God is so faithful. That's the
first thing Tom Vick told me. He said, God's faithful. Don't
leave us alone. I want to talk tonight. You know,
last week we dealt with man's fall into sin, his disobedience
to God, and God pronouncing death upon him. Then he died. He'd
become an alien from God. He'd become dead in trespasses
and sins. And not only did spiritual death
come upon him, but physical death set in on him too. And it was
by this one man's sin, his disobedience, God gave him one commandment,
Don't ye eat of the fruit or the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil, and they ye eat thereof, thou shalt surely die.
Well, he died. He really died. And the death
that he died was he lost the life of God. He became a sinner. And all of
his progenies from that time and every human being that came
from him was born in sin, shaped in iniquity, conceived in sin,
not born lost, I mean, not going to be lost, born lost, born under
condemnation. And born apart from any hope
unless God in His grace does something for a man. That's the
condition man's in. Now we want to talk about the
effects of this fall upon man, and next week I want to talk
about Christ reversing, to see the woman reversing the effects
of the fall. But when Eve, through the subtlety
of Satan, the subtlety of the serpent, partook of that fruit
of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and then she turned
around and gave it to Adam, and he did eat it. And the effect
of that act was so great, so devastating, and the consequences
reaches from that day in the Garden of Eden. Well, it reaches
from there until eternity starts. The effects upon the human race
and the effects upon people. And the consequences is, we cannot
grasp the consequences of it. What happened when God, when
Adam partook of that fruit? And though we know something
about sin, though we know something about it, and we feel the effects
of that transgression that Adam sinned, but how little do we
know about sin? But I know the effects of Adam's
transgression. When he did eat of that fruit,
the effects were eternal, and the effects were infinite, and
Cain The first sin committed outside the garden, as far as
we know, was one brother committing murder against another brother,
and that king has been in hell all these years, all these centuries,
because of that transgression. How did he become a murderer?
What happened to him that he wanted to murder his own brother?
That's how devastating the effects of this fall was upon us. And
when Paul wanted to talk about sin and how sinful sin was, you
know what he said? Sin is exceeding sinful. When you try to describe sin,
how do you describe it? He just said it's exceeding sinful.
Sin is exceeding sinful. But our first thing I want you
to notice about the effect upon Adam and Eve and the fall upon
them, their fall from life into death, from communion with God
into darkness, from light into darkness, From sin and from walking
communion with God to hiding from it, the first effect was
a realization of the shame. They'd never known what shame
was before. Look what it says in verse 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. And through
sin here, man obtained what he didn't have before. He never
knew what sin was, never knew what fear was, never knew what
guilt was. But when his eyes were opened,
and it says here, and the eyes of them both were opened, you
mean to tell me they didn't have open eyes before this? You mean
to tell me that they didn't see things before this took place?
They saw God, they saw the garden, they saw one another, they saw
the animals, they saw the creation. But all of a sudden, something
drastically took place here, and it says the eyes of them
both were open. They saw something that they'd
never seen before, and experienced something they'd never experienced
before. They saw shame. They saw guilt. They saw fear. And most of all, they saw their
own nakedness, and they were ashamed of their nakedness. God
made them that way. But when sin entered into the
picture, it became a different story. It wasn't that they were
ashamed of their nakedness to one another. They became ashamed
of their nakedness before God. And through sin, man obtained
what he didn't have before. And that's a conscience. Before
he didn't know good or evil. Now he knows both good and evil. In fact, you go down here and
look what God said in verse 11. And when their eyes were opened,
they were naked, he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Who told you? God didn't have
to tell him. How did he know that he was naked? How did he
know this? It was because he had a conscience that he never
had before. You see, he didn't need a conscience
before. He didn't know what guilt was.
He didn't know what sin was. And so he didn't need a conscience
because he was ignorant of evil. He never had done a sin before,
so he didn't need a conscience to prick him and make him feel
his guilt and make him feel his shame. But as soon as he partook
of that forbidden fruit, his eyes were opened, and he saw
his fallen condition immediately. Immediately! And let me tell
you something about conscience. Conscience is a mercy that God
gives man. Now there's people that's got
seared consciences. There's people that's got tender
consciences. Paul said he wanted to have a
conscience void of offense toward God and man. And the Bible speaks
a lot about conscience. But God, God gave man a conscience
when he fell right here that he never had before. And that's
a mercy. That's a mercy. Man would never set up in his
own heart, set up in his own soul, a tormentor, a judge, a
tormentor in his own heart. And this business of how did
he know he was naked, he was afraid and he hid himself because
he had a conscience now and he knowed he was sinful, he knew
he was guilty and he knew he was ashamed. Now the result of
this conscience, where did it come from? It wasn't because
he was educated. to know good and evil, his eyes
was open to see it. It didn't come from his reasoning.
It didn't come from his memory. Where did it come from? God put
it in him. Huh? And the conscience in a
man is the still, small voice of God within the soul. And this
conscience testifies to the fact that man is a responsible creature,
and it makes him know whether he does good, or whether he knows
evil. You know, let me show you. You
keep Genesis. You're not sure what I'm talking
about. Look with me in Romans chapter 2. Romans chapter 2. Now, you know, they say that's
what a sociopath is, that he has no conscience. He has no
ability to know what he does is wrong, and he don't care what
he does is wrong. He has no conscience whatsoever.
And there's people that override their conscience. But God gave
us a conscience, and the conscience is a tribunal that God sets up
in our heart, sets up in our soul. And this tribunal that
God gives us, and when God starts to deal with a man's conscience,
That's one thing that he uses to prick a man's conscience to
make him feel his guilt. And guilt's a good thing. Guilt's
a good thing. Before God. To be guilty before
God. To understand your guilt before
God. Your nakedness before God. Your fear before God. That's
a good thing. God can only make you know that.
Only God can open your eyes to see that. But look what it said
here in Romans 2.14. For when the Gentiles which hath
not the law." Now he's talking about the law. Men say that the
law is what makes you guilty. Well, the Gentiles didn't have
the law. Due by nature, the things contained
in the law. Don't lie, don't steal, don't
cheat, don't Commit adultery, don't lie about your mother,
don't tell no lies, don't covet, do these things. And by nature
can things contained in the law, these having not the law, now
watch this, are a law unto themselves. How do you know they're a law
unto themselves? Because they show the work of the law. The
work of God putting something in a man's heart to know not
to steal, not to lie, not to commit murder, not to covet,
not to take another man's wife, daughter, your father, your mother.
Love your neighbor. Do good. Which show the work
of the law written in their hearts. Now listen to it. Their conscience
also bearing witness to this thing that goes on. And their
thoughts, meanwhile, it'll accuse you when you do wrong, or excuse
you if you think you're doing right. But let me tell you something
about your conscience. Your conscience is not your savior. Don't ever, don't, in fact, don't
trust it. My conscience, a lot of people say, my conscience
don't bother me. If they do something wrong, cause they'll start justifying
themselves, start excusing themselves. But when God begins to work on
a man's conscience, when He quickens a man's conscience, when He makes
a man conscious, when He starts making a man know that his conscience
is unpure before God, that's why the scripture says that Christ
purged our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.
So here he is. God put this conscience in man.
That's why his eyes were open. And he realized he was naked.
He had shame the first time. You ever done something you're
ashamed of? You ever said something you're
ashamed of? Went somewhere you was ashamed
of? Done something somebody you was ashamed of? God makes you feel that. Because the scriptures tell us
over in Jeremiah that there's people got brazen foreheads that's
not ashamed of anything. But oh my, God puts that conscience
in the soul, testifying to the fact that a man's responsible.
The very fact that you're ashamed makes you know that what you've
done was wrong and you're responsible for what you did. And it testifies
in the moral law, either approves or rejoices or reproves a man's
conscience. Let me show you something in
John 8. This is a good illustration of
what I'm trying to say. Scripture always says it better
than we can say it. John chapter 8 and verse 9. You
all know the story here of when the Lord Jesus had this
woman that they caught tucking in a doctor and they brought
her Called up the Lord Jesus, set her in her midst. Interrupted
the Lord Jesus. Well, the Lord Jesus, you know,
stooped down, wrote on the ground with his finger, done it twice.
And it says in verse 7, Romans, John chapter 8, verse 7, So when
they continued asking him, he said unto them, he lifted
up himself, said unto them, He that was out sin among you, let
him first cast a stone at her. Again, he stooped down and wrote
on the ground, and they were charged with being convicted,
now watch this, being convicted by their own conscience. I can't pick up no rocks. You
ain't got no sin, you pick up a stone. And being convicted
by their own conscience. Went out one by one. Beginning
at the oldest, that oldest fellow, that eldest among them says,
And I've lived long enough to commit enough sins, oh my, I
certainly, I certainly, I can't even figure out my penalty. And
Jesus was left alone with the woman standing there. That's
what the conscience does. That's what it does. And that's a good,
it's a good thing. Thank God for it. Thank God for
it. And let me just go back over
here and look at the second effect. So the first effect was shame. Shame. How did he know he was ashamed?
How did he know he caused his eyes to open? They were naked.
And the second effect of this seeing on Adam and his wife was
this, the effort that they did to hide their shame. And how
did they try to hide it? It says in verse 7, And they
sewed fig leaves together to make themselves aprons. They provided themselves a covering.
Instead of seeking God and openly confessing their guilt, They
try to conceal it from him. This is how desperate man gets
to be. This is how desperate he got just the minute his eyes
were open, the minute he took that fruit. The first thing he
does is he knows he's naked. And what does he do? He tries
to provide himself a cover, instead of coming like he was and confessing
his sin. And said, Oh God, I sinned against
you. Oh God, I disobeyed you. Oh God,
I feel my guilt. Oh God, would you cover my nakedness. I'm ashamed of what I've done. I'm sorry for what I've done."
Instead of doing that, what he'd done, he got him some fig leaves.
Him and his wife had sewed them together to hide their nakedness
from God like that would do it. He is conscious that something
was wrong. And most folks, you know, they'll
admit that something's wrong, but what kind of covering are
you trying to cover yourself with in the sight of God? That's
the teacher of what kind of covering are you trying to cover? What
kind of covering do men wear on the side of God? And man's
always been this way. They've tried to conceal their
nakedness and their guilt and their shame from God with fig
leaves. And when conscious that something's
wrong with him, he seeks a hiding place. And the first place he
hides behind is his own self-righteousness. Trust is his good works. Oh boy,
so he hopes that it counterbalances his evil ones. I'm going to tell
you something. Fig leaf religion abounds in
this day. I don't care what name it goes
under. Fig leaf religion abounds. I mean, it's by, you know, they
tell you that if you memorize enough scriptures, you'll be
more acceptable to God. Here's what preachers do. They're
continually feeding people, working on people's guilt. They want
to make them feel guilty over sins that they've done. Not their
sin. Sins that they've done. Want
to make them feel guilty about their slothfulness, or their
prayer life, or their worship, or how good a parent are you.
How good a kid are you? How good a husband are you? How
good an employee are you? And they go on and on and on
and on, trying to make people, and they just keep on until somebody
feels guilty enough that they'll come to an altar and renew their
fig leaves on them, and put on some more fig leaves. And beloved,
if God in sovereign mercy makes a man know what his problem is,
his mighty sins, it's sin! Men are trying to trim the tree,
and God beloved, He looks at the trunk. Christ Jesus came
into the world to save His people from their S-I-N. Adam hadn't done nothing but
ate a piece of fruit. He never lied. He never stole
anything. He didn't do the things that
people call in sins today. He just took it in His own hands
to be independent from His Creator. He said, I want my own life. I want my own glory. I want my
own will. I want things to be my way. And
God said, you can have it your way. And look what it got Him.
Look where it got us. Look where it got our children.
Look where it will end up. It will end up destroying these
bodies one of these days with a heart attack, with a cancer,
with a sickness, with Alzheimer's. Something is going to get us.
And all because of what this man did here in this garden. And all fig leaves, let me tell
you something. As quick as you pull them down,
get them off the tree, they automatically begin to wilt. They automatically
begin to die. And when that one dies, you got
to have another one. And when that one dies, you got
to have another one. And as long as man's trying to satisfy God
by his own fig leaves, his conscience will never be satisfied, God
will never be satisfied, and until your conscience is satisfied,
God'll never be satisfied either, as long as your conscience is
trying to satisfy God. And that's what Adam's trying
to do. His conscience is trying to satisfy God and cover his
own nakedness. And bless God, this is not a
lie. Thank God for this. So Scott Grisham, never will
forget it, the first time I heard him say this at Don Fortner's
in a meeting way up in the winter one time, years and years and
years ago. He says, you know what'll satisfy a screaming conscience? A perfect sacrifice. When you see Christ as God's
perfect sacrifice, no fig leaves, nothing, just Christ. who by
the sacrifice of himself put away our sins in his own body
on the tree. He put away sin once and for
all by the sacrifice of himself. He was the Lamb of God that took
away the sin of the world. And that perfect sacrifice, first
thing it did, it satisfied God. And if God's satisfied, and you
get what it takes to satisfy God, the Lord Jesus Christ, then
your conscience is satisfied too. And it'll never bother you
again. I mean, it'll never bother you
again. It can't bother you in the presence
of God. Oh my, that's why you're no figure
in religion. It won't stand the eternal test. It won't stand the eternal test.
And preachers is trying to always make people feel guilty for something
they do. Oh, did you witness for Jesus
today? Did you pass out of track? How many prayed today and prayed
for all the lost? How many of you read your Bibles
today and they go on and on and on to make folks, you know, start
feeling guilty? Oh, if you didn't do that, or
if you ain't been to Paris, you come up here. If you ain't been very, very faithful,
you come up here and repent of it. And they start coming up
here and they start putting them old fiddlies on. And before they
get back to the house, they're already dying. Before they get
back to the house, they're dying. Oh my! We got a covering, and
that covering is our blessed Redeemer, the Lord Jesus. Let
me show you the effect. The second effect was to hide
their shame. They provided themselves their
own covering. And it was a sorry covering.
Sorry, sorry covering. And the third effect was that
they hid themselves from the presence of the Lord. Look what
it says in verse 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. Hid themselves from the presence
of God. When? When did they hide themselves?
They already was covered with their thick leaves, now why didn't
they want to be in His presence? Why'd they hide themselves from
Him? From His presence? When did they do this? The moment
they heard His voice. The moment they heard His voice.
Now I tell you, this idea you know that, and that's again why
you don't trust your own conscience. Man's conscience will not bring
him to God. It will accuse him, it will torment
him, it will make him feel guilty, but it will not bring him to
God. Only the Holy Ghost, only the Holy Spirit can bring a man
to Christ. Only the Holy Spirit can make
a man know he's a sinner. And only the Holy Spirit can
make a man come to Christ. But now they at least have some
conception of their great, great distance from their Creator.
He is holy, and they were sinful. He was life, and they were now
dead. He was light, and they were now in darkness. And oh, here they go. And the
Lord God, verse 9, called unto Adam and said, Where are ye?
And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden. And he said, I
was afraid. I was afraid. Because I was naked,
I hid myself. He said, I wasn't naked anymore.
So evidently, that thickly didn't satisfy him. And he said, and
I was afraid, so I hid. They were afraid of him. And
before, they'd walked with him and communed with him. And now
they come to seek to hide from his presence. Why would anybody
want to hide from the presence? Look over here in Genesis 4.16,
what happened one time. I was taking a Bible course one
time, and this was one of the questions on it. What did it mean when Cain went
out from the presence of the Lord? Verse 16, And Cain went
out from the presence of the Lord and dwelt in the land of
Nod. That means that I believe in
you. I don't want you. I don't need you. I've got my
own works. I've got my own garden. I've
got my own land. I've got my own family. I don't
need you. I don't need you at all. And oh, that's what happens right
here. And here's what Adam and Eve did. Whenever man becomes,
seizes nakedness, seizes guilt, men don't like to be in God's
presence. They don't like to be in God's
presence. And that's why we ask the question, why is the Bible
so neglected? Everybody in the Brotherhood
says they're a Bible believer, but most folks couldn't tell
you a Bible verse besides the 23rd Psalm or John 3.60. Is that
not right? Most people, the average preacher,
he don't even use a Bible sometimes. He just gets up and opens a book
and got him some little outlines in a book and gets up and reads
his outlines from a book. No more than what he's got to
say, he just ought to do that anyway. But oh, and why the world of
the Bible is so neglected, if you pick it up, it brings you
into the presence of God automatically. You can't pick up the Bible without
thinking about God. You can't pick up the Bible without
thinking about yourself. You can't pick up the Bible without
being confronted with what you are, and without a holy God.
Huh? And oh, the scriptures, it brings
men nearer to God, and why is the public ministry That men
don't care to be in the presence. Why is the public ministry, the
preaching of the word, in times like this? Why is this a sparsely
attended? Why does the attendance go on
Sunday morning to Sunday night drop to 50% and then on Wednesday
night drop another 50%? Why is that? People don't want
to be in God's presence. And that's what happens when
we come in these meetings. We're brought into the presence
of God. We're made to be conscious of God. Made to be conscious
of our sin. Made to be conscious of our need
of God. And that's what we come for. And let me tell you, and
I wrote a little article about this today. It'll be in Sunday's
bulletin. Me and Mary was talking about it. I'll tell you something
that's different in believers and people like Adam. Now, we
was like Adam one time. We was just like Adam. I didn't
want nobody to tell me about the Lord. Didn't want a Bible
around me. Didn't want to talk about Christ.
Didn't want none of that. Didn't want nobody to mention
God to me. But I'll tell you something, believers are not
uncomfortable in God's presence. In fact, we're not only not uncomfortable
in His presence, but we ask for His presence, we seek His presence,
we delight in His presence, we want His presence, and we carry
in His presence. And we're conscious we're always
in His presence. Don't you delight being in the
presence of God? Don't you delight when God comes
near to you and gives you some understanding and you can call
on Him? Oh my, nothing can keep us out
of God's presence. Paul said, who shall separate
us from the love of God which is in Christ? Sin certainly can't
keep us made. Sin don't even make us feel uncomfortable
in God's presence. You know why? Because we ain't
got any. Is that not right? God said he's not going to remember
our sins and iniquities against us anymore. So we're not even
uncomfortable in God's presence. In fact, Simon Peter, he was
off on a boat fishing. He was naked as Adam and Eve
was. He didn't even have a big leaf
on. And the Lord Jesus heard out, children, you got any meat?
No! They looked over and they seen
the fire. John said, Simon, it's the Lord! He dressed his coat
about him and he jumped in and swam to shore while them fellows
were bringing in the fish. That's how bad he wanted to be
in the presence of Christ. And that was after he denied
Him three times. Huh? Oh my! The hell old Adam, he didn't
want to be in God's presence. And oh, it's so evident, it's
so evident that we all shared in his first sin and all his
children share his nature just as he did. And oh, God's got
to make us. Once He brings us to Himself,
that's where we always want to stay, ain't it? Once He brings
us to Himself, that's the only place we want to be. Now, let
me give you the fourth effect. Instead of confessing his sin,
he sought to excuse it. Look what he did now. He said,
I was naked during verse 10, and I was afraid. Oh, my. You know, he never had known
what fear was. He named all them animals. He
had all them animals. He was Lord over the creation.
He had all them big animals around him. And he wasn't afraid of
them. Now, he's just scared to death
if he don't shout. And oh, listen. And he said, Who told you thou
wast naked? He said in verse 11, Hast thou eaten of the tree
whereof I commended thee, that thou shouldest not eat? Look
what he's done. Hast thou eaten of the tree? And the man said,
The woman thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree.
And I did eat. Instead of him saying, Oh Lord,
I did. Yes, I did. I sinned. I partook of that tree. I did. You told me not to. And
I did. Please forgive me, I'm sorry.
But what did he do? Did he take this opportunity
to sue the Lord for mercy? Did he take this opportunity
to throw himself on the mercy of God in Christ? Was his heart
broken for his sin? No. He looked over at his wife
and he said, there's my problem. If it hadn't been for her. If
it hadn't been for her, there's that woman you gave me. If you'd
have just left me by the stake, we wouldn't be in this mess.
That's what he was saying. This dinner is seated for mercy.
It's good for mercy. A confession is seated. And having
a broken heart, he found somebody else to blame
for his sin. That's the fruit of the fall.
Now, I'm as guilty of that as anybody. If I find somebody to
lay the blame on, I'm not going to take it myself. That's our
nature. That's our nature. And that's
why we have so many victims in our society, because people ain't
going to take the blame for themselves. That's why we have so many victims.
Let me show you something about a sacrifice. Over in Psalm 51
with me. He didn't have a sacrifice. He
didn't have a broken heart for his sin. He didn't have a heart
like David had over here. In Psalm 51, verse 17. Oh, instead of confessing his
sin, he excused himself. He got an excuse for himself.
He justified himself. And the man said, the woman,
the woman, the woman. And look what he said in Psalm
51, 17. The sacrifices of God are a broken
spirit, a broken and a contrite heart. Oh, God, thou wilt not
despise. If he had come with that broken
heart there, that contrite spirit, but he did. He didn't. And then look what else happened.
So that's what the man does. And then that's what he said
in verse 12. He said, The man said, The woman which thou gavest
with me, she gave me the tree, and I did eat. And the Lord God
said, Unto the woman. So he goes to the woman. What is this that thou hast done?
The woman said, It's the serpent. You left that serpent in the
garden. It's that serpent that begot me. It's that serpent that
enticed me, that serpent that mesmerized me, that serpent that
bewitched me. They both shifted the blame of
their sin to somebody else. Adam to Eve, Eve to the serpent. When God did, the only thing
He told him, don't you dare eat of that fruit. And oh, beloved, let me tell
you something. The very excuse that man makes is the ground
of his condemnation. The very excuse. Look what happens. He used his wife as an excuse.
Look what God says down in verse 17. And unto Adam he said, Because
thou hast hearkened unto the voice of your wife, and hast
eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to. That's or not either
of it. Did you want to blame your wife?
The very ground of his excuse, and what excuse is the very condemnation
that God turns around and uses against him. You heard the voice
of your wife, you listened to it, curse is the ground for your
sake. You want to use her as an excuse? I'm not going to curse
the ground, I'm going to curse it for you. Because of you. And in sorrow shall I lead all
the days of thy life. And I'll tell you, beloved, he
used his wife. He said, since, okay, we'll use
your wife. Tell you what I'm going to do. That's what so many
people say about God. He's such a hard taskmaster.
You know, they hear the law and all that, and they say, oh my,
I can't be a Christian like that. He's such a hard taskmaster.
And they don't take the challenge. And then when they face God,
they'll face Him just like they thought Him to be. And look here
at what He told the woman in verse 16. And unto the woman he said, I
will greatly multiply thy sorrow, and your conception, and in sorrow
shalt thou bring forth children, and thy desire shall be with
thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. And so you see, beloved,
the effects of the Father. It's an awful thing. But look
what it says there in verse 15, and we'll deal with this. Also,
and I'll put in my ticket. between thee and the woman, between
thy seed and her seed, it shall bruise thy head, and I shall
bruise his head. And, O beloved, because of that, and it said
also in verse 21, we'll deal with this next week, And unto
Adam also, and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins,
and clothed them. And they never felt a nakedness
anymore when God clothed them. They never felt it again. Our Father, oh gracious God, how broad, how honest is God's word with us.
Lord, it's so big, it's so broad, it's got such depth. And Lord,
we can never, never lay the plumb line as well as we'd like to. Never be able to express the
truth of what we are, and what our Lord Jesus did for us, the
way we'd like to and love to, and the way you're worthy of.
But Lord Jesus, take the Word tonight, and Holy Spirit, in
your hands, you could cause it to lodge in a heart, lodge in
the understanding. And we ask these things in Christ's
name. Amen. I know that.