Genesis chapter 2. And I want to begin reading here
in verse 15. Genesis chapter 2 and verse 15. The book of beginnings. This
is probably If we put importance upon the books of the Bible,
this has to be among the most important. The Book of Beginnings. The Lord God took the man and
put him into the Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. The
Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou
mayest freely eat, 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. Now let's get down to chapter
3 and begin in 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, He shall not eat of
every tree of the 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 doeth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your
eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good
and evil. And when the woman saw the tree,
that it was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes,
and a tree 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. 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 they heard the voice
of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day.
And Adam and Eve, his wife, hid themselves from the presence
of the Lord God among the trees in the garden. And the Lord God
called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said,
I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was
naked, and I hid myself. 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? And the man said, The
woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree,
and I did eat. 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. And the Lord God said
unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed
above all cattle, above every beast of the field, Upon thy
belly shalt thou go, and thus shalt thou eat all the days of
thy life. And I will put enmity between
thee and the woman, between thy seed and her seed. It shall bruise
thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Unto the woman he said,
I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception. In sorrow
shalt thou bring forth children, and thy desire shall be to thy
husband, and he shall rule over thee. And unto Adam he said,
Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast
eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not
eat of it, curse is the ground for thy sake. and sorrows shall
thou eat of it all the days of thy life. Thorns also and thistles
shall it bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat the herb of
the field." In the sweat of thy face thou shalt eat bread, till
thou return unto the ground. For out of it was thou taken,
from dust thou art, and to dust shalt thou return. And Adam called
his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all women.
Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of
skin to clothe them. And the Lord God said, Behold,
a man is become as one of us, to know good and evil. And now,
lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life,
and eat, and live forever. Therefore the Lord sent him forth
from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was
taken. So he drove out the man and placed
at the east of the garden of Edom cherubims and a flaming
sword, which turned every way to keep the way of the tree of
life." Now, some things we need to notice, and I've tried to
emphasize these before, but I want to emphasize it again. When God
made man, He made him good. I have no hesitation in using
the word that he made him perfect. I have no hesitation in using
the word that he made him holy. Man was without fault, without
any blemish in his body and in his soul when he come from the
bread and the hand of his Creator. Now if any man would doubt that,
I have only this request to ask Him. If that's not so, then show
me in the word of sacred scriptures, and I'll believe it. As I read
the scriptures, I believe it teaches that God made man upright,
physically and morally. He was without fault, without
any defect. If anything was to happen to
this man, to harm him, It wasn't anything that was to come without
Him, but it was something that took place within Him. No fault
of His Creator, but a fault of His own. One thing I want you
to remember about this, Adam was a holy creature. He wasn't
an angel. He was a human being, head of
our human race, but he was a good man. He was a perfect man, created
of God Himself. And secondly, I want to reiterate
this, that man's natural surroundings was good. When God brought Adam
into this world, He brought him into a world that was finished.
It was complete, everything that was pleasant to the eyes, every
tree that was good for food, everything was good. When God
made man, He had everything made for man. The Lord looked upon
everything that He had made, and what did He say about it?
What was His verdict? Everything is good, He says.
And that's the environment that God put man into. into a good
world, a clean world, a world that knew no sin. But if that
wasn't enough, we're told here that God put him in this special
place. Not only in a world that was
good, but God planted a garden eastward in Eden, wherever that
is. And you and I may never know
this side of the judgment where that is. But brothers and sisters,
it was a beautiful place. And out of that garden the Lord
God made to grow every tree that was pleasant to the eyes. And
every tree that was good for fruit. I don't imagine the angels
could tell out what a beautiful place this was. The magnificence
of this place. The beauty of it. There's where
God put man. In this beautiful garden. To
till it and to keep it. But he didn't stop there. The
Lord told this man Adam that he had dominion over all the
creatures of this earth. To name them, to subdue them,
and to rule over them. There was nothing without Adam. There was nothing in his environment
that could cause him the least discomfort. There was nothing
to distress him. He had authority and rule over
everything. He was under His control. Nothing could harm Him. Nothing
could harm Him. Mentally or physically, neither
was there anything there that could morally corrupt this man. Now there's where God sent this
man. There's where God sent him. If any harm come to him, it was
not to come without, but it had to come from within. And even
though that was good, the Lord did not stop there. He said it's
not good for man to be alone. I'll make him a helper. I'll
make him a friend. I'll make him a companion. I'll
give him someone to fellowship with, to talk with, and to love,
and to be loved by. He made him a wife. And when
these two came together, it was love at first sight. She looked
upon Adam and got up next to where she came out of, his side.
And he embraced her and he said, Woman, you're bone of my bone.
You're flesh of my flesh. We're one. So this is the surroundings,
this is an environment that the Lord God placed this man in. Now this is the beginning. This
is the beginning. We see man here in his beginning. The book of Genesis. I want you
to turn just to give you a hint. Look over the very last chapter
of this book. Genesis chapter 50 and the very
last verse that's written in the book of Genesis. We come
here to the beginning and we know what man was as he came
from the breath and the hand of his creator. We know the environment
that he was placed in. How happy and how holy he was. Ain't it strange how this book
ends? It's strange how the book of
the beginning ends. God planted a garden and he put
man that he had made in it. And he was alive and happy and
holy. Look how this book ends. In verse
26 of Genesis chapter 50. So Joseph died being 110 years
old and they embalmed him and he was put in a coffin in Egypt. Ain't that strange? His beginning
was that God planted a garden and put him in the garden. His
ending was he died and was put in a coffin a long, long way
from that garden. In the beginning he had life,
and now he's dead. In the beginning he was in a
garden, and now he's in a coffin. If you and I did not have the
book of Genesis, and it ended here in chapter 2, And we could not read anything
else about it until the last chapter of this book. And we
came here and read that twenty-sixth verse. We would say within ourselves,
what happened? What happened? Something has
devastated man. What happened? That's the question I want to
answer this morning. Something happened. Something
happened. This man died. This man who ruled
over the mightiest of creatures now was ruled over and subdued
by maggots and by worms. What happened? What happened?
And I contend this morning, brothers and sisters, what happened is
so simple that a little child could understand it, if it so
desired. The problem is not what happened
is so deep and mysterious that we can't understand it. The problem,
first of all, is we refuse to read the account of what happened
and believe it. I've read all kinds of confusing
things about what happened in the garden. And you hear people
talking about it all the time. This is what happened in the
garden. And you ask them, have you ever read it? No, I've never
read it. And you've got no right to comment
on it. We can go here and read it and we'll believe it. Just
believe the account of it. We'll say within our own hearts,
well a child can see that. A child can see that. Our whole
problem is we refuse to read the account. And therefore we
refuse to believe it. And secondly, man's minds are
corrupted from the simplicity of what happened. I read commentaries
all the time. I read different commentaries.
And I tell you sometimes I'm amazed at how people will take
a simple verse like that, and by the time they're finished
with it, you say, now what did he say? They just confuse the
whole issue. That's the devil's business.
Did you know that? Did you know the Word of God is simple? And
I say that, I say that, knowing that some people are going to
misunderstand me. But the Word of God is written for simple
people. You say, well, only theologians
can understand that. Brothers and sisters, the Bible
is written for common people. Just like you and I. It's plain. And if you and I want to know
what happened here in the garden this morning, all we've got to
do is come here. And it's simple. It's so simple.
God made it simple. God made it simple. And that's
what I want to see this morning. Some things concerning the fall
of man. The fall of man. That's the title
of my message this morning. The fall of man. And let's begin
here where God began with. The Lord had put him in this
garden here in chapter 2, and the first thing we see that God
did with him was made with this man. God made with this man a
covenant of works. A covenant of works. There in
verse 16 and verse 17, we're told that very thing. The Lord
God commanded the man saying, Of every tree of the garden thou
mayest freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good
and evil thou shalt not eat of it, for in the day there eateth
thereof thou shalt surely die." Did you see that now? That's
a covenant. That's a covenant. And the terms
of that covenant were set by God Himself. Now that's simple,
isn't it? God charged this man that he
had made and says, all these trees have I given you to eat,
and you freely eat of all of them. That's why I gave them
to you. But this one tree, They're in the midst of that garden.
Don't you eat of that tree. Now that's the covenant. That's
the terms of this covenant. I know some people will rise
up and say, who does God think He is that He can command anybody
to do anything. I tell you, He's God. He's God. He's our maker, Glenn. He's our
judge. He's our creator. Because the
Lord God is God, He's our judge and sustainer, as far as we know,
brothers and sisters, He has never made a creature that He's
given absolute freedom to. He don't have a creature that
He's given absolute freedom to. He never gave it to the angels.
He's never given it to you and me. God is a God that sets bounds. He establishes rules. He gives
laws. Moral laws for His creatures
to live by. Listen to these verses. God reigns
over the heathen. He sets upon the throne of His
holiness. The Lord reigneth, let the people
tremble. The Lord is high above all the
people. He hath prepared his throne for
judgment. He shall judge the world in righteousness,
and shall minister judgment to the people. God is a God of judgment. He has men under laws, under
rules, and He calls them to give account of their actions, whether
they be good or whether they be bad. God can put Adam under
a covenant because He's a God of judgment. He's a God of rule. He sets the bounds for His creature. He set the terms of this covenant. Now, isn't that simple? This
was so simple a baby, if it had been there, could have understood
it. Adam, here's what I'm commanding you to do. There's a tree there
in the midst of the garden. Just this one tree. I forbid
you to eat of that tree. All the other trees partake of
it. But this one, you shall not eat of this tree. You shall not
eat. Now that was the covenant, and
God set the terms of that covenant. This was the terms. Every tree? Three leaves. One tree? Thou shalt not eat of it, for
in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. God set
the terms, and there was the terms, the conditions. And you
know something, brothers and sisters, Adam's continued happiness,
his living, his righteousness, his fellowship with God, was
totally dependent upon his obedience to that covenant. Continue in
that covenant, his happiness would continue. You disobey God's
command, you break that covenant, there will be consequences. Now
that's simple, that's simple. And what was the consequence?
What was the consequence? The last portion of verse 17
tells us that. In the day thou eatest thereof,
thou shalt surely die. In Adam's death, Adam died two
days, and we'll see that in a minute. He died two days. But ain't that
simple now? God sends a turn to the covenant,
and He can do that because He's God. He's the moral judge of
all His heaven. The condition was He'd ever treat
but this one. And the consequences of Adam's
disobedience, you'll die. You'll die. Now here in chapter 3, we look
at Adam's disobedience. He broke this covenant. If you
wonder this morning why the world's in the shape it's in, if you
wonder this morning as you watch your news and look around you
why we have all the devastation, why we have droughts in some
places and floods in another, why this world lives every moment
in uncertainty, why there's wars and rumors of wars and robbery
and fear and killings and rapes and everything else that you
and I can imagine, you ever wonder why that is? But right here in
chapter 3, that's where it entered. That's where it entered. If you
wonder this morning why humanity is at enmity with his maker,
the carnal mind is enmity against God. If you wonder this morning
why humanity crucified the Son of God as soon as he got his
hands on Him, right here we're told the reason why. If you wonder
this morning why this unregenerate world loves darkness rather than
light, and why it's so willing to continue in that darkness
until eternal darkness and eternal misery come, I'm right here with
y'all then. If any wonder why the unsaved
this morning is in bondage to his sin and Satan? Here it is. One man's disobedience and the
judgment of God as a consequence of that one single disobedience. Now there it is. Man is under
a covenant. He was under a covenant. He disobeyed
the judgment of God came upon him. And there's why the world's
in the mess it's in today. Now a kid can understand that.
A kid can understand that. Why, why, why? Why did my loved
one die? Why did this happen? Right here
it is. If you're interested this morning
in knowing the answer, right here it is. Now let's look at
it here in Genesis chapter 3. Don't complicate it. Don't tell
us this is for theologians. No, this is for you and I this
morning. Now let's look at it. Let's look
at it. Chapter 3 and verse 1. Now the
serpent was more subtle. He was cunning. He was crafty.
He was deceptive. He tricked people. He was more
cunning, more subtle than any beast of the field which the
Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman,"
now notice this, notice this. Here's the first thing, here's
the first thing. He called them to question the
Word of God. You want to know how he got to
our first mother? You want to know how the serpent
deceived her? The same way he's deceiving people today. Now notice
this. He's not changed his tactics. We're not ignorant of his devices.
The first thing he said to this woman was, yea, hath God said. Hath God really said anything? See, I said to him, he didn't
come and say, woman, God has never spoken at all. No, he just sowed this little
seed of doubt. Hath God really said? I tell
you what, the devil, if he gets in our minds and he sows this
seed, that perhaps we really don't have God's Word. Perhaps
this Bible is not God's Word after all. If he can sow that
seed of doubt in your mind, I tell you, he's won half the battle
already. If we don't have any authority, If we don't have a
sure foundation of absolute and infallible truth, then I'm telling
you, hell is one of the victories of life. One of the first things
that you and I should do, and we should do it often, is get
out on our face and ask God to give us faith. To believe that
this is His Word. This is God's Word. Give us the
assurance of it. This is not Moses' word. This is not the words of Jeremiah
or Paul or Peter. They were mere instruments. This
is the word of God. God gave the word. Men just wrote
it down and published it. And I tell you what you and I
should do is pray, God give me a reverence. Give me a respect
for your word. But I'd be afraid to twist it.
I'd be afraid to read it just to argue about it. Put it in
my heart. That's what David prayed. For
Lord, put your word within my heart, that I may not sin against
thee. Well, has God really said anything?
Well, that's where he started. Secondly, he did this. He called
them to question the goodness of God towards them. He called
into question the goodness of God towards them. What did he
say? He said, you know, God don't
want you to eat of this fruit, because He's withholding something
good from you. This tree is not poisonous. You
look at it. It's as good as any other tree.
And what God is doing is depriving you of that which is good. He just don't want you to have
it. That's it. He sowed the seed
of mistrust in her heart concerning her God and her Creator. If the
Lord tells us such and such a thing is forbidden for us to do, He
does it because He has our best interest at heart. And when we
begin to think that God just wants to deprive us of something,
that He just wants to make our lives miserable, that's the devil
implying that, my dear friend. Whatever God forbids us to have,
whatever He forbids us to have, is for our good. And don't you ever doubt otherwise.
You know why I know that? Because He's good. God is good. Oh, taste and see that the Lord
is good. Fear Him, all ye saints. There's
no war to them who fear Him. God is good, and He does us good. He's got a good gospel. He's
got a good law. He has a good something to save
us. God is good. And the devil comes to us and
says, No, no, no. All God's doing is making your
life miserable. Well, he's a liar in the Father. God gives us His Word, and why
does He give us His Word? To instruct us. To correct us. To guide us in the way we should
go. He does it for our good, and
His Word, listen to me now, listen. The Word that God gives us secures
our eventual happiness. It wasn't God. making Adam and
Eve's life miserable? He was securing their happiness. God's Word is good, and when
we listen to His Word, our happiness is secured. But if we, like this
woman here, cast His Word behind us, and we seek our own happiness,
I tell you what we're going to find, that is eternal misery,
unless the grace of God intervenes. The Lord Jesus said, if you find
your life, you're going to lose it. If you think you're wiser
than the Father in heaven, if you think you're good, better
than He is, that you're capable of seeking out your own happiness,
then all you're going to find is misery. Who better, brothers
and sisters, to secure our happiness than God Himself? He that findeth his life shall
lose it, but he that loses his life, he that says, I'm not seeking
my own happiness, God, I'm leaving that in His hands. I'm leaving
that in His hands. I tell you, there's a happy man. There's a happy man. If God forbids
us to believe something, it's for our good. If He tells us
to believe something, it's for our good. If He tells us not
to seek after certain things, it's for our good. When He tells
us to seek certain things, it's for our good. God is good. God is good. Oh, Satan came. That's certain.
And he said to her, God is wanting you to be miserable. He's withholding
that which is good for you. I've seen a lot of people go
back to sin. I've talked to a lot of people that went back to their
sin. Forsaken the Lord and their profession
of Him and went back to their sin. I've never seen one that
turned out to be happy. Don't lull one of them that turned
out to be happy. I'm just not happy. I want to
have some fun. Okay. You throw God's Word behind
you. It ain't fun you don't have.
You're headed for misery. Misery. God's Word and His Word
alone secures our happiness. That's how good He is, brothers
and sisters. That's how good God is. Oh, taste and see. The
Lord is good. Thirdly is this, Satan convinced
Eve that God's word was too complicated for her to understand. I sort
of dwell on that this morning, haven't I? It's too complicated,
he said, you don't understand what God said. Has God really
said you shall die? Well, maybe that's what he said,
but that's not what he meant. You see, you just don't have
the understanding, he said. This is too complicated for you.
You shall not surely die. Ain't no sense you reading this
anymore. Ain't no sense you thinking about this. You're too dumb to
understand it anyway. God's Word is so complicated,
only theologians can understand it. If I was you, I wouldn't
even read it. Is that what he tells people? You go to somebody and you ask
them, are you reading the Lord's Word? No, I just can't understand
it. Who are you reading that? Well, I've been reading over
in Revelation. Oh, my son. Why are you reading in Revelation?
I can't even understand it. Most theologians don't agree
with each other about it. What are you reading about? I
want to know what 666 means. If you find out, how is it going
to help your relationship with God? Stay out of the book of Revelation.
Go to the book of John. Go to the book of Romans. And
get on your face and say, Lord, open my heart that I may understand
your word. And I'm telling you, when He
does, when He does, He may let you see yourself as you really
are. And it may not be a pleasant thing. He may let you see God
as He is. You talk about humbling yourself.
You talk about awe entering your heart. And He may let you see
the Lord Jesus Christ as He really is, and who He is, and what He's
done, and where He is, and what He's doing there. And when He does, you know what
you're going to say. You know what you're going to say. That's
the most simple thing I've ever seen in my life. The devil has
been telling me, you can't understand this, but I do understand this.
And it's so plain, it can't be any other way. You can understand
the Word of God, dear soul. You can understand the Word of
God. And I say that without revelation.
You can. The devil says, no, it's too
complicated. Just don't worry about it. You can understand
God's Word. You feel open your heart to it. It's simple, ain't it? And you
know why so many people are confused about it? They just read right
over the top of everything. Just read right over it. Glenn
M. Glenn talked so often for years, we read right over God's
Word. We went to it with our own opinions. You see? We done knew what it taught us.
We had it all figured out in our carnal heads. But when we
threw all that away and just went to His Word, boy, it was
so simple. It's mysteriously simple. You
say, Bruce, I'll never understand it. Well, let me tell you this.
Let me tell you this thing. You're going to be discouraged
from reading God's Word because the devil has told you, you'll
never understand it. You might as well just quit.
Too complicated for you. Well, let me tell you. If you're
going to let him get in your mind and convince you of that,
and you're not going to open the pages of God's Word and understand
what He says, and believe what He says, then I'll tell you this,
you're going to die lost. You're going to die lost. If
you never come to understand the Gospel and believe the Gospel,
you'll die lost. You'll die lost. I don't understand, he said.
I really don't understand. This is too complicated for me.
No, it wasn't. She used that for an excuse. Look in verse 6 of chapter 3,
I guess this is probably, at least in the context of what
we're talking about this morning, probably the most important verse
in the Bible. Three little words. The last
three words of chapter 3 and verse 6. Notice this. He did
eat. God said to man, this is the
covenant that I'm making with you. There's a tree there in
the midst of the garden. Don't you eat it. And here in
verse 6 it says, he did eat. And here's where the whole history
of humanity was changed. Right here, in this very little
world. Here's where paradise was lost. Here's where sin entered
into this world, and here's where Satan entered the heart. Here's where a man lost all that
was good and gained all that was evil. Right here. Here's
where a man's nature changed from holy to sinful. Here's where
a man lost his life. Here's where he lost his light. Here's where he lost his goodness.
Here is where he lost his God. Right here at this moment. And he did eat. Now I contend that's that simple.
It's that simple. God said, Thou shalt not eat
out of eight. And one say, Oh Bruce, it can't
be that simple. Yes, it can be that simple. And
God meant it to be that simple. To teach you and me that he requires
perfect obedience. He has a moral law, and when
a man disobeys him, he will require that which was passed. Every
transgression and every disobedience that any man performs, he shall
give account to God for doing so. If God was ever going to
fail in his threatenings, brothers and sisters, right here it would
have been. The consequences was devastating. His chief creature
was to be marred. Would God's threatenings hold
true? Would God go back on his word?
Would he be slack concerning his covenant? No, sir. No, sir. You shall not eat. And when you
eat, you'll die. And die he did. And die he did. Somebody say, I know this is
wrong. I know God forbids it in His Word, but I'm going to
do it anyway. Well, remember this. It was one
act of disobeying God that plunged Adam and this whole human race
into chaos and misery. And if the grace of God in Jesus
Christ doesn't reach a man and deliver him from that misery,
he'll perish in it. He'll perish in it. If God did
not let them by, listen to me, you and I best take heed, He's
a just God. He's a just God. By one man's sin entering into
the world, and death by One act. Only one act. This is
the first time that you and I have seen a recording where God punished
anybody because of sin. And boy, it was a sure punishment. The day that you eat, you'll
die. Two deaths. First of all, he died a spiritual
death. We know that from the Scripture.
You have be quickened who were dead in trespasses and sin. There's a spiritual death. And
then there's a physical death. Genesis 5 verse 5 says that Adam
lived 930 years and he died. That's the two deaths that this
man died. He died spiritually and he died physically. You and
I know what physical death is, don't we? When someone physically
dies, we go to visit them during the mortuary, and there they
lay in the casket. They have no life in their body.
They're not breathing. They have no thoughts. Brother
Larry read to us that some of their thoughts perish. They die
and their thoughts perish. The brain is not working. They
don't participate in the things of this world anymore. What does
it mean to be spiritually there? Almost the same thing. It means
we don't have the life of Christ in us. It means that we have no movement
towards God that's good. We don't move to God in love
and reverence and respect. It means we don't participate
in His kingdom. We're dead. We don't have fellowship
with those who are in His kingdom. We're dead. And in chapter 3
verses 7 through 12, here we see the effects
of spiritual death. Now look at it right quickly.
Look at it right quickly. Here's the effects. Look at chapter
3. Look here at verse 7. Here's the effects now of spiritual
death. Bruce, what does it mean to be
spiritually dead? Well, here's the effects of it.
Here's the effects of it. In verse 7, look at it. Chapter
3, verse 7. The eyes of them both were opened,
and they knew that they were naked. First time in the scripture
that we find this whole concept of having our eyes open. And
it doesn't mean physical eyes. It means the eyes of the understanding.
Their eyes were opened and they understood. And what did they
understand? That they were charged with sin. Boy, you're going to know good
and evil. Ain't that what he told her? Well, right here they found
out what it is. They found out the good they
lost and the evil they had required. They had acquired the evil. What
did they do? They knew that they were guilty
before God. Their shame had been exposed,
and don't you imagine, as they stood there with this awful screaming
in their conscience, that the eyes of all of these animals
were turned to these two people. Something awful had taken place. They looked at one another and
they said, oh, we're shameful. And I would imagine if the creatures
weren't gazing upon them, they thought they were. Oh, I'm guilty. I'm naked. I'm ashamed. What is the effects of being
dead in trespasses and sin? You stand before God guilty.
You stand before God without any protection, without any clothing.
You stand before God in your shame. Now that's what it means.
You say, Bruce, I can't believe that I'm that way this morning.
I've never felt that in my heart. You know one of the things you
need, dear son, you need your eyes open. You need your eyes
open. That's the whole problem. As
soon as their eyes were open, they saw everything that they'd
lost. They'd lost all their innocence, they'd lost the favor of God,
and they saw what they'd gained. And you know something about
this? Here's where man first got his conscience. Here's where
his conscience came from. It teaches us that conscience
is not a man's making. I tell you, if Adam had a choice
whether to make himself a conscience or not, do you think he'd have
had a conscience? I know. No. That's why men seek to sear
their conscience. They don't want to set up a judge
in their mind to accuse them and to call into question what
they've done, the rightness or the wrongness of it. Here is
where they've got a conscience. And what is a man's conscience?
It's the voice of God within him. That's what it is. It's
the candle of the Lord within his heart saying, what have you
done? You've broken my commandments,
you've broken the covenant, you're guilty before God. That's God's
voice within him, a conscience. Adam and Eve's conscience can
judge them, it condemned them, and they stood ashamed without
anything, without anything to protect them or hide their sins
from the all-seeing eye of God. Oh, they put fig leaves on. But
you know what fig leaves did? It discovered the effects of
sin. Shame is the effects of sin. And you may hide that from
the eyes of your fellow man. But I tell you what you and I
must have done. We must have the sin set free.
Only one thing can do that. Why did Adam and Eve try to hide
their sin? Why didn't they confess it to the Lord? Well, this is the way that sinners
is. That's the effect of it. When he sees his sin, what does
he do? He doesn't confess it and seek
for mercy. He tries to hide it. You're here
this morning and you're hiding your sin? You ain't confessing
it to the Lord and seeking the mercy that's in Christ. You going
to hide it with church membership? You going to hide it with water
baptism? You going to hide it with morality? Well, you know
what that is? That's the effects of being dead
and trespassing and sinning. You know the only tree that the
Lord Jesus cursed while He was on this earth was a fig tree. I wonder why He sold us that.
He cursed the fig tree. You know why? Our first parents
used the leaves from the fig tree to try to cover up their
shame. Cursed! Cursed! Not only is a man lost, but everything
he does in an attempt to clothe himself is cursed. It's sin. Here's another effect, let's
see, and look at it right quick in verse 8, which says here that
they hid themselves from the presence of the Lord. They heard
His voice in the cool of the day, and they hid themselves
from the presence of the Lord. They were guilty, but yet they
hid themselves. What does this teach us? It takes
more than a guilty conscience to bring a sinner to the Lord
Jesus Christ. It takes the work of the Holy
Spirit. It takes the work of the Holy Spirit. If guilt is
all he knows, then he will flee and hide himself. He cannot bear
to face God. It's only the Holy Spirit that
can come to that conscience and give him some hope of obtaining
forgiveness from his guilt. It's only the Holy Spirit that
can come to our guilty conscience and reveal to us a way of escape,
a way of help, a way of deliverance, a way of salvation through another. The law of God must be preached. The wrath of God must be revealed.
But brothers and sisters, we can't stop here. If we stop here,
we'll just drive men deeper and deeper into the forest. Hope
must be preached. Forgiveness of sins to the Lord
Jesus must be preached unto. Come out from your hiding place,
O sinner. There's hope. There's hope. Do yourselves no harm, the apostle
told the Philippians. Don't kill yourself in despair. There's hope. There's salvation
in another from your guilt. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Return unto the Lord, even you ungodly, and He shall have mercy. And to our God He will abundantly
pardon. Don't just preach the law of
God to a sinner. Don't just preach the wrath of
God. Tell of the Savior who is mighty to save the world. Another fact of being dead is
this. They could not endure the presence
of the Lord. Adam told the Lord here in verse
9 and 10, he said, I was afraid and I hid myself. I was afraid
and I hid myself. I heard your voice and I was
afraid. I felt your presence and I was
afraid. What had happened to this man?
He never was afraid before. The Lord brought all the animals
to Him. Their animals stood. Entered the presence of the Lord
so free, so joyful. God brought His wife to Him.
Right there He was. Loved the presence of the Lord.
But now He said, I heard thy voice and I was afraid. Why are
you afraid? That's one of the effects of
being dead in sickness. A man is afraid of the presence
of the Lord. Ah, you see him out there in
the world or under some false gospel. He's pretty bold, ain't
he? He's almost fearless. Boy, you
let him sit under the preaching of God's Word. You let God come
close to him and search him out. Then he becomes free. We had
a fellow come here not too long ago. I stood there in the vestibule
and talked with him. A young man. Spiritual pride. Oh, I seen it in him just immediately. I saw it in him because I've
been right where he is. He came in here and he sat down
and he listened to the Gospel. Listened to the Word of God. And he left here. And if God
don't break him, he'll never be back. It scared him half to
death. We used to have a lady came here.
Came here. Eight or ten times. And I found
out about her. I knew she was miserable when
she came here. But they told me one time that every time she
left here, she was tormented in her conscience. She was afraid
in her conscience. She goes to church every Sunday. You let some lost sinner, who
is dead and trespasses in sin, get under the preaching of God's
Word, where the Lord is present, and He begins to search them
out, you know what they're going to do? They're going to run and
hide. You know why people won't read
their Bibles? You know why they won't read their Bibles? God
is present in His Word, and it scares them to death. You know
why people won't go pray in their closets? They're scared that
God may show up. You know why people won't come
and worship publicly and privately? You know why men don't do that?
They're scared to face God. They're scared to face His presence.
People will go home. People on Saturdays, and I've
noticed this especially in our generation, If there's anything
that can be done through the week that they can put off till
Sunday, well, they'll do it. The Lord's day has become a day
of work and pleasure for this generation. And you know why
that is? They're scared to death that
they're going to have to face God's righteousness. And men can't even come here
and sit under the preaching of the gospel by me. A poor broken
vessel. You can't face the gospel and
the preaching of God's Word when I'm preaching it to you. Dear
soul, what are you going to do when you stand before God and
the heavens and the earth flees away? But that's the effect. Say, I heard your voice and I
was afraid and I hid myself. And lastly, in verse 11 through
13, here's the last effects upon being dead and trespassers in
sin. They made excuses. They made excuses. Blaming someone
else or blaming something else. What does it mean to be dead
and trespassers in sin? It means you passed the blame
on somebody. Well, I did, but it wasn't my fault. That's what
the homosexuals are telling us today. Yes, I'm a homosexual,
but God made me that way. I'm born that way. Then what
the devil do? Back in the 70s and 60s, it used
to be, remember this, the devil made me do it. The devil made
me. Shifting the blame on somebody
else. We ought to be like that. feet on the cross that says I'm
right here on this cross dying and I'm receiving just what I
ought to be receiving. I'm the guilty party. And you
know until we come back we're never going to be right with
God on that. Make an excuse. The woman you gave to be with
me, it's her fault. And really, he said, if you hadn't
gave it to me, I wouldn't have been in this mess. Woman, what
have you done? That's circumcised. That's circumcised. I'll say something about the
devil. He's more honest than Manny is. He's more honest than
Paul and Manny. At least he didn't make an excuse,
did he? At least we don't have to. The Lord Jesus told about the
supper being ready and said, you send out the servants to
invite those that are bidding. And He went out to say, the supper
is ready. Come on to the supper. And one man said, I can't come.
What kind of excuse do you have? I'm married a wife. Bring her
with you. Bring her with you. I bought
five yokes of oxen and I'm going to go try them out. You mean
you bought five yokes of oxen? And you haven't even tried them?
Don't you think that's bad practice? You ain't going to have a bank
account if you keep that up. Buying a bunch of pigs and a
poke. If you keep using your excuses, you ain't going to have
a soul. You're going to lose more than a bank account. You're
going to lose your soul. And that's what dead sinners
done. Have an excuse. The Virgin preached
the message on a bad excuse is worse than none. A bad excuse
is worse than none. We're inexcusable, aren't we? Saint and sinner, come and cast
yourself upon the saving virtue of the Son of God. Tell Him you
should have been in hell yesterday. You've sinned against Him. You've
sinned against His law. You've sinned against light.
The wages of sin is death and you've sinned. And cast your
soul upon His mercy. And don't make any more excuses.
Because Him, you won't stand. Well, in the last verses of this
third chapter, The Lord sends man out, out of that garden,
and He places there a sword to keep the way of the tree of life.
The covenant is broken, brothers and sisters. It's broken. No
man is ever going to get back into that garden and say, well,
I can keep it. No, you can't. It's broken. It's broken. But
God sent man out of the garden with these two wonderful things,
a promise. The seed is coming. Another representative
is coming. He's coming and he's going to
bruise that old serpent man. He's going to destroy his work.
He's going to put away sin. He's going to reconcile men to
God. And the Lord gave him this beautiful
picture. He killed an animal and clothed them with His hand. May God bless you. Father, we
do thank You. We do thank you for the plain
teaching of your word. There's nothing confusing about
it. The darkness is in our understanding, in our own minds. Your word is
so plain. Our sin is of ourselves. Oh Lord
Jesus, the Son of God. Our hearts would break this morning. All the effects of sin is all
around us, within us. We feel it in ourselves, in our
own conscience. We see it in the lives and hearts
of others. If we had to live without hope
this morning, our hearts would break. Oh, thank You, Father
in Heaven, for sending us Your Son to redeem us, to save us. Thank you for a new heart to
believe you, to know you, to love you. I pray this morning
that you may take your word and be your own interpreter. Give comfort to your children
that are here, to those that are here without you. May this
be the day. Open their understanding that
they may know the truth and be saved. For our Lord's sake, we
ask these things. Amen.