The Camouflage Covering

[0:00] Find in your Bible Genesis chapter 3. Having liberty sure is better than the alternative, huh? Genesis chapter 3.

[0:19] Genesis chapter 3.

[0:49] To sin against her creator. And we read that in verses 1 through 5. And then two weeks ago we studied from verse 6. The captivating crop.

[1:01] And saw that this woman got her eyes fixed upon this fruit of this tree that was forbidden. And we noticed the beginning had to do with what she was hearing.

[1:12] She was engaging in conversation. Listening to a voice that she had no business listening to. And in the second case it was what she was seeing. And she got her eyes fixed upon something that she had no business fixing her eyes upon.

[1:23] And there's plenty of things around. As we studied last time together. That you can get your eyes fixed upon. This world is no garden of Eden anymore.

[1:34] And there's plenty at every turn. That can distract you and draw your attention away from the truth. What God has laid before you. And the woman saw that the tree was good for food.

[1:44] That it was pleasant to the eyes. And to be desired to make one wise. A tree to be desired to make one wise. And that was it. She took thereof. So in the end of verse 6. She took of the fruit thereof and did eat.

[1:55] And gave unto her husband with her. And he did eat. And so the two fell into sin. They disregarded God's command that they're not to eat of it. And sin entered into the world.

[2:09] And so the results of that. We're going to continue into verse 7 this morning. And I want you to notice in verse 7. We'll read it together. The Bible says. And the eyes of them both were opened.

[2:20] And they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together. And made themselves aprons. Now I'm going to call this message here this morning.

[2:31] From verse 7. The camouflage covering. The camouflage covering. I'm a hunter. At least I used to be. I still want to consider myself one. Hunters will go through great lengths.

[2:46] Go to great lengths to disguise themselves. They'll cover every inch of their body. And spray a scent cover across their body. To make themselves.

[2:57] To neutralize their human odors. Or even to make themselves smell like the earth around them. And they'll put on things to make it. To cover up who they truly are.

[3:09] A man that wants to kill the prey. And they want to make themselves look to be like they're something that they actually are not at all. A tree. They want to look like the bark of the tree that they're tucked up against.

[3:22] Or like the brush on the ground. Or they want to camouflage themselves like the reeds along the water's edge. So that the prey that they're after doesn't recognize or notice them at all.

[3:34] Now when I see where Adam and Eve hid themselves. We'll have to read verse 8 to see this. Verse number 8 says, 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 amongst the trees of the garden.

[3:50] When I consider where they hid themselves. It causes me to think that they made themselves a camouflage covering. At the end of verse 8 it says they hid themselves amongst the trees.

[4:04] And being covered with leaves. What do you think they were trying to do? They were hiding. But they weren't just dipping behind the closest rock. They weren't hiding behind the tree necessarily.

[4:16] But covered with leaves. Sounds like they were disguising themselves. Camouflaging themselves. Trying to blend in with the trees. It's pretty clever. They fashioned a covering that doubles as a disguise.

[4:29] And you might think, No, they weren't trying to. They were trying to hide from God. That's what it says. And they're not stupid. They were created completely intelligent as we'll mention later.

[4:41] So there's a camouflage covering here in verse number 7. And I want to say a few things about their covering. And consider some truths that we can draw from this.

[4:51] And apply to our lives today when it comes to this. So let's talk to the Lord first. And then we'll get into the text again. Father, we come before you humbly. And we're thankful. And we just want to hear from you this morning.

[5:04] We want your word, if you would allow, to have free course in this room. And in our hearts and in our minds. And Lord, please free us from distractions. And please just disable everything that would cause a distraction today.

[5:17] Let us hear from you and hear from the word of God. Help us to make application personally and individually. And help us to get better because of it. Help us, God. We pray in Jesus' name.

[5:29] Amen. All right. All right. Let me say number one. Only a sinner needs to cover up and disguise himself or herself. It says in verse number seven that the eyes of them both were open, that they knew that they were naked.

[5:43] Where did they get that idea? Oh. That's what the Lord asked them. Who told thee that thou wast naked? Verse 11. What did you eat of the tree?

[5:55] They're sinners now. And as guilty sinners, their eyes are open. They have knowledge of good and evil. And as a result, they learn something quickly that they had never considered before.

[6:08] They're naked and now they need to cover up. And only a sinner, only a guilty sinner needs to cover up and needs to disguise themselves. You realize that this man and wife, they've been naked every moment of their lives.

[6:21] There's never been a day they had clothing or a covering on their bodies. That's the way God made them and put them loose in that garden. Look back at chapter number two and the end of the chapter, last verse, verse 25.

[6:36] It says they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. That's hard for us to really process.

[6:47] And the only thing we can look at is children at the youngest age before they really have knowledge. And they get out of the bath and they just run buck naked through the house. And they don't care. They don't care.

[6:58] They'll run outside. They'll not be hiding behind bushes. Because that thing is not switched on in their minds yet. And that's the man and the wife. There they are, not ashamed, as naked as a jaybird.

[7:12] And we just can't really understand it. You've all had the dream, haven't you, where you're in public and you're hiding behind everything. I've had it I don't know how many times.

[7:23] I don't know why. That one just keeps catching me. Every so often I'm sitting in a pew or in a place or like they don't realize I'm naked. But I'm trying to hide behind everything to get away and to find clothing.

[7:35] And eventually it's just a weird, weird feeling. But they didn't have that feeling until they ate that fruit. And all of a sudden, and they're covering.

[7:47] And that feeling came over them. Naked up to this point. Unashamed up to this point. No need for a covering. No knowledge of such a thing.

[8:00] And in that paradise that they were planted in, they enjoyed the liberty that God gave them without any consequences. They had not a care in the world. And they had nothing to be ashamed of.

[8:11] The man and his wife. That is, until their eyes were opened. And the first time they realized they didn't have a covering. They now notice that the sheep are coated.

[8:21] They're covered with wool. They notice that the foxes run around with fur from head to tail. They see the fowls of the air are covered with feathers. Beautiful feathers.

[8:32] They're covered. They see the trees. They're covered with leaves. And yet the man and his wife are as naked as can be. And they have to do something about it. Upon receiving the knowledge of their nakedness, the first act as a sinner was to cover up.

[8:49] The very first thing they did was cover. They sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons. Understand this and make some application.

[9:01] It's the guilty man and the guilty woman or the guilty teenager or child. It's the guilty that tries to cover up their guilt. It's not the innocent. The guilty covers what he looks at on his phone.

[9:15] The guilty covers what he looks at and is watching and listening to on his tablet or his computer. The guilty deletes their search history. The guilty sits in a position so that nobody around can view what they're looking at.

[9:30] They turn themselves facing everyone just to keep their guilt from being disclosed. The guilty has to hide receipts. The guilty has to burn documents.

[9:42] The guilty has to eliminate paper trails. The guilty has to delete text messages or pictures. The guilty has to change clothing from place to place or cover up whatever it was they were involved in.

[9:56] Because they're guilty. But the innocent, they have nothing to hide. They don't have to think about it. They don't have to worry about it. Because they're innocent.

[10:07] In Genesis 31, you may remember when Jacob was working for Laban all those years and for his daughter Rachel. But he got Leah and then he served another seven and got Rachel.

[10:17] And eventually, the Lord leads him and he takes off. He gets away from Laban. And Laban pursues after him and he says, Why are you running from me? Why did you take my children and my grandchildren and you've taken my possessions and you're trying to steal away from me?

[10:33] And he says, You've also took my gods. And Jacob says, What are you talking about? I didn't take anything that belongs to you. Everything I have is mine. I served you for your daughters.

[10:45] The children are mine. The sheep, we've made a deal on that. You've deceived me ten times. But I didn't take anything of yours. And if you want your god, you find whoever took your gods.

[10:56] If you think they're here, whoever it is, you can kill them. Their life can be taken. You know who talks like that? An innocent man talks like that. He had no knowledge that Rachel had stolen the gods and she had them tucked away.

[11:09] But an innocent man has nothing to hide. Nothing to cover up. Why are you so transparent, Jacob? Because in this case, for the first time in maybe your life, you're innocent. And you know it. And he's offering someone's life.

[11:22] Yet that guy, the hypocrite that he is, years back was a deceiver and a liar to his own father. But an innocent man has nothing to hide. It's the guilty. And the truth is there in your life just the same.

[11:34] When you're not being completely transparent. And when you're not being completely open with everyone about the situation that's at hand or that's being questioned. You disclose just portions of the truth.

[11:48] The ones that don't get you in trouble. But hide the ones that you feel. Whether it's your taxes or your time card or your mobile device or whatever the thing is.

[12:00] The guilty is the one that needs the covering. Only a sinner needs to cover up. And only a sinner needs to disguise themselves of what they truly are. Secondly, we see in verse number 7 that it takes real effort to cover up.

[12:16] In that verse it says they knew they were naked. They sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons. Now, of all the options, I really can't place myself in their shoes, in their garden experience.

[12:29] I can't really truly realize what they did and came up with. But I would really assume the garden had an awful lot to offer them.

[12:40] And when they're coming up with, we need to make a covering. I don't think it was like the first thing they thought of or saw. Again, they're very intelligent beings that God created.

[12:53] They chose to sew fig leaves together. Now, I realize they never made clothing before. I realize this was their very first attempt at doing such a thing. A very first attempt for mankind, period, to cover himself.

[13:06] Eve never took home ec class. She never sat around with her mother or grandmother sewing. That wasn't a thing. It was totally foreign, this thought.

[13:17] This was brand new. But they chose to sew individual leaves together. And as you've got to think about it, that's got to take some effort. That's got to be a lot of work.

[13:28] It's not the kind of work that God ever gave them to do in the garden. Take a look back at chapter number one and just get a little glimpse at what God did tell them to do.

[13:38] Genesis 1 and we'll look at verse number 28. The Bible says, So God gave them a command, a duty, to replenish the earth and subdue it.

[14:07] To start a family, to have children, raise children. That's a lot of work. He gave them that command. Look at chapter 2 and look at verse 15. Chapter 2, verse 15.

[14:22] And the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. Now you can just fly right past that and not think anything of it.

[14:33] But there was so much, I believe, that they not necessarily had to do, but that they could do with what God had planted and presented to them in that garden.

[14:46] Of all of the trees and plants, of the vegetables, of the fruits, of all the grains, the beans, the things that were there and available to them that they could be creative with.

[14:56] Think of the things that mankind has figured out and come up with to use food for. I don't think they just walk when they wake up in the morning and go grab something off a tree and eat it.

[15:08] That might be the way you see it in the cartoons or pictured. But surely the man and his wife had all of this at their disposal and were intelligently created. They didn't have to learn how to talk and get syllables to form.

[15:23] They were created with that. Wide open knowledge, intelligence. Right after this, there's musical instruments being designed in chapter 4 and established.

[15:35] I mean, they had the knowledge to do things. They were very, very much able and capable. I don't know that there was any limit to what they could have come up with in that setting, especially in that setting of the Garden of Eden with the way God has made the thing originally for them to enjoy.

[15:55] They were very intelligent. They were very capable. And there's no mention of manufacturing aprons. There's no need for such a thing. They had plenty of else to do and to conceive and to come up with and to put themselves toward.

[16:13] Manufacturing clothing was never on the list. It was never an intention for man and his wife. It takes real effort, though, to cover up. Now they're neglecting what they could have or should have been doing to focus on something else that was never even in God's mind for them.

[16:28] Consider something else. Their labor is not going to last long at all. Think about leaves. Is that really a good choice, leaves? Once you pluck them from the tree, what do leaves do?

[16:39] How long do they last? They dry. They harden. They wither. They shrink. They crumble. How long is this apron going to last? How long are you going to be able to wear an apron of fig leaves?

[16:53] The whole thing is going to fall apart rather quickly. And it's not a long-term solution. They're going to have to do it again. And they're going to have to do it again. And now this is going to be a part of their life to keep themselves covered.

[17:06] It's going to take work to keep covered up. And it's going to take more work than they ever realized. And just the same for you, sinner. It takes work to cover up your sins.

[17:18] It takes work to keep track of your sins and cover the trail of your sins and hide your guilt. Look with me at Joshua chapter 7. Take a quick peek at just a few little examples here in the Bible.

[17:31] Joshua chapter 7. I'm in Judges. In Joshua 7, remember the sin of Achan?

[17:45] Remember how they conquered Jericho? And I want to back up into chapter 6 first. I want to show you this. In chapter 6, they were given commands, specific instructions about what to do when they went into Jericho.

[17:58] The walls came a-tumbling down and the soldiers, the men went in. And Joshua said in verse number 18 to them, And ye in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing.

[18:10] Now what do you think that is? Keep reading. Lest ye make yourselves accursed when you take of the accursed thing and make the camp of Israel a curse and tremble it. But of all the silver and gold and vessels of brass and iron are consecrated unto the Lord.

[18:25] They shall come into the treasury of the Lord. And so the people understood that. And they did that. Verse 24 says, They burnt the city with fire and all that was therein. Only the silver and the gold and the vessels of brass and of iron they put into the treasury of the house of the Lord.

[18:38] So you understand what was commanded, what they did. But one guy, verse number 1 of the next chapter, But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing for Achan, the son of Carmide, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing.

[18:57] So what did he do? Alright, come back later in this chapter, a little bit lower here. Verse 11. Verse 11, the Lord's identifying what took place.

[19:07] In verse 11 to Joshua, Now as it comes down, we'll go all the way down to verse 20 to where Achan gets confronted.

[19:28] Achan answered Joshua and said, Indeed, I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done. When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them and took them.

[19:46] And behold, they're hidden in the earth, and amidst them a tent and silver under it. Now, the point here is that it takes real effort to cover up. And in this man's case, he saw, he saw among the spoils, this Babylonish garment that he coveted.

[20:03] And he saw two hundred shekels of silver and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight. And he coveted them. And in the moment that he laid his eyes on them, now he has to come up with a plan.

[20:13] How am I going to get them back to where I can hide them? The Lord said he dissembled also. It means he's concealing, he's hiding, he's feigning something to be true that's not true.

[20:27] In my imagination, I just see him taking these items and putting them inside a box that was labeled rations for the soldiers or some, you know, this is my shield and my, you know, my gear that I carry to battle.

[20:41] The battle, like, as if he's just, you know, saying, hi, brother, hi, brother, hi, brother, hiding inside of this. Or however he got it from one place to the other. I don't know that he could have stuffed it inside of his own coat or cloak or what he carried.

[20:54] At any way, at any rate, he stole. And he dissembled also. So when he gets to his place, now he's digging a ditch and hiding it in the earth.

[21:05] And what good is a garment? And what good is silver and gold underneath, hidden in the dirt? Now what I see in this passage, something I never really noticed before, when God said in verse 11, he says that they have even taken of the accursed thing, one, and have also stolen, two.

[21:24] And when I studied that out, I realized they were allowed to take the silver, gold, and those things, but that belonged to God. That was put in the treasury house of God. And what he did was stole from God that silver and gold.

[21:38] But the garment, they weren't supposed to touch what's called the accursed thing. The gold and silver wasn't accursed, but it was that Babylonish garment he wasn't supposed to put his hands on.

[21:49] And he took of the accursed thing, and he hid it amongst his stuff. And there he is with a garment, wants to look like a Babylonian, does he? Doesn't want to look like a Jew anymore, huh?

[22:02] Got his eyes on something, and he coveted that thing. That just speaks of the Christians loving and wanting to look like the world, and speak like the world, and feign themselves to be like the world, and conceal that they're really born again, child of God, and afraid to show it.

[22:19] But it takes work to cover up. It takes work to live in the world, and to talk like them, and to be like them, and then to come to church, and put on the other face, and put on the nice clothes, and say, God bless you, brother.

[22:32] Good morning. Praise the Lord. Oh, I'm thankful to be saved. And then to go back to work, and to start cussing again, and talking about the filth, and the things you watched on TV, and just play the fence, and back and forth.

[22:44] It takes work. Covering up there who you are, and then covering up here who you've been. And God never, ever intended you to be covering yourself like that.

[22:56] He said in 1 John 3, Now are we the sons of God. Right now. That's who you're supposed to live like. That's who you're supposed to show to the world. Yet these decided to cover themselves.

[23:10] Joshua saw he coveted. He came up with a plan he took. He hid it, and there's a curse thing now, as you see, and he's just aching. You're not supposed to look like the world, and dress like the world.

[23:20] Look at Joshua chapter 9, and here's some men of Gibeon, that go through some real work to disguise themselves. When Joshua comes into the land, and he's supposed to just subdue the land, and he's supposed to fight, and devour all of the inhabitants of the land.

[23:37] And the men of Midian, and Judges again, man, Joshua chapter 9, the men of Gibeon, verse number 4 says, They did work wily.

[23:52] Isn't that a good word? Like in your Bible, Peter warns you about the wiles of the devil. They did work wily, and went and made as if they had been ambassadors, and took old sacks upon their asses, and wine bottles, old and rent and bound up, and old shoes and clotted upon their feet, and old garments.

[24:10] There's garments again mentioned, upon them, and all the bread, their provision was dry and moldy. And so they show up, and they say, yeah, we came from so far away, and here's the proof. Look at our shoes, look at our clothes, look at our food, our bottles and our bread.

[24:24] It's just, it's obvious. And we took it hot, and we, this was all brand new stuff, and, and in verse 14, they didn't ask counsel of the Lord. And Joshua makes peace with them, and he messes up, and this thing goes on.

[24:39] Later in verse 22, Joshua calls them out for beguiling them. It's another word, sounds like the devil's work, beguiling. Now these guys went through some great lengths, to deceive Joshua, and notice and remember, they couldn't show up, without a disguise on, or Joshua and the men, would have seen right through them.

[25:01] They had to show up, with a disguise on. They had to cover up. They had to feign themselves, to be something they weren't. Come over to another place, look at 2nd Kings chapter 5.

[25:13] Here's another man, has got to go through some work, to cover up, what he's done. 2nd Kings 5, is where Naaman, is a leper.

[25:26] And he comes to Elisha the prophet, to be healed, to be recovered of his leprosy. And Elisha refuses, to take anything of the man, he wants to offer him a gift, after he's healed. And he says, I will not tell you, he urged him, but he refused.

[25:40] And so when the man departs, in verse number 20, there's Elisha's servant, Gehazi, and he says, I can't let this money, slip through my fingers.

[25:51] I can't let this, this wealth of the world go. We have an opportunity, to get some real riches here, and to get, to move up in the world. And so we, verse 20 says, but Gehazi the servant of Elisha, the man of God, said, behold my master, hath spared Naaman the Syrian, and not receiving at his hands, that which he brought.

[26:09] But as the Lord liveth, I will run after him, and take somewhat of him. You know why he had to run? Because he had to do it quick. He's got to cover it up. He's got to hide what he's doing.

[26:19] He's got to pretend he didn't go anywhere. So he runs after him, and he, in verse 21, Gehazi followed after Naaman. When Naaman saw him running after him, he lighted down from the chariot to meet him, said, it's all well.

[26:31] And so then he fabricates this story, that two young men of the prophets came, and my servant, or my master, asked me to come and get some stuff for them. Not for us. No, not for us. But for these two young sons of the prophets.

[26:43] So he fabricates this story, and he takes some things from him. In verse 24, when he came to the tower, he took them from their hand, and bestowed them in the house.

[26:54] And he let the men go, and they departed. And he went in and stood before his master. And Elisha said unto him, whence comest thou Gehazi? And he said, thy servant went no whither? What are you talking about?

[27:04] I've been here the whole time. Oh, he knows better. Went not mine heart with thee, when the man turned again from his chariot to meet thee.

[27:16] And you know the story there, you understand. But notice the covering. Notice the work it took for him to run, to fabricate a story, to put it in the house, to come and lie to his master's face.

[27:30] This was some real work. You know what he had to do? He had to leave his master to go handle this kind of business that he lusted after, Christian. And then he had to cover it up.

[27:42] Just like you have to leave your master and leave fellowship with Christ to go do some things that you don't want anybody to know you're doing, but you just want to do them. You want to get involved, but you've got to walk away from him and then come back and pretend, I didn't do anything wrong.

[27:57] You'll not get over that with God, but you're going to have to cover and hide your shame and your guilt. Now come back to Genesis chapter 3. We see that it's only the guilty sinner that has to have a covering.

[28:10] We see that it takes real effort to cover up and one lie leads to another lie and then there's hiding and covering that and now you've got more people involved that you have to deceive and you can't disclose the truth to and it just goes on and on.

[28:23] It takes real effort to cover your tracks and to live that life. But I want to show you finally that the sinner's covering is never as sufficient.

[28:35] It's never enough. In verse number 7, it says, they knew they were naked, they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons. Now I've already mentioned that this is insufficient and that it's temporal, it's not going to last very long.

[28:48] But aprons as we know them, they only cover the front. They're not a garment. They're not a coat. It's an apron. It's not, the backside is completely open and still naked and exposed.

[29:05] And that's embarrassing when you're naked and only have an apron. If you think it's not, walk around with an apron for a day. See how embarrassing it is.

[29:16] Walk into Starbucks with an apron on. You'll be walking against the wall. You don't want to be exposed. You don't want to be seen.

[29:28] And the sinner's covering, this apron, it's not sufficient. It's not enough. This apron's just a skimpy, quick fix. But it's not much of a covering. In verse number 10, Adam still considered himself to be naked.

[29:43] He said, I heard thy voice in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked. This apron was a covering but it was not clothing. And there's a big, big difference.

[29:54] This is fig leaves. It's not clothing. Look at the end of the chapter in verse 21. Later on, God clothed the man and his wife.

[30:06] In verse 21, There's a difference between a covering and clothing.

[30:18] And Adam and Eve knew the difference. Their covering was insufficient. It wasn't enough. And now God makes a covering that'll last. And the difference is, his covering covers everything that needs to be covered.

[30:30] And now there's no more shame. But what they came up with was completely insufficient. Consider this today. Consider this in your own life, your heart. Some people try to cover their sins with good works.

[30:46] And what they're doing is camouflaging their sinfulness. They're trying to disguise themselves as being a good person. I'm a good person.

[30:56] Look what I've done. Look what I've given. Look at the foundation I've created. It's named after me. And look, think of the stars, how they all put this out there and pose themselves to be something that they're not.

[31:11] They're disguising themselves with a covering. But it's insufficient. It's not enough. They have horrible thoughts. They've done horrible things.

[31:22] Yet they try to camouflage their dirty hearts with some good deeds for people to think goodly of them. Some people do the same thing with their words. They say nice things, but they're trying to say those to cover up their spite, their jealousy, their hatred.

[31:40] Some people are full of compliments. Like, oh, those are really pretty shoes. I hope you trip and fall in them. Oh, that's a pretty dress. It's too tight, though. What you really think, you just cover up with a compliment.

[31:52] Oh, hi, how are you doing today? And the truth is, underneath there's spite and there's bitterness. And what are you doing with the kind words you're just putting up a fake cover?

[32:03] You're just disguising who you really are and what you really think? There's worse than that. Come to, I'm going to show you a few references here. Come to Matthew chapter 23. Matthew 23, this is where the Lord Jesus Christ gives it to the Pharisees and calls out their hypocrisy.

[32:22] He calls them a bunch of pretenders with their long prayers. He chews them out for their actions and their long robes.

[32:40] Come to verse number 27. And look how they have a covering, but it's not sufficient.

[32:51] Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye are like unto whited sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within, full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.

[33:05] Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. These religious hypocrites sure had a good showing on the outside, had a good covering that deceived many.

[33:20] It disguised who they were on the inside. Look at Romans chapter 16. Romans 16. And here's some similar guys in Paul's day that he warned the church about.

[33:37] And he warned what they were using as a disguise and as a covering. Romans chapter 16.

[33:48] Romans chapter 16. And look at verse 17 and 18. Paul says, Now I beseech you brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned and avoid them.

[34:03] For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly. And by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.

[34:14] They've got false doctrine. And their true motive is to deceive somebody. And what are they doing? They're using good words and fair speeches.

[34:26] And they're all over TV and writing all kinds of books. And they've got followings. But they're deceiving the hearts of who? The simple. Somebody who's not studied.

[34:38] Somebody who's not grown in spiritual understanding in the words of God. They're teaching things, causing divisions contrary to the doctrine that ye have learned.

[34:48] The doctrine Paul taught them in the word of God. The doctrine that he told Timothy to give heed to. The doctrine Timothy. Because some are going to come along with some pretty slick words and a great appearance and great ability.

[35:02] Fair speeches. And they're going to cover up with a cloak. They're going to cover up with fig leaves and smooth words who they really are. I'll take you to one more passage and we'll be done.

[35:15] Hebrews chapter 12. I'm sorry. Hebrews chapter 4. And so by the covering of good words and even good works, some try to deceive and camouflage and disguise who they are.

[35:32] But it's never enough to hide the truth. The Bible says we can do nothing against the truth. And the truth will be exposed in one way or another. And if you want the truth to be exposed, here's how to get the truth and never miss it.

[35:46] You won't be disguised or deceived by someone disguised. Hebrews chapter 4 verses 12 and 13. The Bible says for the word of God is quick. That means it's alive and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

[36:15] Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight, but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. In plainer words, Christian, the word of God has everybody's number.

[36:31] It knows you, it knows them inside and out. The book will tell the truth every time. There is nothing that you can do against the truth.

[36:43] That's why you won't read it. That's why you won't study it because it will absolutely reveal to you who you are, the hypocrite that you are, the sinner that you are, the luster that you are, the deceiver that you are, and it will show you the coverings that you've been putting on and the disguises and it will say deal with it, get it right, confess it, it's wrong and people are afraid of the book because everything is naked in front of the book.

[37:15] The book is a light. It's a powerful, powerful light that can pierce right through anything you put up in front of it. Naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

[37:29] The Bible says be sure your sin will find you out. Covering your sin, camouflaging and disguising with good works and good words, it's just insufficient.

[37:41] It will never do the job. And so in conclusion, church, this camouflage covering that they sew together and put on and cover themselves, it displays to us that guilty sinners are the ones that seek to cover themselves, to disguise themselves from being seen of what they truly are on the inside.

[38:04] And use of a covering is only used to deceive somebody. Sometimes the covering is lies. Sometimes the covering you put on is stories and secrets and other times it's just fake words and false impressions.

[38:20] and I think inside of me and inside of every one of us is a hypocrite that wants to hide, wants to be covered and concealed and not show who you are.

[38:31] You know why? Because it's embarrassing for people to know what you really think and what you're really doing. It's embarrassing. You don't want to be uncovered. As soon as you know you're guilty, you want to cover it up and hide it.

[38:46] And so we hide and we camouflage and we deceive and the whole time understand, don't forget it, you're guilty. And that's why you're doing it. Have you made any aprons lately?

[39:00] Been working at sewing, have you? Have you been making an apron just one word at a time? Just putting one more word and one more deed and just working those together to cover up, to hide behind?

[39:17] That's not a job that God ever gave you to do. If you're a faker, if you're hiding something, if you're making an apron to conceal your shame, the best thing you can do is just get honest with God.

[39:33] It's not as hard as you think. Getting honest with people might be hard, but getting honest with God is easy. It's real easy. It's just get on your face and just open up and just take the coverings off because he knows.

[39:50] He's seen it the whole time. Declare the truth. If you're afraid of something, tell him you're afraid. If you're guilty of something, if you're weak, tell him you're weak. Tell him you can't do it.

[40:03] I know I'm supposed to do it, but I can't do it. Admit it. Quit covering up. Quit pretending around here you're bigger than you are. You're more spiritual than you are.

[40:13] You might fool me or somebody else, but you're not fooling God. You want to fool me? Good for you. You want me to think you're something good?

[40:25] What a stupid goal. You're not fooling God and you're going to stand in front of him. Oh boy. And guess who's going to see it? The rest of us.

[40:38] It'll all come out. How much better is it to get things right now? Stop pretending to be something you're not. Stop trying to disguise the truth. If you're not saved, quit pretending you're born again.

[40:50] You'll go to hell while the rest of us are in heaven with Jesus Christ. It's not worth playing that game. If you've got sin in your life and sin in your home and sin in your flesh and lust that you're fulfilling, wake up.

[41:05] Quit playing this game. This Christian life is real. You can have victory over that stuff if you want it. Quit pretending that you're letting your family think you're more spiritual or pretending that you pray or pretending that you read your Bible when you don't.

[41:19] Quit covering yourself. If you've got things you're looking at, things you've been doing, people you've been talking to, things that plans that you're working out, you better check yourself. Find out if you're just not trying to sew some fig leaves together when you come around God's people.

[41:34] I'd take that thing off and get honest before God because he knows the whole thing. And so there in chapter 3 again we took another step there in verse number 7 and saw the camouflage covering.

[41:48] And it's something to take serious that it's Christians too that are sinful that want to cover up their deeds and cover up their feelings and their mouth and their thoughts with some fake words and some little chatter.

[41:59] It's easy to do it once you get programmed to do it to be something that you're not. And God help us to be honest and to be honest one with another and to be right before God and if I can encourage you with anything is just get the sin out while you can.

[42:16] While the Lord brings it to mind get it out repent of it and quit having to hide things and quit having to cover things and worry about if somebody finds out what they'll think about you. Just get it right and then go through life with a clear conscience.

[42:30] Let's pray. Father I pray that we wouldn't be like Adam and Eve Lord that we'd see ourselves and understand the coverings that we've been building and making and causing deceit and camouflage in our own lives.

[42:49] It's in our flesh to be a hypocrite. It's in our flesh to try to preserve ourselves and our image and our reputations and the whole time we might just be as guilty as hell.

[43:02] So God give us grace. I pray you'll give courage to some that need to confess some things or get some things right in their relationships. I pray that we could be a clean people sanctified and set apart and living lives victorious with the joy of the Lord and experiencing a clean and clear walk with you.

[43:23] Father we pray that we'll learn from this and we'll learn from what these two did as soon as they knew they were guilty and Lord help us not to be guilty of it ourselves. we're going to have a hymn and invitation for a minute but I'll give you a chance here to consider some things in your life and to think have I been sewing some aprons together?

[43:44] Have I been hiding some things from people? I'm hiding from my parents. Am I hiding from the pastor? Am I hiding from my boss? Who am I hiding things from? What are you guilty of this morning?

[43:57] I think it would be a good idea to get it right. It's easy. Get on your face and get it right. God's not going to hold it against you and he'll forgive you.

[44:11] He'll receive you back into fellowship. He wants that. So give God what he wants this morning and clear your conscience and clear the slate.

[44:23] don't carry guilt around. Don't leave church guilty. Give you some time in the pew as she plays to consider these things if you need to pray.

[44:38] Spend some time in prayer. Bye.

[44:55] Bye. Thank you.