Please be seated. And turn in your Bibles first to Genesis 3 and then to Genesis 4. I might mention, for those who have forgotten, it's been a while. I'm doing great themes in the Pentateuch and continuing that, and children. I'm going to be mentioning a couple of different things. One will be a sports analogy, and you can maybe draw that, or there will be a couple of others that I'll begin with, and you might just listen and draw one of those things. There are very familiar passages, Genesis 3, 1-13. Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, Indeed, as God said, he shall not eat from any of the tree of the garden. And the woman said to the serpent, From the fruit of the tree is the garden we may eat. 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, lest you die. And the serpent said to the woman, You surely shall not die. For God knows that in the day you eat from it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that there was a delight to eyes, and the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate. And she also gave her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed piglets together, and made themselves loin coverings. And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of day. And the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Then the Lord God called to the man and said to him, Where are you? And he said, I heard the sound of thee in the garden. And I was afraid because I was naked. So I hid myself. And he said, Who told you they were naked? Have you eaten of the tree which I command you not to eat? And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to me, to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate. And the Lord God said to the woman, What have you done? And the woman said, The serpent deceived me, and I ate. Then going on to chapter 4, On the next page, we'll be reading from verses 1 to 15. Now the man, talking about Adam, had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. And she said, I've begotten a man child with the help of the Lord. And again, she gave birth to his brother Abel. And Abel was the keeper of flocks, and Cain was the tiller of the ground. And it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the Lord of the fruit of the ground, and Abel on his part also brought the first things of his flock and of their crab portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and for his offering, but for Cain and for his offering he had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell. Then the Lord said to Cain, Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door, and its desire is for you, but you must master it. And Cain told Abel his brother, and it came about when they were in the field that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, Or is Abel your brother? And he said, I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper? And he said, what have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground. And now your purse from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. When you cultivate the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. You shall be a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth. And Cain said to the Lord, My punishment is too great to bear. Behold, thou hast driven me this day from the face of the ground, and from thy face I shall be hidden, and I shall be a vagrant and wanderer on the earth, and it shall come about that whoever finds me will kill me. So the Lord said to him, Therefore whoever kills Cain, then it shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the Lord appointed a sign for Cain, Does anyone finding him should slay him? Notice verse 16 how it begins, that Cain went out from the presence of the Lord. There's a sermon outline on the back cover of the bulletin. As a baseball fan, one of the things I notice is every spring, When the baseball season starts, all the teams have hope. Why is that? Well, everybody begins really with a perfect record. You know, before that first game, they're all equal. They all are equal in terms of perfection. You know, the pitcher, officially, not counting spring training, And the regular season has given up no hits, no walks, no runs. It has an ERA of 0.00. The hitters have made no outs. They, too, would in some sense be perfect. But that perfection does not last long. In fact, it lasts one batter. And whatever the outcome of that first batter in the first inning, someone is no longer perfect. If the batter gets a hit, he's perfect, but the pitcher's season is no longer perfect. He's given up a hit. If on the other hand, the batter strikes out, the pitcher is perfect, but the batter is no longer perfect. And so depending on which one it goes, one or the other no longer is perfect. And it doesn't take very long in a season before that is true. That even if a pitcher pitches a no-hitter in the first game, sometime along in the second game he'll give up a hit. He'll give up a run. And his ERA will no longer be perfect. or if a hitter starts off very hot and gets 4 for 4 in terms of hits in the first game and then in the second game sometime along the line he'll make an out and his hitting percentage will no longer be 1,000 it'll be lower and the thing is no matter how good he is for the rest of the season he never gets it back up to perfection no matter how good the pitcher is for the rest of the season His ERA never goes down to zero again. That perfection is lost, and it can't be regained. It will last through the entire season. Well, we can think of other things, where the goal might be perfection, and yet something happens. It's not able to be undone. An animal is born perfect and normal, and yet maybe gets hit by a car or something and one of its fetus hurts. What does it do? It walks with a limp for the rest of its life. Or maybe a woman is sewing and is sewing well and doesn't notice it and drops a stitch and continues on and has this garment and looks good and yet if you look closely there's an imperfection. And it doesn't matter what you do, if you wash it or whatever, it's still going to be in there. Or maybe a car in an accident. The front end gets crumpled. And the repair shop does all it can to get it back smooth and even. And yet, it can never be restored exactly the same as it was before. You cannot regain what was lost. Well, the same sort of thing is happening here in Genesis 3. Mankind is formed perfect, has no sin, and yet falls into a state of sin. And it's lost. And we can never regain it by efforts or trying to do well. Well, let us get back to that state of innocence and perfection that we had before. There's a reality to sin, there's a reality to the temptations we face in this life, and there's a reality to the consequences that we see. And so we see that being pictured here in Genesis 3 and in 4. And the first part that we need to notice is the nature of temptation. That is, Adam and Eve were in a state of innocence, a state of no sin. There was temptation that came upon them. temptation that still faces us today. And it's a temptation, first of all, with regard to God's Word. The question regarding God's Word is whether you will believe it or not, whether you will change it or not, just whether Adam and Eve were to believe it or not. And thus, in chapter 3, verse 1, when the sermon says, indeed, has God said? He is challenging the truthfulness of God's Word. God has spoken clearly to Adam and Eve, gave them a clear command, but Satan is attacking that Word, seeking to get Adam and Eve to doubt, to question what God has said. Is it really true that God has said that? And how often is that the temptation that we face today? That society around us, and even Christians at times, will question, will ask, well, has God really said that? Has God really said that He hates divorce? Has God really said that immorality is wrong in all circumstances? Is drunkenness, is coarse jesting, are these things really so terrible? You know, everyone tells a few little white lies. And rather than listening to the voice of God, to what God has said, we listen to other voices. And so the temptation is not to pay attention to what God has said. And note, there's even a danger, too, of adding to what God has said. Because you look at verse 3, as Eve responds, she says, do not eat of it or touch it. She's adding something in addition to what God has said. And that, too, is wrong. It's like ignoring what God has said. It's maybe under the guise of safeguarding, of putting a hedge around what God has said. To add a little bit more. But it's not really paying attention to the exact words of God. And the temptation we face as Christians is also that, is to be adding more to what God has said. As if what God has said isn't sufficient. And that really brings us then to our first point. Because not only is it with regard to what God has said, there's a temptation with regard to God himself. The question of whether we're going to believe God or not. The temptation that Adam and Eve face and that we all face is really the temptation to think the worst of God. The implication behind Satan's question is the idea that somehow God doesn't really have the best interests of Adam and Eve in mind. That he's being harsh and unreasonable. That he's forbidden them something that's good and knowledge of good and evil that would be to their benefit. That would give them joy if they were allowed to enjoy it. And that's the temptation we face. To think somehow what God is saying to us is harsh and unreasonable. And the temptation even gets worse as you look at verse 4, when the serpent says, you surely will not die. Because now he's directly contradicting God. God has said you will die. The serpent is saying you will not die. Which is it? It's a direct contradiction to what God has said. In which one are you going to believe? Are you going to believe Satan? Or are you going to believe God? And the temptation is always not to believe God. To be drawn away, to act in the way Eve does, of eating that forbidden fruit and of giving it to her husband. To believe a lie rather than to believe in God. Now from God's standpoint, Adam and Eve were in the garden as a test. It wasn't really designed to seduce them to sin, but it was to lead them on to greater obedience, to stabilize and confirm them in that state of perfection. But sadly, they gave in to temptation. They did not heed God's word. They did not believe God. And daily we face those same sorts of temptations. Will we hold to God? Will we hold to His Word? Or will we hold to maybe our own thoughts? Our own wisdom? The wisdom of men around us? Our own efforts? Which will we choose? See, we can see that sin and the temptation to sin is a dangerous foe. As you go on to chapter 4, verse 7, God says to Cain, sin is crouching at the door. Now, that's the first time that the word sin is used in the Bible explicitly. It's sin, but this is the first mention of sin. And the Hebrew word means missing the mark, of going astray. And God is revealing to us here the very nature of what sin is. What happens when we're being tempted to sin. And He describes it in a very picturesque way. He's describing it as a wild animal lurking at the door. It's there ready to pounce on any who would go out the door or any who would follow after it. Who would go down the path of temptation. And it's a very vivid image of the destructiveness, of the immediacy, of the closeness and relentlessness of sin. It's always there, ready to spring and to destroy. And many today downplay sin, saying it's a slight weakness, it's a little character flaw that we have and that we all have. And God is saying, It's a powerful adversary. It's a life and death situation. A foe that seeks to destroy you. And you need to be aware of it. And you need to master it. And we'll see how we master that sin later. And D, fourthly, we can notice that it's especially Important that we watch for temptation, that danger of being tempted to sin when it comes to worship. And of course, temptation around us all the time, and we need to be aware of it all the time. But it's especially serious when it's related to worship. Because the context for that first use of the word sin in Genesis 4-7, if you look back, is in terms of worship. Cain and Abel, in due time, they've become adults, they're giving of the labor of their hands, bringing the offering. They're bringing worship to God. And the point that's being made is that Cain does it in the wrong way. It tells us God had no regard for Cain, their first offering. He didn't come with the right spirit. He didn't come in faith. And in Hebrews 11, 4 makes it clear that Abel did come in faith. And what was the fundamental difference was not on the type of offering, but in the person, the character, the one who is giving that offering. And Cain did not come in faith. He's really the first of a whole long who maybe were involved in religious duties, but their hearts were not in what they were doing. They were calling upon God's name in our form, in a formal fashion, but not inwardly, not genuinely, not of the heart. And how wrong that was. And how it showed up, and then oppressing the people of God of putting His own brother to death. And what a lesson it is for us when we worship Whom do we want to please? Do we want to please ourselves, or others, or God? Do we come wholeheartedly, or half-heartedly? Do we just think being here is enough? Or do we bring our best energies, our concentration, our gifts, our desires to be in close fellowship with God? Or too often are we like Cain, and going through the motions? And it's not really the heart. The second point that we can see is that the fruit of temptation, when temptation is allowed to run its course, is sin. When it's not held in check, sin will be the natural result. So sometimes we can see it's a very deliberate sin, and that was the case of Adam and Eve. They sinned deliberately. There was an express command of God. They knew very clearly. They had heard God speak those words. Don't eat. And so it's sadness that we read at verse 6 of chapter 3. So she took from this fruit and ate. And he ate. Active, deliberate defiance against God. God that said, don't do that! And full well, they went, and they did it. And how often, we can look at our lives, how often do we do that? God has said, men don't look at a woman with lust. And how often would a woman put a man? We're not to covet our neighbor's possessions. And how long do we often long for what they have? Maybe it's materially what they have. Maybe it's their good health. Maybe it's their reputation. Maybe it's their position in the community. Or not to gossip. Or not to be angry. We know that God has said not to do those things. And yet we do. There also we can see sins against the conscience. And although we may not, or some may not know a specific command, yet when you act contrary to your conscience, you're sinning as well. And we see that in the case of Cain. There'd been no command not to murder. But he knew it was wrong. else he would have owned up to the fact of what he's done. He knew as soon as he'd done it, as he tried to cover it up, and as he tried to make excuses before God, that he had done wrong. And so there are those who maybe never heard of the Ten Commandments. But they have a sense of right and wrong given them from God. They have a conscience from God. And they know that they have done things that are wrong. That they're no longer perfect. That they have guilt before God. And that's really, as you look at Romans, the first few chapters, the point is Paul making. That we're all guilty. Some have the law and violate it and do it deliberately, knowing what it says. Others have the law in their hearts. But they are without excuse as well because we reject God. And so all are guilty before God. And no one can hope by their efforts to be made right by God, be right before God. And thus as we look around at this world and we look at the grief and the pain and the suffering and the hardship, it's due to the reality of sin that we see around us. The sin that entered the world in Genesis 3 and in Genesis 4. The third point that we can see the results of that sin. And first and foremost, it results in broken fellowship with God. When Adam and Eve sinned, it had the immediate effect of breaking their fellowship with God. Their previous innocence was lost, It was replaced with a sense of guilt, a sense of shame, a sense of sin. And so they act on that. They sew fig leaves together, which really can't cover up their sin. They hide from the presence of God. They don't want to stand before a holy God. The close fellowship that they enjoyed from the time of creation was lost. That delightful fellowship they had with God was gone. It was now a spiritual barrier between them and God. And it shows up, especially in verse 8, where they attempt to hide. And sin will inevitably lead us to be separated from God. And we see that also in the case of Cain as he goes from the presence of God. For those who are not redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ, they will be separated eternally from God in hell. And thus, we can understand David's words that we're going to sing in a few moments from Psalm 51.4, where he talks and says to God against you, you only have I sinned. And we're given the circumstances. He's confessing his sin against Uriah and the sin with Bathsheba. And surely he sinned greatly against Uriah. And yet, ultimately, the greatest harm that he did, the greatest sin that he committed, was not against this fellow man. It was against God. It destroyed his fellowship with God. And so it is, whatever the sin is, Whether it's a sin we do in private or a sin we do against somebody else, the greatest harm that is done is in terms of our relationship with God, building a separation between us and God. The second result of sin is a cover-up. As we sin, our natural tendency is to want to cover up and not to admit what we've done. We can see that in terms of Adam and Eve sewing fig leaves together, of making excuses, of pointing a finger at others. You know, Eve points to the serpent. Adam points to Eve. But in a sense, Adam is even pointing to God. You know, the woman you gave me. You know, God, if you hadn't done that, I wouldn't be in this trouble. And we see it in terms of Cain. His evasion and his lies. You know, am I my brother's keeper trying to avoid the whole issue? And his outright lie? I do not know! You know, where he is? Well, he knew. He was still on the ground where he'd killed him. All trying to evade responsibility that was due to their sin. And it's still being done today. How many around us Want to evade sin, not to realize the reality of it. And we can fall into that same trap. You know, I think of a grandmother with a granddaughter, maybe two and a half, three years old, in a restaurant. And the granddaughter was acting up and doing bad, and finally, instead of correcting her, the grandmother lets her down and she roams around and she eventually, you know, misbehaving, bumps her head on the high chair that she should be sitting in. What does a grandmother do? The grandmother takes her hand and hits the high chair and says, bad high chair! Teaching your granddaughter, don't take responsibility for your sin. It's the high chair's fault. It goes all the way back to Adam and Eve of not wanting to take responsibility for our sin and what we do. The third result is broken fellowship with others. Those are seen most clearly in the case of Cain and Naples. How does that sin that infects Cain's heart show itself? Which shows in terms of bitterness and anger toward his own brother. An anger that shows in leading him to the field and killing him. Striking out at him. Destroying his life and of course with it the relationship that they would have. But also we can think in terms of Adam and Eve and what's going on. They're shifting blame. And Adam is putting the blame on Eve. He's putting this pressure and stress on her and she in turn puts it on the serpent. There's a breaking down of relationships and how often that goes on. I think of the man who was at work and His boss yells at him and gets very upset with his work. And he holds it in and he goes home. And what does he do? Well, the first thing he does is he yells at his wife. And so that sin is passed on. And what does the wife do? She goes and yells at the son. And it's passed on. And what does the son do? Well, he goes and kicks the dog. You know, but that sin It's passed on, that broken relationship that flows from one to another to another. And all of which points us to need for Christ. And how, as we are called to have mastery over sin, how can we do that? As we realize how often we sin, how often we give in to temptation, and it shows the fruit in terms of sin in our lives. How do we deal with it? with the solution of Jesus Christ. He came to die on the cross, to free us from our sins, to give us power to live a new life, to live as redeemed, as those who are no longer slaves of sin, but have been broken free by His death. And unlike the serpent, We can see Adam and Eve and their offspring were not cursed. There is hope for redemption. There is hope for a new life. There is hope, ultimately, to be in a state of perfection. Not in this life, but in the life to come. And it's through Christ that we receive this. That we can look forward. to a time when mankind will have no more sin. Because through Christ, we will be with Him and be completely like Him without sin in heaven. Application is to be trusting in Christ. When you face temptation, When you need to master, be master over sin, you can't do it in your own strength. But you can through Christ and the health of the Spirit, His Holy Spirit drawing in you. So look to Christ. Trust Him. Draw strength from Him. And then to know that your sins are covered over. Not by what you've done. but what Jesus Christ has done on your behalf. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we give you thanks for these lessons that indicate, yes, our sinfulness and how we fall short of your glory, your standard, and daily and throughout the day. And we'd have no hope except for that one, for Jesus Christ who's come and redeemed us from the law and the curse of the law has redeemed us from our sinfulness, has redeemed us from the penalty of death. We give thanks for that and pray that as we understand these truths that daily we will be trusting in Him, drawing strength from Him, looking to Him for help. as we face temptation, as we deal with our own sins. Thank you that they're covered over by the blood of Christ. It's in His name we pray. Amen. Let's turn to Psalm 51. Selection D. Notice especially verse 4, found second half of the second stanza, I have sinned against thee alone in thy sight this evil done. We always need to be mindful that whatever our sin is, first and foremost, it's against God. hurts that relationship, that fellowship that we have with God. Let's stand and sing the four standards, Psalm 51b.