Today’s message will be based on Genesis 3:1-8.

1. Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Has God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden'?"
2. And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden;
3. "but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.' "
4. Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die.
5. "For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
6. So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.
7. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.
8. And they heard the sound 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 God among the trees of the garden.

Absolutely nothing has changed since the beginning. Satan’s strategy to draw us into sin is exactly the same. Let’s start by looking at the wisdom of God’s warning that Eve repeated in verse 3: "You shall not eat it nor shall you touch it, lest you die". Touching is a compromise, eating was the sin. The battle of sin is not decided at the point of temptation, it is won or lost when we choose to compromise or not to compromise and set the direction for our lifestyle. There is a chain of compromises that leads to the point of the actual sin. This is clearly seen in verse 6, "So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that is was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate".

Look at James 1:14-15,
14. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.
15. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.

This is the same pattern Eve fell into. She looked, she saw the appeal, she wanted, and she was drawn by her desire. It was her own lust that drew her in. Where was this battle lost? I believe that it was lost at the point where she chose not to turn away. We all see temptations. When we do not turn from what we know will draw us away from God, we will surely fall. She chose to admire what she knew was wrong, she began to justify the benefits, she touched it and then she could not resist eating it. Each little compromise creates a stronger draw and weaker resistance. If Eve could not avoid staring at what she lusted after, there is no way she would be strong enough to resist eating it when it was in her grasp. The battle would have been easily won if she had turned away. When we inch closer and closer to the line we are taking the same path Eve took as we look for ways to justifying our future sins. We excuse it by saying we are just getting a closer look and that we will stop after this next compromise, but it is almost a surety that we won’t stop. Deep down we usually know this, but it is much easier to justify little compromises than it is to justify a headlong leap into sin.

The compromises and lusting after what we know is forbidden hasn’t changed, but what about satan’s tactics and lies? We can clearly see our perspective in this passage, but what about satan’s efforts. I think we can see in this passage that his schemes also have not changed. I want to look at the two main frontal attacks satan makes to draw us away from God.

1. Satan attacks God’s word. He does not have any problem with religion and he doesn’t mind the Bible. What he does mind is a clear understanding of the Bible. If I am aiming at a target, how far off do I have to be to miss the bulls-eye? In the military I often practiced with targets that were up to six hundred-fifty meters away. We prepared to qualify with our weapons by firing at graphed targets that showed us the flaws in our sights and based on where the round hit then we would adjust our sights accordingly. If the sights were off even a fraction, we would miss the target by inches and distant targets by several meters. That is what God’s word does for our spiritual lives. It aligns us with God’s will. If we are not aligned with God’s will, we will miss the target. 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us to learn the scriptures diligently so that you can present yourself to God as someone who is approved and not ashamed. We can only align ourselves with God’s will by learning and rightly dividing God’s word. If you don’t have a clear understanding of the Bible, you will be off target and likely led astray. Look at Jesus’ warning in Matthew 7:13-15:
13. Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.
14. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
15. Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.

It doesn’t take any effort to hit the wide area around the narrow target. It takes a full understanding of God’s word and alignment with God’s will to set our sites to hit the narrow path. Jesus followed up this command to enter the narrow gate with a warning, "Beware of false prophets". There will be many teachers who will believe satan’s lies and will teach these doctrines to others. They don’t have to be far off to miss the target. All satan wants to do is shift your focus just enough to miss the target. That is why Philippians 2:12 warns us to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. The Bible clearly teaches that salvation only comes through faith in Jesus Christ alone. Philippians 2:12 explains that we are not to end our relationship with God here, but we are to begin a lifestyle of walking with God based on His revealed will in the scriptures. When I stand before God, I cannot use what I was taught as an excuse for taking the wrong path. God clearly states that we are responsible for our own salvation. In Matthew 24 Jesus warns us about the last days. He starts off the list of things to watch for with the instruction, "Take heed that no one deceives you." If we are deceived, it is because we failed to heed the many warnings God has given us. Look at verses 11-12:
11. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.
12. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.

We see these taking place today. Verse 24 says that these false teachers will be so convincing that if it were possible they would even deceive God’s elect. I believe this refers to the true disciple who commits himself to God’s will and knows God’s word. If you listen to some of the mainstream ‘Christian’ TV programming, they sound very convincing but many also fail to pass the test of the Bible. I believe that most – if not all – of the prosperity preachers fall into this category. Jesus said in Matthew 7:16 that you will know them by their fruits. How many lives are being changed; how many souls are won for Jesus; do they encourage the people to denying self and taking up their cross daily of following Jesus Christ as commanded in Luke 9:23-24? Or do they promote selfish motives that make God into our subject rather than exalting Him as our Creator and Lord? Do they teach that God is bound by our speaking His word, or do they teach that when we humble ourselves and obey and through obedience we will be blessed because God gives grace to the humble but resists the proud?

The Berean’s were considered more noble because they received the teachings of the apostles eagerly, but searched the scriptures daily to see if what they were being taught was true. We should do the same. The problem of misleading and deceitful doctrine was of such great concern that Jesus repeatedly warned us about it as did Paul, Peter, James and many others throughout the New Testament as well as several Old Testament warnings. Satan will use the Bible. It isn’t the Word of God that he is opposed to, it is following God in obedience and fulfilling our relationship with God. He does not have to get us off by a long shot, just far enough to miss the narrow path.

2. Satan attacks God’s character. The devil deceives us by teaching us that God is hiding something good from us. The Bible is filled with the wondrous promises of God. Each promise is entrusted to those who obey God. Perhaps the verse that best states this principle is Psalm 84:11-12,
11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
The Lord will give grace and glory;
No good thing will He withhold
From those who walk uprightly.
12 O Lord of hosts,
Blessed is the man who trusts in You!

Psalm 34:10 is very good as well:
But those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.

The problem is that we don’t believe God, instead we believe the lie. We may not consciously say that God is lying, but we act upon the claims that we put the most faith in. In Genesis 3:5 satan tells Eve that God knows she will have good things if she disobeys and she believed this claim. Even though God’s word holds true and satan’s lie is always proven false, we still believe the lie and turn from God. With our own desires we can visualize the desired outcome and it is much easier to choose what we can see. God does not show us the outcome but requires faith. God commands that we look back at all His mighty works and look at the surety of His word and based on His character and consistency we must choose to step out in faith and obey. Our purpose is to obey and leave the fulfilling of the promises to Him.

Because we usually walk by sight and not by faith, very, very few Christians ever put God’s word into practice and therefore never experience the surety of God’s word. That is why you frequently hear people say that God’s ways do not work and the Christian life isn’t fulfilling. The truth is that they don’t know if God’s word is true and fulfilling because they have never tried it. Our tendency is to pick out convenient times to obey and bail out when faith is actually required. The reality is that we are either walking in God’s will, or we are not. God can’t bless a person who does not follow Him. What we fail to realize is that God’s greatest blessings are at the end of each trial of our faith. We never find these because we bypass anything that challenges our faith.

We depart from God’s will because we believe the age-old lie that began with Eve. We think God is hiding something from us. The reality is that good things are only in God’s presence. The mirage of gratification is what we are pursuing when we follow satan. Like Eve, once we grasp the promise offered by the deceiver, we will always discover that the gain is not satisfaction as promised, but an expended empty pleasure and a void cause by a separation from God.

My conclusion is: be aware of the schemes of the deceiver and look at your choices in light of God’s word. You will not miss anything with God. But I do believe that you must deny yourself in order to gain what God gives. God can only fill an empty vessel. If we are filled with ourselves and our own ways, there is no room for God’s blessings. God will not compete for space. You cannot half-follow God. There is no such thing as partial obedience. We either give God all of us, or we give Him nothing. In the process of growing we will have times of failure, but commitment is 100% and repenting from the heart when we realize we have gone our own way. To experience God in His fullness, we must shift our focus. If we are looking to our desires as our motives, our spiritual lives will not work. When we make pursuing our selfish desires the focus of our existence or if we try to manipulate God into becoming our personal genie, we will always feel empty and unfulfilled. We must make God the object of our affection and commit to loving God. When we are willing to deny ourselves out of faith in God’s promises because we trust God to meet our needs, we will find that we are fulfilled and the emptiness does not follow.