First Baptist Church: Sermon

Text: Genesis 3:1-13; Colossian 2:13-15
Message for March 3, 2002
by Pastor Glenn Layne

March 3, 2002

Third Message in the Series:
THE FREEDOM OF THE CROSS
Freedom from Deception

I don't like conflict. In this, I'm not alone. Many people are conflict-avoiders. It's sure better than somebody who loves to pick a fight.

But experience tells us that the total avoidance of conflict only leaves the wrongdoer bolder, the situation unresolved and you the weaker. That's true of a situation in your home or your workplace. It's true when dealing with the enemies of freedom as we are now in the war on terror. And it's true of the necessary conflict that we have with the original enemy, the Evil One, Satan.

Satan is no myth. He is real. He started out as an angel of God, but rebelled against His authority countless eons ago. He is now the devil, the prince of darkness, and he hates God and all His ways.

Satan is not alone. The Bible hints that one-third of the angels followed him in rebellion against God. These fallen angels are now called demons.

As CS Lewis said many years ago, we can make two errors about the devil and the demonic. One is to become obsessed about him and his ways and to in effect see a demon hiding under every bed. The other is to ignore or deny his very real influence and power. Both are foolish errors.

I learned a long time ago that the devil, being limited in power, is no god. He may be powerful, but his power is like a butterfly in a hurricane when compared to that of God. He does not even have the ability to "read" our minds. The devil cannot make any one do anything-His power in the world of human beings is almost entirely that of deception.

If the devil were not real, I would be hard pressed to explain a lot of things. If he were not real, why is it that a crisis most often breaks out in a church when that church is effectively reaching the lost with the gospel? Why is it that babies that never cry scream for bloody murder Sunday morning when their parents are trying to get ready for worship? More seriously-why would 90% of the religious persecution in the world be directed against those who lift up the name of Jesus as Lord?

The Reality of Spiritual Warfare

Spiritual warfare is real. Satan hates you, and he uses every means at his disposal to fight against you, your marriage, your family, your work life, your church and your peace of mind. Call it assault and battery on the soul.

The primary means of attack is not Exorcist-style demonization (although the Bible does speak of demonization, it is not Satan's primary means of attack). The primary means of attack is not sickness, persecution or famine. It is deception. Deception is the sharpest arrow in his quiver. It is the essence of the battle.

In John 8:44, Jesus takes the mask off the enemy. He says to a gang of His opponents:

You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

Here's a key truth: the one way in which Satan is involved in every temptation is this: he wants to deceive you into believing a lie.

Lies, Liars and the BIG LIE

The First BIG LIE (Genesis 3:1-13)

Genesis 3 recounts the event that we traditionally call "the fall of man." It is called that because while God created man, male and female, in a state of perfection, we choose to turn our backs on Him and go our own way.

Of course, we had a little help.

Satan appeared to them in the guise of a serpent. (Or maybe "the serpent" is a title for the devil in this story-it isn't entirely clear.) He didn't knock Adam over the head and stuff the forbidden fruit in his mouth. He didn't slip a sleeping pill in Eve's Snapple. He didn't hold them up at gunpoint. The only power he had was the power of the lie, and as Jesus says, "When he lies, he speaks his native language." Here's they are three intersecting lies:

1. Question what God says (vs. 1)

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, `You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"

His first lie has to do with questioning what God had said. "Has God been clear on this subject? Are His demands reasonable?" That was the seed of doubt he placed in Eve's mind.

2. Misquote what God says (vs. 1; see 2:15-17)

You should know that he also misquoted what God had commanded earlier. Back in 2:15-17, God says to the first man, "Have fruit from any tree except THAT ONE-the Tree of Independent Judgment [That's what 'the knowledge of good and evil' means-deciding what's right based on your independent judgment, not based on what God says to be so]. If you eat from that tree, you'll die."

Satan's question was a lie that scrambled the truth: "Did God really say, `You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"

He questions what God says (implying that maybe God's rules are unreasonable), he misquotes God and scrambles the truth-and if that doesn't seal the deal, he simple denies what God has said:

3. Deny what God says (vs. 4-5)

4"You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. 5"For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

Look, says Satan, I know what your traditions, upbringing and background says, but come on, get real. Die? No way. As a matter of fact, this will expand your horizons, make you hip and on top of things. Come on, be there or be square.

Listen: every time you are tempted, Satan does not throw a demon of lust or gluttony or gossip or fear your way. But this he does do, through his demons and in the patterns of this world: he tries to sell you a lie. Every temptation is a dance with deception; every sin starts with believing a lie. And Jesus died to set you free from sin in all its power: not only to forgive you of your sins, but to set you free from its power; to set your free from deception.

The Many Dimensions of the Big Lie

The devil's lies are legion. Lying is his "native language" as Jesus says. I want to give you four kind of generic lies of Satan. As you listen, and keep track on your message outline, you may want to make note of the particular lies that you have gotten into the habit of falling for.

LIE ONE: "A little bit won't hurt."

A little indulgence is not a problem. A little transgression never hurt anybody. At least I never killed anybody!

Here's one arena that we've come to expect this: anger. "Don't bottle it in," we say. "Let it out."

You realize how crazy that is? Who would say to an alcoholic, "Look, you will never get over this craving until you have a drink"? A little drink, sure, but you need a drink." It's nuts.

"A little bit won't hurt." That's the lie we're being fed. A little HBO skin show. A little lie to make you look good. A little padding of the expense account to put a few extra bucks in your pocket. A little swearing to make you look tough to the guys at work. A little fun chatter-who'd dare call it gossip?

But see 1 Corinthians 5:6. It says in part, "Don't you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough?" When you bake bread, you can take a small piece of dough off and saved it. You can take the dough and allow it to ferment in water. The yeast in the dough is so potent that when you work it into the next batch that it permeates the dough.

You don't need a lot of yeast. Put a little in the bread, put a little aside, the stuff seems to grow all on its own. The Bible compares leaven to sin in many passages. A little dab is too much. "A little bit won't hurt"-that's a Satanic lie.

LIE TWO: "I'm only human /this is the way God made me"

This is an especially potent lie when it comes to sexual sin. "I'm only human" is the devilish mantra of sexually wandering men (men especially, but I have indeed encountered women in this trap as well). "This is the way God made me" is the 20th-21st variation to excuse newly socially acceptable perversions, especially homosexuality.

Guys, you know how it works. Your head turns when a bouncy jogger goes by. When sexy dancers gyrate on MTV. When you just happen to enter a porn website (by accident, of course). Our excuse? "I'm only human." You have eyes and testosterone and all you need is a little nudge, right? "I'm only human."

One time the devil came to Jesus and said to Him, "You're only human, you know. You're been fasting and your belly's been growling. Come on, you're only human. You're going to have to satisfy the needs, the wants of your body."

See Matthew 4:1-4:

1Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. 2After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread." 4Jesus answered, "It is written: `Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"

Jesus' answer was, devil, you are a liar. I don't have to listen to your lie. You are not the final authority on what is human.

I want to specially talk to the guys now. When it comes to sexual temptation, do not buy the lie, "I'm only human." First of all, there is no rule that says that to be human is to be a slave to what your body wants. You are more than a body. You are an eternal soul, created by God, and God is the one who determines what true human, and masculine, behavior looks like.

Second, you are more than human! You are a son of the eternal king; a blood-bought child of God; the Holy Spirit dwells in you-what is this "I'm only human" junk? You are a part of the church militant, the people of the lamb, a follower of Messiah, a redeemed saint in the eyes of God-what is this nonsense, "I'm only human; this is the way God made me." God made you to be an overcomer, not a under-getter; God made you to reign in life, not wallow in filth; God made you to be a light in the darkness, not dwell in the darkness of bondage. Jesus wants you free!

LIE THREE: "God will forgive me/he understands I'm weak."

Here's another satanic lie. He wanders up to you and whispers, "Well, yes, it's true that if you do thus and so it's really not right. But it's OK. God's very understanding, you know. He's knows that you're weak, but you know, He's a gracious God."

The most effective lies mix truth and falsehood to create the most potent of lies. Yes, God is gracious. Yes, He understands. Yes, He forgives. But that's no excuse to plan to sin. That's no excuse to plot evil. No, it's not OK. It's sin. Run for your life when you hear this one.

Jesus got fed this line. And He gives it a name Matthew 4:7:

Jesus answered him [Satan], "It is also written: `Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'"

It's called "testing God." "Just testing to see that You're there, God. Just testing the limits of Your forgiveness. Just using You, God. Not serving You, just using You." It's a lie!

LIE FOUR: "All I need to make me happy is…"

It can be in the realm or pleasures, power, anger or fear-we have that something that the evil one whispers to us. An author might hear the whisper, "I will be happy if my manuscript sells." A man might hear the whisper, "I will be happier if I divorce this one and marry that one." A student might hear the whisper, "I will be happy if I can get into that school." A teenage girl might hear the whisper, "I will be happy when I'm one of the popular ones."

Do you know what all those whispers have in common? They are all lies about the source of true joy. They are all lies leading to the same end: a temptation to idolatry.

The old Westminster Catechism had it right. The first question is "Who is the first and best of beings?" The answer is: "God is the first and best of beings." The second question asks, "What is the chief end of man?" (We might say it as, "Why did God create human beings?") And the answer is: "Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever."

We were created to be focused on Him. Not only is He worthy because He is God, but in Him alone do we find our happiness. Again, in Matthew 4:8-11, Satan lied to Jesus. "Just worship me and you'll get the whole world." Jesus countered the Big Lie with this Big Truth in verse 10: "Jesus said to him, 'Away from me, Satan! For it is written: "Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only."'"

The BIG TRUTH

This I know: SATAN IS A BIG FAT LIAR. Now this I want to know: Can God be trusted?

He does not lie. He tells the truth. He is the truth. His words are the measure of truth. His word, the Bible, is His faultless manual of life. Live by it and you will live in truth; you will never be disappointed.

The good news we life by is described in Colossians 2:13-15:

13When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. 15And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

1. We find real Life in Jesus (vs. 13)

We were dead…now we are alive! That's the truth. Sin does not have to rule over you. You don't have to swallow satanic lies. We are not locked away in darkness…we are children of light. We can see now!

THIS IS THE TRUTH!

2. We have been forgiven (vs. 14) Is there anything better?

Horatio Spafford put it this way:

My sin-O the bliss of this glorious thought, My sin-not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord, O my soul!
It is well with my soul, it is well, it is well, with my soul.

THIS IS THE TRUTH!

3. The mortgage on our soul was nailed to the cross (vs. 14)

Paul says that the written code against us has been canceled, and nailed to the cross. The word is a business term. It means a certificate of indebtedness written in the debtor's handwriting. "I owe you this, this and this…" It's our indictment of sin, it's the mortgage on our soul.

But Jesus takes that debt, that sin, that power of sin, that festering devilish lie and takes it in His hand as He is stretched out to be crucified-and says in effect, "OK, now you can pound the nail in my hand. I'm holding Glenn's debt there…and when the nail pierces my flesh, it will be the destruction of the debt. When the nail pierces my flesh, that will pay the debt. When the nail passes through my hand into the wood, I may be pinned down tight, but He will be free.

THIS IS THE TRUTH!

And finally,

4. Jesus disarmed the devil and his demons by His Cross (vs. 15)

On the cross, Jesus knocked the whole Satan network offline. He took the devil's only real weapon: He unmasked him as a liar. The word "disarmed" suggests an army defeated, their weapons confiscated, and then to shame them, stripped naked.

In the months leading up to the invasion of Europe, Eisenhower deceived the Nazis by amassing an army of fake wooden tanks, planes, and armament on the coast of England at a location to make it look that he would strike at Calais when the real invasion was planned to the west on the shore at Normandy.

We tend to think of Satan as powerful-but his army is made of cardboard. He does not have a single bullet. All he has is his lies.

Martin Luther puts it well:

And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us, we will not fear for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us. The prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for him-His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure: One little word shall fell him!…Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also-The body they may kill; God's truth abidth still His kingdom is forever.

What BIG LIES are you swallowing?

A little bit won't hurt…I'm only human…God will forgive me…I'll be happy when…

They're lies! All lies!

And you don't have to listen to these lies anymore!