1 21 18marcsermon

Marc Hegeuds

  I. How The Enemy Approaches   v.1 - The enemy doesn’t always deal with us directly, sometimes he uses a messenger - The enemy picks his messengers carefully to suit his purposes - Here he picked  the beast who was more crafty than any other beast of the field    * Crafty - to form a cunning plan, to deal subtly. In other words he was a smooth talker with ulterior motives - This was an animal whom Eve was: *Familiar *Talked to before *Not threatening - The enemy knows how to approach us without alarming us - Be alert! II. His Tools of Engagement   v.1-5 - The devil will attempt to engage you in conversation using questions - Here he asked a question he knew wasn’t true, “Has God said you shall not eat from any tree of the garden? So, she responded and the dialogue was on - Her response to his question told him she was willing to believe things that were  added to God’s Word - “We can’t eat from it or even touch it” - Be careful that you know what God has actually said - Cling only to that! - Next he sows doubts - He used truth mixed with lies to deceive Eve - He took what God and lied about the results - Surely you won’t die - He appealed to a good motive to get her to sin - You will be like God - So, she   thought she was doing something godly when she was actually sinning - The key to defending yourself from this attack is knowing what God has said III. The Results of Not Discerning the Enemy   v.6-7 - Watch the progress of how Eve was deceived - She begins by verifying the truthful parts of what the devil told her - She looked and saw that the tree was good for food - She concludes that because this was true then it must all be true - It will make me wise - Knowledge and wisdom are not the same thing - Have you ever  learned something you wish you didn’t know? (or maybe learned the hard way) - She acted by eating from the tree and gave to Adam and he ate also - That was   very brave of Adam to let her eat first to see if she died before he ate - What they learned was shame and disobedience - Knowledge not wisdom - When we listen to the enemy instead of discerning him he will draw us into disobedience - It’s very subtle and appears good, but is very destructive to us - God is not holding out on you and the enemy only means harm to you!     CONCLUSION: - So what have we learned from Eve’s encounter with the devil? * Sometimes you may not realize when you are in spiritual warfare - Be discerning * No matter what the enemy says he never has your best interests at heart - Remember he comes as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14) - Protect yourself by knowing the Word and not adding to it * Your behavior matters - Good intentions do not erase disobedience - Deception only comes when we do not know and hold to the truth