I ask you to open your Bibles,
if you would, to 1 Timothy. 1 Timothy chapter 2. We're continuing in our expounding
of the Scriptures, looking to Christ in all of His Holy Word. Here in 1 Timothy chapter 2,
we last considered verse 6, where our Lord inspired the Apostle
Paul to write of this One who gave Himself a ransom for all
kinds of different men, and we looked at the testimony of who
Christ is, what He has done, who He did it for, what He's
doing right now, and last, the due time that these things would
be revealed to his elect. Verse 6, who gave himself, speaking
of Christ, a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. This morning I'd like to look
at verses 7 through 14, where Paul gives instruction to not
just Timothy, but to all the people of God throughout time
itself. Verse 7 of chapter 2, 1 Timothy. Whereunto I am ordained a preacher,
an apostle, I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not, a teacher
of the Gentiles in faith and virility, I will, therefore,
that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands without wrath and
doubting, in like manner also that women adorn themselves in
modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety, not with broidered
hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array, but which becometh
women professing godliness with good works. Let the woman learn
in silence with all subjection, But I suffer not a woman to teach,
nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For
Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but
the woman being deceived was in the transgression." Now I'd
like to look at that first part of verse 14 there where it says,
and Adam was not deceived. Title for this message this morning
is Eyes Wide Open. Adam. was not deceived. He knew exactly what he was getting
into when he took the fruit from his wife Eve. Turn over to Genesis
chapter 3 and let's look at this event. Let's look at this terrible,
awful event, but yet it was a purposed event. Genesis chapter 3, we begin reading
at verse 1. Now the serpent was more subtle
than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he
said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of
every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent,
We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the
fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God
hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it,
lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the
woman, Ye shall not surely die, for God doth know that in the
day that ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and
ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the
tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes,
and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took the fruit
thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her,
and he did eat." Now, Adam wasn't there when the
devil was talking to him. Otherwise, the Lord would put
it in his word. The devil deceived Eve. Adam sinned willingly. He was
not deceived as Eve was. Satan did not beguile him. Look
at verse 12. And the man said, The woman whom
thou gavest to me, to be with me, she gave me of the tree,
and I did eat. So we notice next, not only did
Adam willingly take of the fruit, that He knew He wasn't supposed
to take us. That's what we read in our text
in 1 Timothy, chapter 2. Adam was not deceived. That's
the Lord's Word, folk. That's not me making up some
kind of an interpretation from what I'm reading here in chapter
3. Our God tells us in 1 Timothy,
Adam was not deceived. He willingly accepted sin. He willingly sinned against God. Do we not see that very relationship to you
and I? Let me ask you something. Have any of you ever gotten caught
with your finger, your hand in the cookie jar? Or whatever it
is you want to think of? Who got into that jar? If you'd
seen this when I was that age and little, you would say that's
John's dad exactly. That's John's father right there.
Who got into that jigger? Deep voice just like that. Not
me. I didn't do it. I really didn't. Yes, you did. You're the only one around. Go
get me a switch. You see, sin comes natural to
every single human being. We are born dead, spiritually
dead in trespasses and sin. That's God's Word. That's not
my interpretation. That's God's Word. Our Lord tells
us over and over again, whosoever believeth, That doesn't mean
believing just this little part of Scripture over here, and say,
well, we're going to ignore Romans 9, because that doesn't match
what I want it to be, what this means over here, or any of the
other Scriptures. That means all of God's Word,
and this is all of God's Word. You don't add to it, you don't
take anything away from it. We expound from all the Scriptures. I don't understand a lot of it.
I could have brought probably several messages from those verses
we've already read before we got to that one section. But
you know what? I don't know that much about it. I know it's all
true, and I know what my Lord is saying there about the instructions
about the women's hair and the women to be silent. If Kathy
were able to speak to you this moment, she would say that was
the one thing in scriptures that stopped her from ever desiring
to hear any more about scriptures. My wife is Italian-Irish, and
I can say that because she's listening right now on the radio
next door, which means she's very stubborn. I like her that
way, don't get me wrong. I've always liked her that way. But when she heard that she should
not speak and to keep silent, it was like, how can I believe
a guy who's telling me that? I'm Italian, you're not going
to tell me to keep my mouth shut. No, we went to this verse, eyes
wide open. Adam sinned willingly. The Lord laid that part on my
heart to preach on because I see I know that part. I know the willingness of sin
in me. Do you? Adam sinned with his eyes wide
open and you and I do too. We know right from wrong. Just about all of mankind knows
right from wrong in one way or another. That's why there's so
many different gods. Everything men does is to appease a god
of one kind or another. The problem is they just don't
know the true and living God, Jesus Christ. There are none
that seeketh after Me, our Lord says. And those of you who know
the Lord know that you were not seeking Him. We know that the
day He spoke to our hearts, He brought us to that point to hear
His preacher preach the Word of God. We know that it was all
Him, all glory goes to our Lord and Savior. Turn over, if you would, with
me to 2 Samuel chapter 11. As I said a moment ago, sin is
our very nature. We come into this world dead
and trespasses in sin. There are none that seeketh after
the true and living God. In fact, the gospel of Christ
is enmity against the nature of men. That's the word the Lord
uses, enmity. We cannot know who the Lord Jesus
Christ is because we don't want to. If we were left to our own
will, we would be walking in the darkness that we once walked
in. Aren't you thankful that a sovereign God worked His own
will out, not ours? I love the sovereignty of God,
as I was saying in our Bible study earlier. That just blesses
me to know that my Lord loved me so much. Not only did He give
His life for me and shed His own blood for me, not only was
He my substitute, He didn't leave me, He called me to Him. He says,
I know you're not going to come to me, so I'll bring you to me.
I may have to send you through what you think is hell to get
there, but you're going to come to Me. Just as Jonah had to go
to that fish, had to go out on that boat, had to run from God,
had to be thrown overboard and swallowed up by that fish. He
had to do that. It had to go through that so
that he could come out the other side and say, salvation is of
the Lord. My mom's sitting right here.
Mom, have you ever heard me say, salvation is of the Lord before
God opened my heart? No, it was always, don't worry
about it, Mom. Don't worry about it. I got my
own religion going on. Lord and I have got something
worked out. I didn't know who the Lord was. I just had some
imaginary excuse not to go to church with my mom, but once
a year. And by His sovereign power, He comes and He calls His children,
you're mine. When we're in the blood and the
filth of sin, our Lord passes by His people
and He says, live. And that's what He's done to
each and every one of us. Live. Because He puts life in
us. Are you with me in 2 Samuel?
Chapter 11. David, a man after God's own
heart, favored of God in so many, many ways. When we were going through the
books of Samuel in our Bible studies, we looked and saw all
the different places our Lord blessed David saving Him from
this, or allowing Him to step in it there so that He could
save Him over here. You're right, Mike. You're absolutely
right. We don't see always what's good
for us. But our Lord says everything.
He says all things are for the good to them that love God. Even if those things are painful
at the moment, Who knows? Like he was telling me, something
I may have to go through which is very painful and very hurtful
and just downright drive me to my knees may be good for this
child of God sitting right here someday. My granddaughter. She might see the way the Lord
leads me through. My brother Lee lost his child. Some of you know it. The day he lost his child, I
was in his church hearing those words, all things are for our
good. It was good for me to hear it. It was good for me to see my
brother lean on God's Word to get him through that sorrow. David, the man after God's own
heart, how often do we see God's loved ones, Peter, Abraham, how often do we see
those who love the Lord in His Word stumble? And it came to pass, verse 1,
after the year was expired, at the time when the kings go forth
to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him in
all of Israel. And they destroyed the children
of Ammon and besieged Rabah. But David tarried still at Jerusalem. And it came to pass in an evening
tide that David arose off his bed, and he walked up on the
roof of the king's house, and of the roof he saw a woman washing
herself. And the woman was very beautiful
to look upon. And David sent and inquired after
the woman, and one said, is not this Bathsheba, the daughter
of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite? And David sent messengers
and took her. And she came in unto him, and
he lay with her, for she was purified with her uncleanness.
and she returned into her house. And the woman conceived and sent
and told David and said, I am with child. Did you see any deception in
that? Do you see how willingly this man,
a man after God's own heart, willingly sinned? Now I know
that the Lord sends a prophet unto David to tell him of this
sin. But you tell me, is that when David saw his sin?
David saw his sin the moment he walked out onto the roof of
that building. The minute he looked upon that woman and had
a desire in his heart to have her, he willingly sinned. And that's the way it's been
with all mankind from the very beginning that Adam turned away
from the Word of God and took things in his own hands, and
he sinned against God, eyes wide open. Nobody has to tell you you're
doing something wrong. You know it. I know it. I know when I'm doing things
wrong. I know when the bad thoughts are going through my head. I
know when the thoughts of anger, the thoughts of mistrust. Oh, my water is brewing all over
the side of the house. What am I going to do? I'm all
freaked out. I've got to call my brother.
Not once did I stop until my wife said, calm down. The Lord's
got this under control. Did I stop until then and think,
Anything about God? No. All I did was think, what
am I going to do? I'm in trouble. That's sin. Anytime we think
of something outside of our Lord being ruler of it all, that's
sin. Anytime our faith gets so to
the point where we forget that He is controller and ruler of
all things, that is sin. Because it comes to us by nature.
We know when we're doing something wrong. We know when the wrong
thoughts are going through our mind. Our eyes are wide open,
folks. It's a constant battle. A constant
battle to turn from the sin that is in our flesh. The battle between
the spirit and the flesh. Oh, how I want to be like these
men that I read about in Scripture where they trust in the Lord.
Abraham. So much so that he trusted in
the Lord that he was ready to give up his own son. A picture
of Christ. Sacrificing Him. And then when
it came down to putting the fire together, his son asked him,
Father, where's the sacrifice? And he says, don't worry about
it. God will provide Himself a sacrifice. Oh, how I would
love to be like that. But just also as Abraham turned
from the promise of God before Isaac was born, I turn all the
time from the promises of my Lord and forget that those promises
are sure. I will never leave you nor forsake
you is what our Lord says. Does that ever disappear from your mind? Do
you ever have trouble remembering that? I do. It's a constant battle. David, a man after God's own
heart, the man who was favored of God
in all his endeavors, even he battled with his nature of sin. And just as it was with Adam,
the true nature of our flesh moves in on us. Look at verses
14-15 of this very same chapter. And it came to pass in the morning
that David wrote a letter unto Joab. This is after David has
already tried to get Uriah drunk. trying to get him to go back
to his home to sleep with his wife. He couldn't get that to
work. He couldn't hide his sin behind
that. So now he sends a letter to Joab
and he sent it by the hand of Uriah. He even sent that letter
with Uriah himself. Think of that as irony. And he
wrote in the letter saying, set ye Uriah in the forefront of
the hottest battle. Do you guys read any deceit in
this? Is there any misunderstanding that David's thinking he's not
doing something wrong here? Set Uriah in the hottest battle, and retire ye from him. Pull
away, pull back, that he may be smitten and die. I'm having trouble connecting.
A man after God's own heart, sentencing a man to death because
of what David had done. He'd gotten his wife pregnant. He sinned, and then he began
to cover it up, just as Adam did. Wait, Lord, you gave her
to me. Well, that's not going to work.
OK, well, she's the one who gave it to me then. See? See how David
was trying to pawn it all off, the excuse, the guilt of it on
something else? So is David. He sinned and he
began to cover up. And when that would not work,
David sent him to be killed. And even though we know the truth,
we turn from it and even try to justify our own actions. justified
at the very least in our own imaginations. Have you ever told
a little white lie so that you wouldn't hurt the feelings of
someone else? One little lie is all it takes
to condemn the flesh to hell. Our God is so holy he cannot
be in the presence of sin. He cannot look upon sin itself. Something has to give there for
us to be in the presence of God forever, doesn't it? Folks, Adam exercised his will.
He willingly, with his eyes wide open, accepted death rather than
be without Eve. Some even look at this as a type
a picture of Christ Himself. And I would not argue against
that, for our Holy Word declares there to be two Adams. Turn over
to 1 Corinthians chapter 15, if you would. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. And let's begin at verse 45. And so it is written, the first
man Adam was made a living soul, and the last Adam was made a
quickening spirit. How be it that was not first
which is spiritual, but that which is natural, and after that
which is spiritual. and afterward that which is spiritual.
The first man is of the earth, earthly, and the second man is
the Lord of heaven." Two Adams. Interesting. We see here the
second Adam, not that he was second to the first, but that
he came after the first. Even though the second Adam was
the eternal Spirit, the Son of the living God, equal with the
Father, equal with the Spirit, He did not become flesh until
after the first Adam had come and gone. Therefore, He is called
the second Adam. The very One who gives life itself,
the Lord of Heaven. He gives life to as many as the
Father hath given Him, is what the Scripture says. This second
Adam also did according to his nature. Perfect in every way. Everything he did pleased the
Father. The one man who fulfilled every
part of God's holy law. He who knew no sin. Yet this one, this second Adam,
was known under another name, wasn't he? In Revelation 13, verse 8, he's
called the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. That
means somebody, before anything was ever created, before anything
was ever set in the sky, called this one the Lamb slain. That should set off a rocket
in her mind about, whoa, that was planned. You see, Christ
going to the cross is not plan B. God did not say, oops, my
creation fell. Anybody who preaches a God like
that preaches somebody who doesn't deserve to be called God. Our Lord rules everything, folks.
Everything happens according to His purpose. He's not the
author of sin. Men are the author of sin. But
our Lord allowed it to happen so His Son could become the Lamb
slain before the foundation of the world. This One who is eternal is also
known as the Word of God. In John 1.1 we read, In the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning
with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not
anything made that was made. In Him was life, and the life
was the light of men, and the light shineth in darkness, and
the darkness comprehended it not. There are none that come
to me, our Lord says. In John 1 verse 14, And the Word
was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory,
the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. He too acted with eyes wide open. Salvation is not plan B. In Acts
2.23 we read Him, speaking of Christ, being delivered by the
determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. Our Lord knew all about
the whole situation, what our Savior was sent to this earth
to do. To save His people. And He shall lose none. This is my hope for my unsaved
loved ones. This is the hope that my mom
has had for her son up until the age of 40. My Savior will
lose nothing. He will have all that He went
to the cross for, because His perfect blood was shed for a
certain people. We call them God's elect. That's what Peter said in 1 Peter. God's elect. They were chosen from the foundation
of the world as we read it in Ephesians. Predestinated to be
conformed to the image of Christ. Oh, how I can't wait to be conformed
fully to my Lord and Savior. And put away this flesh that
sins all the time. Send it back to the dust where
it goes. Pastor Gene and Judy. I have this discussion with him
a lot nowadays. His body is quitting on him.
He has to use a walker to go down to Walmart and go shopping
with Judy. Most days it just hurts to get
up and go in and get a cup of coffee and sit at the table.
Our brother Mike Loveless knows this very thing. Our brother Lamar Garner with
the loss of his wife, sits at his kitchen table every day waiting
for the Lord to take him home. For the glory, for the glory
that our Lord has promised each and every one of his people.
Predestinated to be conformed to the image of his Son. He was delivered by the determining
counsel and foreknowledge of God. Salvation is not plan B. Christ our Savior knew exactly
what He was getting into. He said His thoughts like a flint
upon Jerusalem where He would go and be hung, on the cross
where He would be made a curse. Can you get that in your mind?
I can't. How can God be made a curse for
us? He was made flesh. 100% flesh, 100% man, 100% God. Even though He had needs, as
we saw in Bible study. He sent those disciples to the
town. He said, tell them the Lord is in need of those animals. Our Lord needed to eat. He needed
to drink. He needed to rest. He was sleeping
on a pillow in the ship when the storm came up. The very storm
that He caused to come up. by His sovereign power. Our Lord knew exactly where He
was going, what He was doing, and why He was doing it. Because
He has loved us with an everlasting love, He set His mind on that
cross, knowing the day would come when He would be hung on
that cross. Go through all the pain and the
beatings and the whipping and the spitting, the cat of nine
tails across His back for our sakes. Was it distressing to Him in
the flesh as a man? Absolutely. My God, my God, why
hast Thou forsaken me? God the Father turned His back
on God the Son who was made to be sin for our sakes. Christ
did that willingly. Eyes wide open. Can you not see the depth of
His love for His people? Our great Creator, of all that
is, gave Himself to be our sacrifice, our substitute, our scapegoat. He paid the redemptive price
with His own blood. Blessed Redeemer, Jesus is mine. Oh, what a foretaste of glory
divine! With His own blood, He purged
our sins from His sight. He being made sin for us, that
we would be made righteous in Him. Folks, we have no righteousness
of our own. You know how tough that is to
forget or to remember? There is nothing in our flesh
worthy of God but the Christ that dwells in us. It is His
righteousness and His righteousness alone that we can call unto our
Father, Abba, Father. And he did it all knowing exactly
what was before him. He said, I laid down my life
for the sheep. In Isaiah, and I'll read this
for you, 53 verses 6 through 11, he says, All we like sheep
have gone astray. We have turned every one to his
own way. And the Lord hath laid on him,
speaking of Christ, the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and
he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. He brought as
a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before the shearers is
dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and
from judgment, and who shall declare his generation? For he
was cut off of the land of the living. For the transgression
of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the
wicked and with the rich in his death. Because he hath done no
violence, neither was there any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased
the Lord to bruise him. He hath put him to grief. When
thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed,
he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall
prosper in his hands. He shall see the travail of his
soul, and he shall be satisfied." That's the Word of God. Our Lord
went to the cross knowing that that was the only thing that
would satisfy the justice of God the Father. The perfect blood
of His Son. Look again at verse 45 of 1 Corinthians
if you would please. And so it is written, the first
man Adam was made a living soul, and the last Adam was made a
quickening spirit. Our Savior is a quickening spirit. He gives life to as many as the
Father hath given Him. We who once walked in darkness,
now walk in the light and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Not because we made some fleshly decision like, I think I'll get
baptized today. Or I think I'll worship on Saturday. Or I think I'll walk to the front
of the aisle and say some prayer. But because of His love for us.
Because of His love, He drew us to Him. In Ephesians 2 verses 1-9 it
says, And you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and
sin, quickened, made alive, where in times past you walked according
to the course of this world, according to the prince of the
power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children
of disobedience, among whom also we all had our conversation in
times past, in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires
of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children
of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy,
for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were
dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace
we are saved, and hath raised us up together, and made us to
sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the
ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace
in His kindness towards us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are
ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves is a gift of
God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Amen. Our Lord says to you, to you who were quickened, given
life by Him. He says, I have loved you with
an everlasting love. And because of that love, He
offered up Himself in our stead. And He did it, eyes wide open. Can you not see the love that
God has for His people? And this people are from every
tribe, every kindred, and every tongue. Our Lord says, all that
the Father giveth me shall come to me. And then he also says,
he that hath an ear, let him hear. Do you have an ear? Yes. Has God given you a blind, deaf,
dumb person, ears, eyes, and a mind to know who He truly is. If He has, it's because He's
loved you with an everlasting love. Amen?