Alright, you will turn in your Bibles this morning. Genesis chapter number 3. Genesis chapter number 3. Yea, hath God said. Yea, hath God said. Herein, Chapter number three, from the very beginning here, shortly, I don't know how long after the creation that this took place, but it's, I believe it was shortly after the creation. We have our problem. We have our problem. Yea, hath God said. We begin reading here in verse number 1. It says, 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. 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 has 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, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with 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 his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord, from the Lord God, amongst the trees of the garden. And the Lord called unto Adam, and said unto him, where art thou? Where art thou? Yea, hath God said. Yea, hath God said. Let's go to the Lord in order of prayer before we continue on our study this morning. Our Father in Heaven, we thank You again for this day. We thank You, Father, for Your great grace. Father, we thank You for this another time that we can come together in Your house. We're thankful, Father, for the gathering of Your people together this morning as we come in for this time, as we attempt, Father, to worship You this day. We pray that You help us to do so in spirit and in truth as we've met together. That our hearts and our minds would be turned toward You this day We would desire to learn of You, desire to learn of our place before You, desire to, Father, to learn, Father, of what we have in Christ Jesus because of Your grace toward us. Father, help us as we've met together that indeed our hearts be turned toward You as we spend this time together, that truly we would have that desire in us, Father, to worship You. Father, we pray that You bless each soul that's come this way today. Father, I pray, Father, that our hearts be right before You as we've entered in for this time. Forgive us of our sins. Father, forgive us of our many shortcomings and how often we've come short of Your glory. Help us this day, Father, to seek You, to desire Your presence, as we've come in together, and I pray you bless each one this day. Father, go with us now as we look to your Word. Give us understanding of it. Give us our own application, Father, for it, that we might recognize these things in us, that we not fail you, but that we would trust you, that we believe you, that we would submit to You and follow after You in all aspects of our lives. Go with us now, we pray. Again, open Your Word before us. We ask these things in Jesus' name and for His sake. Amen. That Jesus' trial As he was standing there before Pontius Pilate, it was one of the questions that Pilate asked, what is truth? What is truth? It's a good question to consider. It's a good question to ask ourselves, what is truth? It's important for us to be settled on that, especially as the children of God, that we would know what is truth. Because it is the attack of Satan, especially against God's people, but it's the attack of Satan against this world in general to confuse us on what the truth is. This is how he starts with mankind here in this passage of Scripture. To confuse what is true. To manipulate, to twist what God has said. Yea, hath God said. The serpent here, indwelled by Satan, asks that very important question. But he was not attempting to learn. Rather, he was attempting to deceive. He was not trying himself to deny God's existence. For anyone that has experienced God cannot be persuaded otherwise. We know He is. In fact, it's remarkable that in Romans chapter 1, Romans chapter 2, Paul addresses that reality for us that all of God's creatures, all of His creation knows He is. Everyone that's been born on this land, everyone that has come forth in this world knows in their heart, knows deep down in their conscience, God is. Now how to relate to Him and how to get to Him, we don't know those things. Those are things that have to be learned. Those are things that have to be taught us. But everyone knows God is. no matter how they deny it. I told you this story before, Oliver D. Green was preaching this one time and he was talking about an atheist and he said if you come across somebody that truly stands on the fact that they do not believe in God, he said he gives you six good men that know how to pray and you surround that person and you start praying for God to kill them. He said if their face changes color, they're a liar. Because everybody knows it's the reality that God has put in us. Everybody knows He is. That He's real. That He exists. So Satan is not here in this effort before Adam and Eve. He's not trying to cast doubt on that reality to them. Adam and Eve had experienced God in that garden. and came to walk with them in the cool of the day. There was no doubt He is. And so what He comes to do is to come to cast doubt on what God said. Now He did not ask Eve's opinion of the matter, or whether she thought it would be alright. He asked, What was God's word on the matter? Hath God said it? Hath God said it? Now, Satan's deception here is threefold. First of all, he cast doubt on what God said. Secondly, he casts doubt on God's power and authority. And thirdly, he attempts to make us think more highly of ourselves than we are. The serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God hath made, and he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said? ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden. He begins again here by casting doubt on what God said. What is truth? Pilate asks. And Satan admits to us here, even in his deception, he admits to us here the most important element of truth. And it's by his own emphasis here. The most important element of truth is what God said. And Satan even admits that. It's what God declares. It's what God says. Psalm 119 verse number 41 through verse number 43. Psalm 119 verse 41 through 43. David says, let thy mercies come also unto me. O Lord, even Thy salvation according to Thy Word. So shall I have wherewith to answer him that reproaches Thee, for I trust in Thy Word. And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth, for I have hoped in Thy judgment. Thy Word, Thy Word, Thy Word, David said. 2 Samuel chapter 7, verse number 28. 2 Samuel chapter 7, verse number 28. David praying again here. 2 Samuel 7, 28. And now, O Lord God, thou art that God, and thy words are true, and thou hast promised this goodness unto thy servant. Thy words are true. Psalm 33. Psalm 33 and verse number 4. Psalm 33 and verse number 4. For the Word of the Lord is right, and all His works are done in truth. The Word of the Lord is right, and all His works are done in truth. His Word. His Word is truth. His Word is truth. Again, Satan emphasizes even that. Even in his deception, he emphasizes what God said. Yea, hath God said. His Word is truth. Jesus Himself, according to John chapter 1, as John writes for us here this record of our Lord's coming, he says here in verse number 1 of John 1, or in the Gospel of John, he tells us here that Jesus is the very embodiment The very embodiment of that Word. In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God. The Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God, he says in verse 1 and 2. And then he says in verse 14 of the same passage, And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory. The glory is of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. He's the very embodiment of God's Word. And Jesus says of Himself there in John chapter 14 and verse number 6, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by Me. He's the very embodiment of God's Word. He is the truth. But most people don't deny God, or God at least. Most would say there is a God. Most would say, yes, He exists. Might even go as far as to say He's Creator. Might even go as far as to say He's Savior. The majority don't deny there is a God. But there is a majority that will deny His Word, or at least cast doubt on that Word. All sorts of people. People call themselves Christians. They will tell you, well, maybe we can trust Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John because they're eyewitness accounts of Jesus. But I don't think we can trust anybody else. No. No, they're wrong. All of His Word is true. From Genesis to Revelation, it's true. It proves itself true over and over and over again. No, it's not just the Gospels. Or it's not even just parts of the Gospels. It's every single Word of God. Paul writes in Romans 3 and verse 4, Yea, let God be true unto every man a liar. God's Word is truth. We can trust His Word. Though many cast doubt on this Word, this is exactly where Satan began, by casting doubt on what God said. If you begin to doubt His words, If you begin to doubt what God has declared, then by casting doubt on what He has said, you've already compromised then His character and His attributes. You've already compromised who He is, if you deny His Word. For He's declared, even in His own Word, He has lifted up, He has elevated His Word above His own name. He says, I have exalted My Word above My name. What does He mean by that? What does He mean? He's telling us His Word is so important. His Word is so necessary. His Word for us, absolute truth, that He has lifted it up above Himself. His Word is exalted above His name. We have no reason to doubt His Word. None whatsoever. for what God has declared is truth. So our thinking concerning God's Word affects how we look at Him. Our thinking concerning His Word affects how we receive Him. Notice here Satan's direct attempt to take a misstep on Eve's part of adding to God's command to twist it to bring that doubt of God's power and authority. Yea, have God so. He 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." Now that was not the command. That was not what God said. Eve added, or more likely, Adam added. to the command. Because Eve was not there when God gave the command. This was before her creation. And God told Adam, you can eat of everything that I've given you in the garden. Every fruit of every tree of the garden is for you to eat. But the tree that's in the midst of the garden, the tree that is of the knowledge of good and evil, He says, that one you cannot eat. And so Adam, in his teaching God's command to eat, it's likely this is where this extra point comes. He adds to the law. If we're not to eat of it, we can't even touch it, lest we die. Can't you just hear him saying it now? Oh yeah, God's told us, He's gave us command. That trio over there, He says we're not to eat it. In fact, don't even get near it. Don't even touch that thing. I can hear him saying it, you know. No, no, don't even get near that thing. That tree will kill us. And so when asked, Eve repeats that, well, we can't eat of it, neither can we touch it. Lest we die. Now, Eve is not being a liberal here in her understanding of God's Word, because the liberal is saying, well, I have liberty to lick the fruit, I just can't bite it. Right? She's being too conservative. We can't eat it. We can't even touch it. We have to stay away from it. God gave them the command to tend to the garden. That tree had to be tended to just like all the other trees. He didn't take that responsibility out to tend to that tree. He was just not permitted to eat of that tree. Still had to take care of it. Just like every other thing in the garden, it had to be taken care of, but they could not eat of the fruit of it. They added. Whoever added, somebody added, but do not touch. We must never be guilty of adding to God's Word. We can't take away from it, but the Scripture is adamant to us as well. Not only do we take from it, we cannot add to it either. We have to keep our opinions in check. We have to go with what God says. We have to follow His direction. We have to follow what He declares, not what we think, but rather what He says. Yea, hath God said. Here, Satan asked the question. Eve answered the question. Neither shall we touch it lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, you shall not surely die. No. That's not going to happen there. That's not the reason God said don't eat of it. It's not about death, that's not what he's saying, that's not what God's doing. For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And you know what? He's telling the truth. Oh, he's subtle. Manipulative. Does everything he can to cast doubt on God's Word. Now, he was not telling the truth that they would not die. Don't misunderstand. They did die. They died spiritually that day. They would die physically later on. That would come. That came because of them eating of that. But he was also telling them the truth. Their eyes were open and they did know right from wrong at that point because they broke God's law. So he says, God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. Satan's lie to them here is God is keeping something from you. Oh, if you would just do your thing. If you'd just do what you wanted to do. If you would just follow yourself, God's just trying to hold you back. God's just putting rules on you to keep you from living your best life now. You just do your thing. You go and follow yourself. You go and do what you think is best. God's just trying to hold you back. Don't believe what God says. He just don't want you to be equal with Him. You've got so much more that you could have, and He's just trying to keep that from you. Your life would be so much better if you just go do your thing. If you just go and eat that fruit, that's what God's keeping from you. It's not that you're going to die. He just don't want you to be on equal footing with Him. This is a lie that He was saying. and being told that God is that cosmic killjoy that's just keeping the best from them, that He was raining on their parade there. She forgot. She forgot the goodness of God. The goodness that she herself had already experienced from Him. She forgot that. She forgot it and she turned inward and began to look at herself. That fruit does look pretty good. I believe it. That looks like that would be really satisfying to me. That fruit right there, that's just what I need. And the Scripture tells us here, says she saw, verse number six, that the tree was good for food. That it was pleasant to the eyes. And a tree to be desired, to make one wise. She believed the whole lot. I mean, she believed everything Satan had brought to her. Yes. You know what? I believe he's telling me the truth. I believe I do need that fruit. Not only does it look good, not only do I believe it would probably taste good, but I believe it would make me wise to disobey God. God is creator. God is maker of all things. I don't know, sometimes we look at this scenario and we see this law that was given here to Adam and Eve and it seems sometimes we just focus on the law that God had given them there, all embodied in a fruit, and all embodied in a single tree in the midst of this garden. And we can look at that and begin to think, what in the world? Why a tree? Why a fruit? And it almost seems, we think of it in our flesh, it seems very insignificant. A fruit. A tree. In the middle of the garden. One law. God said don't eat it. And we reason a lot of life like that, don't we? It's not that big of a deal. It's just a small thing. I'll ask forgiveness for it later. It's not that, I mean, it's just, really? I mean, everybody else? Why not me? We make excuses for it and we make it less than what it is. But God's created. God's God. And guess what He can do? He can make any law He wants to. And every law He makes, we're responsible to obey. And so, He's Creator. He can make whatever law He deems necessary. And not only is it because He is Creator, it is also because He is holy. It is because He is just. It is because He is right and good. He does as He pleases. And it is incumbent upon all of His creation to follow Him and obey Him and submit our lives to Him. but also He loves His people. This is what he forgot in this interaction. God loves His people and He only tells us the truth. He doesn't lie. He doesn't manipulate. He's not keeping anything from us. He tells us the truth. We can trust Him. Now He doesn't necessarily always give us all the information. But He tells us what we need. And we need to trust Him. We need to obey Him. We need to follow Him. He loves His people. And He tells us the truth. 1 Peter 5 and verse 7. Let me read verse 6 there as well. Peter writes there, 1 Peter 5, verse 6 and verse 7, "'Humble yourselves therefore unto the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He careth for you.'" Casting all your care upon Him where He careth for you. He loves His people. He tells us the truth. We must never lose sight of His sovereignty. No matter What our problem is, no matter what our tribulation has come, no matter what trial is in our path, we must never lose sight. God is in control. He's in control. Trust Him. Job said, though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. Trust Him. Because He is far above us. Far above us. Isaiah chapter 55 verse number 8 and verse number 9. Isaiah 55 verses 8 and 9. God tells Israel here, for my thoughts are not your thoughts. Neither are your ways my ways, sayeth the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. Trust Him. His ways are not our ways. And though we can think we've got it figured out, we might look at it and see that maybe God doesn't fully understand. Maybe He doesn't understand how pretty that fruit is. Maybe He doesn't understand how juicy that stuff is. Maybe He doesn't understand how good it would be for me to have that. His ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts. He knows exactly what's going to happen when Adam and Eve eat of that fruit. Because he told them that's what would happen. And this brings us to Satan's ploy here. To make us more than what we are and to make God less than what He is. It says in verse 5 again, For if God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. The only reason God told you not to eat of that is because He knew that that would make you like Him. that you would be elevated to his state. That God would be brought down to you. That's what he's keeping from you. To make more out of who we are and less out of who God is. This enticement to Eve is that God is keeping something from her that's really good for her. If she would just break His law, if she'd just break His law, she would get this thing that God has kept from her and maybe even she would be just like God. This, by the way, is Satan's own starting point. Isaiah chapter 14, we read there in verse number 12. Isaiah chapter 14, verse number 12. How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning? How art thou cut down to the ground which disweakened the nations? For thou said in thine heart..." This is how he was cut down. This is how he was cast out. Because this is the thoughts of his own heart. "...For thou said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven. I will exalt my throne. above the stars of God. I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation in the sides of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. I will be like the Most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell to the sides of the pit. They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee and consider thee saying, is this the man that made the earth to tremble and did shake kingdoms?" It's Satan's own lie. It was a lie that he told himself. It's the same lie that he's bringing to Adam and Eve. Oh, you can be just like God. You can just eat of that fruit. You can be like Him. Pride is a destructive force. It is essential that we believe God and His Word. And then we would not be as susceptible to Satan's traps when he comes to us and asks, yea, hath God sinned? His temptation with Eve contains all the elements of sin. Go back with me to 1 John chapter 2. And notice this, let's see if you don't see that parallel right there in verse number six of our text. First John chapter two, verse number 16. Three elements to sin that John lists here for us. We see those same three elements in verse six of our text there. All sin is found in these three things. It's how it appeals to us, is what it is. It's how it shows up in us. It's where we feel it, you see, in our lives. 1 John 2 verse 16, For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life, is not of the Father, but of the world. Those three things, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life. We see all those three things. We see those three things there in Eve's response to Satan there in verse number six. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life. It says that she saw the tree, that it was good for food. Lust of the flesh. and that it was pleasant to the eyes, the lust of the eyes, and a tree to be desired, to make one wise, the pride of life. Satan does the exact same thing to us today. When He brings those temptations before you, when He lays those sins in your path and in your life, He does the exact same three. Those three things are what works in us to make that thing appeal to us. Bless the flesh, bless the eyes, the pride of life. When those things are activated, you can recognize right away, that's not truth. What is truth? That's not truth. When it activates those things in us, it's not truth. Run from it. He tried the same trick on Jesus 4,000 years later. In the wilderness, Jesus fasted those 40 days and 40 nights, and Satan came to Him tempting Him there in the wilderness. We have three of those temptations given to us. Each time, what does He use? Didn't God say? Oh, yeah, wasn't it? Don't it say in the Word? Didn't God say this? He brings the same ploy. Jesus answers each time, God said. God said. God said. God's word is truth. His word is truth. We can trust it. We can hold fast to it. What God hath said, that is truth. Believe it. Submit to it. Live your life by it. His word is truth. Yea, have God said. Yea, have God said. That which he says. Is the truth. Believe it. Love it. Live by it. His word is true. And again, Jesus is the very embodiment of that Word. He is the truth. And He is the truth for us. The truth for us. Do you have Christ Jesus today? Do you have His truth? Can you believe on Christ this day? Repent. Turn from yourself. Turn from your sin. Believe on Christ Jesus today. And have truth. Let's all stand for Gordon G. Branson's song.