ezekiel 28, verses 13 through 15, it talks about how Satan was in the “Eden of God.” What we’re seeing here, the garden of Eden, is a replica of the Eden of God. Now do you understand why we say things like “heaven on earth?” God designed the garden of Eden to be like the Eden that He has in heaven,. That is important to remember.
(9) And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food; [Do you see that little thing after the word “food?” It’s a semicolon. When we read this, it’s telling us to pause before we continue reading.]
Let’s pick it up with “good for food”; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, AND the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
What tree is in the midst of the garden? The tree of life. Remember this.
Go down to verse 15.
(15) And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
In Ezekiel 28, verses 13 and 14, scripture says the same thing being described here was originally Lucifer’s job in heaven. He was the anointed cherub “that covereth” – that kept the Eden of God.
(16) And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
I want you to hear what the Bible says. “Every tree of the garden you may freely eat.”
(17) But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it:
What does this tell us? The tree of the knowledge of good and evil was originally not part of the garden. Do you see this? Let me read it again. “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat.” Every tree. That word “every” means exactly what it says, every.
“‘But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”
We’re going to get to it later, but when you read in Revelation 2:7, it talks about the tree of life in the Eden of God. There is no mention anywhere of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
So, we see here in Genesis 2, verses 16 and 17, that God says you may eat of every tree of the garden. So, if God says you can eat of every tree of the garden but don’t eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, what is He saying? He’s saying that tree was not originally part of my garden. That’s important.
Now turn to Genesis 3.
(1) Now the serpent was mor subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
Do you see what the serpent said? “Eve, did God say YOU can’t eat of every tree of the garden? Notice how he personalizes it. What did God actually say? He said you can eat of every tree of the garden.
Let me tell you what Satan is doing to Eve, and what he will do to you. “Eve, you heard WHAT God said, but do you understand WHAT He said the way He UNDERSTANDS it?”
This is the way it’s going to be for us. God has been very clear in His Word about certain things. So it comes down to “do we understand this Bible the way that God understands this Bible?”
This is what Satan is doing in Genesis 3 verse one. He’s trying to find out if Eve understands what God said the way God understood it. And we’re going to find out that Eve did not understand – did not interpret – what God had said the way He understood it or interpreted it.
How many of you have given your children instruction. You very clear. You were very specific in what you told them to do. And how many of them didn’t do it? They didn’t understand what you said the way you understood what you said.
So my question to you this morning, ladies and gentlemen – Are you and God in agreement in the way you understand what He has given us in the Bible?
(2) And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden.
What is the problem with her response? God said Adam and Eve could eat freely off every tree of the garden. Right there, Satan knew that he had Eve because she did not tell him what God had actually said.\
Jesus is the great example of understanding what God has said and living the way God wanted him – and us – to live. He knew what God meant when He said something because He spent time with Him. So many of us read the Bible, but we never spend enough time with our Father to find out what He meant when He said.
You see, you can read the Bible but you have to understand something: the Bible is like an onion. It has layers. As you read it, over and over and over again and pray in tongues, you begin to peel back layer after layer of understanding. So tonight, we’re peeling back a layer.
(3) But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, [What tree is in the midst of the garden? The tree of life! Do you see this?] God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
That was not what God said. God said you could eat of every tree in the garden. Then the Bible says “the tree of life also in the midst, AND the tree of knowledge of good and evil.”
What did Eve just do? She told the serpent that we could not eat of life. We could not eat of the tree that sustains life. That’s what she just said.
Notice that Genesis 2:9 does not say “trees in the midst.” It said “tree.” Revelation 2:7 says that once we are in heaven, we will have free access to the tree of life. Do you think God’s original intention was for us not to have access to the tree of life in the garden of Eden?
Now notice what Eve said. “Not only can we not eat of the tree of life, we can’t touch it. And if we do touch it, there’s a good chance we’re going to die.” None of that is what God said. First of all, she’s referring to the wrong tree. And, secondly, in referring to the wrong tree, the instruction that God gave about the tree of knowledge of good and evil was DON’T EAT IT because you WILL DIE! Eve made it a possibility, a maybe.
How many of us, ladies and gentlemen, have taken God’s word and “maybeized” it? What tree was she not supposed to eat from? The tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
(4) And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not not surely die.
What was the doctrine God established? If you eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you will die. But what does Satan say? Let me give you Galatians 1:6 – an altered gospel. You can eat of the tree and you will live. Satan has just given Eve false doctrine. He’s leading her into deception.Jesus says in Matthew 24, verse 3, “Take heed, lest any man deceive you.”
Now notice in verse 5 how Satan sets himself up as being the one speaking for God.
(5) For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
What would Eve’s eyes be open to? A doctrine – a belief, a way of thinking – that was different from Genesis 2:15, 16 and 17. Her eyes would be open to a wrong doctrine.
Now, I want you to notice the words in verse 6.
(6) And when the woman saw … [Now, let’s be clear. At this point, Eve is just like us. She has God’s life and nature on the inside of her. So she had access to information about what was going on, had she chosen to access it. But look at what the Bible says.]
And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with here; and he did eat.
Now see this. A tree pleasant to the eyes. A tree to be desired. When did the desire come? After she saw. Then what did she do? She ate and then gave it to her husband. First Timothy 2:14 says Adam was not deceived.
Ladies and gentlemen do you see this? Verse 6 says she gave also unto her husband who was on his way to meet her … who was a couple of blocks down the street … who was on his cell phone checking the daily stock quotes. No. He was with her.
What we have seen in this record do far is this: false doctrine, from the beginning, has appealed to the flesh, the emotions, and the senses. It will cause us to turn away from God to something more appealing (saw, pleasant, desire) – things to stimulate the soul.
Now I want to share something with you the Lord gave to me about soul stimulation.
“The enemy of the soul endeavors to “rule” us through our emotions and the biggest way to affect the emotions is through the soul (what you think). If he can get us focused on doing what feels right or what doesn’t feel right or what makes sense or doesn’t make sense, etc., we’re not focused on the spirit.
“Emotions tilt our brains to want to be satisfied or relieved rather than quiet and peaceful. The spirit wants us quiet and peaceful and then we can deal with the issue that’s unsettling our emotions.
“‘Soul Stimulation’ keeps us focused on the realm of the natural and not the realm of the spirit. That’s why we want to figure things out. That’s why we can’t stay in the prayer closet or confess the Word until it comes to pass in our lives.”
We react to feelings rather than truth.
Ladies and gentlemen, there’s a reason the Bible says we walk by faith – by what God had said – and not by sight. And Genesis 3 is an excellent example of this.
(7) And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
When there eyes were opened, they realized that they were no longer like God. But see, ladies and gentlemen, it was too late then. They were no longer going to spend an eternity with their Creator.
(8) And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.
I want you to notice this. The Bible says “they heard the voice of the Lord.” Remember when God came to Adam back in Genesis 2 and He told Adam H wanted him to name all the animals? Did it say anything about God “coming” or was God “just there?”
Think about it. God was just there. Adam was always in God’s presence. After Adam sinned, ladies and gentlemen, he hears God. Think about that. You have the Holy Spirit on the inside of you. Do you have to hear Him to get guidance, to get instruction? No. He’s just there. Do you see what I’m saying? The only reason Adam heard the voice of God was because he was no longer like God. Let that sink in.
(9) And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where are thou?
(10) And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
Adam and Eve no longer had God’s covering. What’s the first thing that happens once they lost the life and nature of God? Fear set in. That’s the first response Adam had to God. He was afraid of Him. Why? The God that he knew before his encounter with the tree of knowledge of good and evil, that God’s voice …. If the Holy Spirit keeps doing this we’ll be here all night.
In John 10, Jesus says my sheep hear my voice. Adam had to hear God COMING TO HIM not CALLING HIM to Him. “My sheep hear my voice and they will not go to a stranger.” What did Adam do? He did not want to go to God. Why? Because God was now a stranger
(11) And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
What tree was forbidden? The tree of life? No. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil. I’m drilling this in because the Bible is very specific in saying the tree of life was in the midst of the garden.
(12) And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
Listen to what Adam is telling God. “God, I have a free will. I can make my own decisions. But you know what? This woman that you gave me, she had a hold on me God. I was powerless against her God. She had her hooks in me God and I just had to have some of that apple God. The woman you gave me! Look at her. Who could say no? I couldn’t God.”
(13) And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
Do you know what God was really asking Eve? “Do you realize what you have done? Do you realize that I cannot undo what you have done?
Remember in Second Corinthians 11:3 when Paul says “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty?” When the serpent beguiled Eve, what happened? Because Adam stood silent, the human race died. What is Paul telling the Corinthians? Wrong doctrine can cause you to lose your eternal life and you will spend an eternity in the lake of fire.
That’s why I titled this message, “Eternal Death Sounds So Good.” Eve listened to the message of the serpent and bought it. And she died. But what the serpent said sounded good to her. It sounded right. Satan has not changed ladies and gentlemen. Deception is his number one tool.
(14) And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
(15) And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
Verse 15 is a prophecy about the coming of Jesus. I want you to noice something ladies and gentlemen. Remember I made it a point to say in Matthew 24 that when the disciples asked Jesus what would be the sign of his coming and he said “Take heed that no one deceive you”?
This would be the sign of his second coming. What happened to make Jesus’ first coming necessary? DECEPTION. If Eve hadn’t bought into the serpent’s lie, Jesus wouldn’t have been born. Wrong doctrine had killed the human race. Wrong doctrine is killing the human race again.
Now I want you to notice something. “I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed.” I have a question for you? Do women have seed? No. Men have the seed. God is telling us that the seed of the woman will not have a life and nature like yours.
Now look at verse 14 again. “And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou has done this…” What had the serpent done? He had deceived Eve. He had fed her wrong doctrine. Ladies and gentlemen, listen to me. That’s all he did. I know it sounds like I’m not belittling what he did but he didn’t do something that the mind can’t grasp.
The serpent simply fed her wrong doctrine. And God says because you have fed her wrong doctrine and thereby deceived her, this is what’s going to happen to you. Now imagine all of these ministers standing in the pulpit today who are feeding the flock wrong doctrine. What does this say to them?
If God was unhappy with Satan for feeding Eve wrong doctrine, do you think He’s happy with the wrong doctrine being fed to His flock right now? No. He’s not. When they stand before Jesus on the day of judgment, they will be surprised. San deceived Eve and God punished him to the max.
(16) Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
(17) And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast heartened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed in the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
God held Adam responsible. Remember in Genesis 2:15 God gave him the authority to dress and keep the garden. God commanded Adam not to eat of the tree. He didn’t give him an option. He didn’t give him any leeway.
Adam deliberately made a decision to choose deception over truth. He chose to believe what he could see rather than what he could not see.
(18) Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field.
(19) In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground: for our of it wast thou taken: for dust thou are, and unto dust shalt thou return.
Let’s close with Galatians 1:6-9.
(6) I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel.
(7) Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.
(8) But though we, or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accused.
(9) As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accused.
So, ladies and gentlemen, what is Paul saying to those of us who stand in the pulpit , who name the name of Jesus, but we’re really preaching another gospel? Let him be accursed. Let him miss heaven. Why was Paul so harsh? Those who are preaching wrong doctrine, who are preaching eternal death that sounds so good, are taking people way from their Father and leading them to the lake of fire.
Ladies and gentlemen, I encourage you to take heed to the people you are listening to. Take heed to the doctrine they are feeding you. When you hear something, don’t take it at face value. Get into the Bible to find out if what they’re teaching you is truth. Don’t allow yourself to be deceived. And don’t allow those that you love to be deceived.
