Scripture

Genesis 3:2-3
[2] The woman said to the serpent, "From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat;
[3] but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.'"


Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
This is 70th Lecture on Genesis.
Genesis 3:1 is the crafty word that Satan spoke through the serpent to tempt Eve.
Let's examine the intention of Satan as we look into the tone of voice.
When the serpent said, "...has God said...," it didn't ask with a tone of respect.
The serpent's tone of voice reflected its insolence.
After being on Intimate terms with Eve for some time, it spoke insolently and condescendingly to her.
As Eve was being drawn into a closer relationship with the crafty serpent, she didn't recognize the serpent's change in arrogance and haughtiness.
She didn't even correct it even though the serpent defied order.
As a result, Satan was able to extend her influence and Eve was tempted.
Additionally, Eve herself broke the order without realizing it.
As you know from the 2nd Chapter of Genesis, it was Adam who was given the order not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
All the animals in the Garden of Eden should keep the order given to Adam, because God gave Adam the authority to rule and subdue the Garden of Eden.
But it was to Eve the serpent asked the question.
It was Adam himself who had listened to God, but the serpent asked Eve the question as if God talked to Eve.
Why was this breaking the order?
It's because the serpent caused the woman to temporarily forget that she was under Adam's authority.
The serpent made Eve feel as if she was on equal terms with Adam.
Then, Eve changed the word of God and gave the answer, which caused her to eventually be deceived.
Let's me give you an allegory for your better understanding.
Tom is given very important instructions from his boss.
He mentions it to Jerry, who is a close associate.
Soon, David also comes to know a little bit about it.
Now, David wants to know more about it, and so he goes to Jerry and says, "Did the boss say this?"
David thinks Jerry got the instruction directly from the boss.
At this moment, Jerry should not say, "Yes, he did" because David will be confused that it was indeed Jerry who was given the instructions from the boss.
Jerry must say, "I'm not the one who was given the instruction. It is Tom who got the directions from the boss, and I only just passed it down to you."
If Jerry had a heart of elevating himself, he might brag about the idea that he is acknowledged enough to receive instructions directly from the boss.
Moreover, he might add his own thought to the will of the boss.
Eve in tonight's scripture is in this same situation.
The serpent asked Eve the question in a manner like this; "Did God directly talk to you and say....?"
The serpent lifted Eve to the same position as Adam's.
Then, Eve replied as if she herself was directly given the order from God.
She even added her own thought and changed the word of God.
Eve didn't break order on purpose.
However, she crossed a line she had to keep, and it brought in the final result.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
Now, let's take a look how Eve replied.
Genesis 3:2 says, "The woman said to the serpent, "From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat;"
If Eve had put the word of God into her heart and if she had not teetered at the temptation of the serpent, she wouldn't have been necessary for her to reply like this.
She would have seen into the scheme of Satan and refuted It with the word of God.
The reason she replied like this, however, was that she had an intention to show that she earned recognition.
Don't misunderstand from this verse though that Eve had an evil heart of 'boasting.'
She didn't have evil in her heart, but she had her free will to express herself as she did.
Let me present another allegory to help you understand her situation at the time.
There is a boy who has strong pride, and you say to him, "You can't even do this, huh?"
Then, he will not admit that he cannot do it.
He will rather say, "I can do it. I can even do that."
He will not admit his inability, and at the same time, he would rather try to show he is more capable.
It is the same with grown-ups.
When a man of strong pride has his shortcomings pointed out, he usually doesn't readily admit it.
Instead he tries to make his strong points known.
It is difficult for such people like this to change.
The same goes with Eve.
When the serpent said to her, "Indeed, has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?", she said in reply, "From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat."
When she replied like this, she relaxed her guard pertaining to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil without her realizing it.
As she emphasized that she could eat the fruit of the trees of the Garden of Eden, the fact was blurred in her heart that the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was an exception.
Now, what about our Lord Jesus?
Before Jesus began His public ministry, He was tempted by the devil three times.
When the devil tested the Lord with crafty words, Jesus refuted them with the word of God.
It was when Jesus was hungry after fasting 40 days and 40 nights.
Matthew 4:3 says, "And the tempter came and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.""
Jesus was in a situation that it could seem that He was not the Son of God if He didn't turn the stones into bread right now.
At the same time, if Jesus did what the devil told Him to do, it could seem that He obeyed the devil.
It would make Him a slave to the devil.
If you don't recognize such wickedness in the scheme of the devil, you will be easily deceived.
However, Jesus made flat rebuttals with the word of God.
Matthew 4:4 says, "But He answered and said, "It is written, 'MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.'""
He did say, "Of course I can do it," or "Don't you know that I do have such power to do it?"
Jesus didn't have the heart to flaunt His ability at all.
Likewise, even if someone talks to you in a way of daring you to do something, you should not be deceived.
It is meaningless whether others recognize you or not.
You should be considered righteous before God who searches your inner heart.
In addition, when someone comes up to you with the word of untruth, you should be able to correctly discern it according to the word of the truth.
You should be also able to wake him up in spirit.
However, I'm not saying you should scold him or snarl at him unconditionally.
If he has weak faith, he doesn't know the truth, and thus you should explain slowly so that he can understand better.
However, if he is in a position where he should not talk like that, or if he is considered to have faith, you should make him correctly understand.
It is because other members may be affected by this one person.
Eve didn't possess the ability to see through the wicked scheme of the serpent.
And so, she was led the way Satan planned.
And eventually, she changed the word of God who forbade the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
She said, as written in Genesis 3:3, "but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.'"
Right now, Eve is changing God's warning against the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil at her discretion.
It means that she didn't put the word of God into her heart well.
What did God say?
God said, as written in Genesis 2:17, "but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die."
To this word, Eve added, 'not touch it.'
Moreover, God said, "You will surely die," but she changed it and said, "You will die."
When compared to "You will surely die," what Eve said means 'You might die or maybe not.'
As she replied like this, she was eventually trapped in a snare that Satan had set.
Dear brothers and sisters.
In order not to be ensnared by Satan, you should correctly understand the word of God.
You should not just know it roughly.
It is especially so when it is the word related to salvation.
Nowadays, I'm explaining about 'the sin which causes you not to be saved' and about 'the sin that leads you to death.'
You should correctly make bread from these words and never be deceived no matter how craftily Satan tries to tempt you.
Eve didn't remember that God said, "You will surely die," and she was eventually led to death.
The spiritual communication with God was disconnected and she was driven out to this earth.
She, of course, repented later on and received salvation.
The same will apply to you.
The Bible, which is the word of God, records the sins that cause you not to be saved, and that lead you to death.
And I explained them to you so that you could understand easily.
Those of you, servants of God and workers who teach the word of God, should arm yourselves especially well with the word.
It is because it is up to you whether a soul may go to Heaven or suffer in Hell.
Jesus compared those who don't spiritually understand the word of God to 'the blind.'
If the servants of God or workers are the blind, the souls who are entrusted to them cannot be led right.
Not only they themselves will fall into the pit, but they can also cause other souls to fall into it.
If God says, "Don't do it, or you will be led to death," then His word is absolutely true.
However, what if a servant of God changes the word and say, "This much is OK. Even though you did what God told you not to do, if you repent, God will forgive you. Just, don't do it next time again. It was just a trivial thing. All others do the same." What will be the result if he is so carelessly negligent of the word of God like this?
Not only the servant of God but also the souls who are entrusted to him may go to the way of death.
In the Bible, 'Don't do's' and 'Cast off's' are repeated many times.
Why did God repeat such words in the precious book of the Bible?
It is because you should never do them and you should cast them off.
Otherwise, you will distance yourself far from salvation and reach eternal death.
For example, Hebrews 6:4-6 says, "For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame."
Moreover, Hebrews 10:26-27, "For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and THE FURY OF A FIRE WHICH WILL CONSUME THE ADVERSARIES."
These verses tell us there are sins that can never be forgiven.
It is the case when those who received the Holy Spirit, experienced God's grace, and have the knowledge of the truth willfully commit sin there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins.
Galatians 5:19-21 tells us well what those sins are.
It says, "Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God."
If the deeds of the flesh mentioned here are willfully committed by those who are not novice Christians, but who have received the Holy Spirit, tasted the grace, know the knowledge of the truth, they cannot inherit the kingdom of God.
In other words, they cannot go to Heaven.
It is because they are given the spirit of repentance but then they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame."
Just as Eve changed the word of God, they may say, "They may not inherit the kingdom of God; No, they WILL NOT inherit...
Besides, Manmin members received the great grace back in December 25, last year.
In the work of love that transcended justice, you were forgiven of the sins leading to death.
And now, God the Father is working for us with His original light.
He breaks the frameworks that you couldn't break before by yourself, and He cast the attributes of flesh off from you, which you couldn't do by yourself.
I believe there is no one who commits the deeds of the flesh again in this time of grace, right?
I hope that all the Manmin members not only in this Central Church but also in the branch churches in Korea and other countries will ride well on the blessed flow of the spirit.
Dear brothers and sisters.
I hope that you can hear well and understand correctly not only the word of God but also t he word delivered from this altar by the shepherd.
All of you do listen to the word.
There are people, however, who interpret it to their own discretion, and pass it down to others.
"Senior Pastor says so because of this and that reason. So, you don't need to do exactly the way he says."
Don't be deceived by those who talk to you like this.
Even though you are not a novice Christian, if you are deceived by listening to such words, you should admit that you have a heart not to live by the word.
I hope that you can believe and obey the word the shepherd delivers from the altar.
One more thing you should bear in mind is that you should be truthful when having a conversation.
Especially when talking about someone else, you should not mix with your own thoughts, feelings, or judgment.
A man of goodness should not be considered as a man of evil because you don't convey words correctly.
An evil man should not be considered a good man, either.
Until you cast off evil completely from your heart, you cannot discern other's heart 100%.
Therefore, if you don't have the heart of spirit, you should not recklessly talk about others.
In case you have to convey words regarding someone, you should do only what you see and hear.
You should not judge or condemn by adding your own thoughts and feelings.
The more you have the heart of spirit, the less you will speak unnecessary words.
Even when you convey the truth, you will do in goodness and love in order not to harm others.
Ephesians 4:29 says, "Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear."
As said, I hope that a word from your lips can bring grace to those who listen to you and also encourage them.
You should not be ensnare like Eve, and at the same time, you should not make others stumble because of what you say.
I hope that you can speak only the word that can build virtue and that bring grace upon others.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
In this lecture, I explained who Eve was deceived at the crafty question of Satan.
In this end time when sin and evil are rampant, Satan is working more craftily.
Satan sets snares so that you can be easily ensnared if you are not always awake in spirit.
Even if you are a child of God, as long as you have untruth in your heart, Satan tries to take advantage of it and to make you fall down.
Please remember that Satan can accuse you on a ground of the word you may easily speak.
Since Satan works like this, however, you may have a chance you discover the untruth in your heart and get rid of it.
You have hatred in your heart, but if you don't discover it because nothing stirs it up to be revealed, will it be good?
Since you don't realize you have hatred in your heart, you cannot get rid of it.
As long as you have hatred in your heart, Satan will do everything to make you reveal it outwardly and put it into a word or an action.
The goal of Satan is to make you commit sin like this.
But, you can rather realize your true self, repent, and pray fervently to cast off hatred.
You will then eventually cast off hatred, envy, and jealousy.
That said, Satan is actually playing a role in making the children of God get sanctified.
So, how foolish Satan is.
May you quickly cast of flesh and come into spirit so that Satan can grieve bitterly over its foolishness, in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ, I pray!