Transcription downloaded from https://yetanothersermon.host/_/callanish/sermons/14267/an-apron-of-fig-leaves/. Disclaimer: this is an automatically generated machine transcription - there may be small errors or mistranscriptions. Please refer to the original audio if you are in any doubt. [0:00] Welcome to your service this morning. I hope that new time will meet the needs of those who are looking for it. [0:14] I pray God would bless us together around his word. We're going to begin the singing of Psalm 85. Psalm 85 O Lord, thou hast been favourable to thy beloved land. Jacob's captivity thou hast recalled with mighty hand. [0:37] Thou pardoned thy people hast all their iniquities, thou all their trespasses and sins, hast covered from thine eyes. Thou took'st off all thy ire, and turn'st from thy wrath's furiousness. Turn us, God, of our health, and cause thy wrath against us to cease. [0:59] Shall thy displeasure thus endure against us without end? Will thou to generations all thine anger forth extend? That in thee may thy people join. For thou not us revive? Show us thy mercy, Lord. To us do thy salvation give. [1:17] I'll hear what God the Lord will speak. To his folk he'll speak peace. To the saints, let them not return to foolishness. So on. We can sing these verses of Psalm 85 from the beginning. [1:34] O Lord, thou hast been favourable to thy beloved land. O Lord, thou hast been favourable to thy beloved land. O Lord, thou hast been favourable to thy beloved land. [1:57] O Lord, thou hast been favourable to thy beloved land. [2:27] O Lord, thou hast been favourable to thy beloved land. [2:57] O Lord, thou hast been favourable to thy beloved land. [3:27] Circumm schö Sen. The assurance in this heaven,Inst all thy beloved land. O Lord, thou hast been Neo. A Searchếnashin' without me loomns unto you against us with us, with our hand. [3:38] O Lord, thou hast been battle to heart whopping us, by nothing Gigги, pursesol, o図 of Jahre! O Lord, thou hast been arrangement toishna from prayer a excellence. I must still entertain our actions, by nothingATORS all in this heaven. [3:49] O Lord, O Lord, personnel of Jahre malade, to the been 꽃 na Masters oft an end. On my life and Thunder amidst treatment for heaven, O Lord, tú阿yana be told her feet in December 285 of TT Às tzt. For heaven. That I in thee will give a joy. [4:09] Without us divine. Show us nothing else in our time. [4:26] Till the light is on this earth again. I hear what the Lord will speak. [4:43] To his hope he will speak. And to his sins. [4:56] The risen Lord. Return to the holy shepherds. [5:10] Let us join together in prayer. Let us pray. O Lord God in heaven. We bless your name. That we can praise you. [5:23] And that you have given to us words. That redound to your glory. Words that are suitable to our needs. For some of those who are met here. [5:37] For some of those who are met here. Are desirous of having their mouth filled from on high. With words that are suitable to the expression of the glory that they would wish to acknowledge that belongs to you. [5:58] Words that echo. Words that echo sentiments. That are not just the fruit of contemplations that are entirely earthbound. [6:09] But contemplations that are stimulated by heaven itself. And those in it. Who are engaged in the worship of the most high God. [6:24] Help us to draw near to you. Seeking that we would join with them in our praises. And bless your name for the high and exalted place that belongs to you and you alone. [6:41] As the God of all. We give thanks that your word teaches us. That there are those who are present before the throne of God. [6:55] Physically present. As the spirits that are angels. And that are judgments. That are seraphims. [7:06] That are even those that are more exhorted. Such as archangels. Like Gabriel is described. [7:21] And in their presence there are the spirits of the saints. Made perfect. Who are able to join with them in the courts of glory. [7:34] And we give thanks that this is what your word encourages us to believe. That those who are the saints of God here in the world. [7:47] For however long you choose to grace this world with their presence. And it is a measure of your long suffering that you are willing to leave such. [7:59] To act as salt and light in a fallen world. But their time will come to an end here in this world. [8:11] And this is what awaits them. In the glory into which they are waiting to be ushered. We give thanks for the gospel that encourages others. [8:24] To come. To experience their knowledge of Christ. Which ensures that this is what will await them. But until such time as they believe the gospel. [8:38] And embrace Jesus Christ in it. They will remain out of Christ. And those who are without Christ. They are without hope. [8:49] In the world we are told. We pray for that exalted knowledge of God. That your word brings to us. [9:00] That we may bring our heart and mind to bear upon it. With desire to seek the help of your spirit. That what is before us. [9:12] May be something that we believe with all our heart. Remember each gathering of your people today. Such as this one. The numbers may vary from place to place. [9:25] From congregation to congregation. But those who are truly met in your name. With the desire to glorify your name through Christ. Are assured of your presence. [9:38] And encouraged to believe that you are able to. Bless what is done in your name in our midst. And wherever your people have found. That is true for each. [9:50] We pray for the church worldwide. We pray for all the activities of the church. Those who seek to bring the gospel before young minds. [10:01] We pray that you would encourage them in their labors. That they would know. Just as surely as all engaged in such. That their labors are not in vain in the Lord. [10:12] Remember the missionaries of the cross. Those who are placed in different places throughout the world. Seeking to bring the word of God. [10:24] To those who need to hear us. We must. That God alone saves. We pray for those who are believers. [10:35] In these different parts of the world. That there is open hostility to Christ. And those who are believers in his name. There is a rampant persecution. [10:47] There is in a measure in our own country. Even though there are seemingly zealous endeavors. [10:59] To ensure that there is an across the board equality. And ensuring that the minorities will not suffer. And yet when it comes to those who speak the truth in Christ. [11:13] They are vilified. They are vilified. And they are often treated as if their word is in some way unholy and impure. [11:26] Whereas the truth is that it is the very word of the most high God. When it is on their lips. That it is pure. And that it is holy. We pray Lord that you would remember our own congregation here. [11:41] That you would bless all its activities. Remembering as at this time when you have made bridges within the community. And taking some from our midst that were well known. [11:56] And their homes part and partial of the fabric of the community. Those who grew up within its boundaries. [12:06] Those whose families still form part of this small group of people. And who inevitably feel keenly when these bridges occur. [12:22] Once again you are speaking to us even at this time. Reminding us that this is but a place of sojourn. We are all but pilgrims. [12:34] It is good for those who in their pilgrimage. Come to know Christ as Lord and Saviour. It is an opportunity to each of us to remember that. [12:47] Whatever we strive for or seek in this world. That this should be a priority for all of us. So bless the grieving and the sorrowful. Heal their hurts. [12:58] Bind their wounds. Minister to those who cry out of their darkness. To the light that is in the divine. And we pray Lord that you would encourage one and all to seek that. [13:14] We remember in your presence. Those who are unwell amongst us. Those who are undergoing care of different descriptions. [13:24] Some who are terminally ill. Some confined to their homes. Some in the hospice. Some in hospital. Some in the frailty of old age. [13:35] We do not know what they are. We do not know what they are. They are our will bring. But we can trust each and every moment of our life. To God who doeth all things well. [13:46] So we pray for our congregation. For our community. For our community. For every home and family. Even those who neglect to think of their own spiritual need. [13:58] May we pray for them. And ask Lord that you would do for us what no other can. Continue to bless us as an island. And as a nation. [14:10] Remembering those who govern us. Be it within Westminster. Or in Hollywood. Or at the Corle. Here. Those who have responsibility for delivering. [14:25] The care of the communities that they serve. May they do so. With an eye not just to what man believes. Or man encourages. But what God has given to us. [14:38] To enact in our lives. So bless us. As we continue to wait upon you. And cleanse him from sin. In Jesus name. Amen. [14:54] We're going to hear God's word. As we have it in the book of Genesis. Genesis chapter 3. I'm going to read the whole of the chapter. [15:06] Genesis chapter 3. Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God hath made. And he said unto the woman. [15:18] And he said unto the woman. Yea, hath God said. Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden. And the woman said unto the serpent. We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden. [15:31] But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden. God hath said. Ye shall not eat of it. Neither shall ye touch it. Lest ye die. [15:41] And the serpent said unto the woman. He shall not surely die. For God doth know that in the day he eat thereof. Then your eyes shall be opened. And ye shall be as gods. [15:53] Knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food. And that it was pleasant to the eyes. And a tree to be desired to make one wise. [16:03] She took of the fruit thereof. And redeemed. And gave also unto her husband with her. And teeth and deed. And the eyes of them both were opened. And they knew that they were naked. [16:15] And they sewed fig leaves together. And made themselves aprons. And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden. In the cool of the day. [16:27] And Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God. Amongst the trees of the garden. And the Lord God called unto Adam. [16:38] And said unto him. Where art thou? And he said. I heard thy voice in the garden. And I was afraid. Because I was naked. And I hid myself. [16:49] And he said. Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree? Whereof I commanded thee. That thou shouldest not eat. And the man said. [17:00] The woman whom thou gavest to be with me. She gave me. Of the tree. And I did eat. And the Lord God said unto the woman. What is this that thou hast done? [17:12] And the woman said. The serpent beguiled me. And I did eat. And the Lord God said unto the serpent. Because thou hast done this. Thou art cursed above all cattle. And above every beast of the field. [17:25] Upon thy belly shalt thou go. And thus shalt thou eat all the days of thy life. And I will put enmity between thee and the woman. And between thy seed and her seed. [17:36] It shall bruise thy head. And thou shalt bruise his heel. And to the woman he said. I will greatly multiply thy sorrow. And thy conception. [17:48] In sorrow thou shalt bring forth children. And thy desire shall be to thy husband. And he shall rule over thee. And to Adam he said. [17:58] Because thou hast hearkened into the voice of thy wife. And hast eaten of the tree. Of which I commanded thee. Saying thou shalt not eat of it. Cursed is the ground for thy sake. [18:09] In sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life. Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee. And thou shalt eat the heck of the field. [18:21] In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread. Till thou return into the ground. For out of it was thou taken. For dust thou art. And unto dust shalt thou return. [18:33] And Adam called his wife's name Eve. Because she was the mother of all living. And to Adam also and to his wife. Did the Lord God make coats of skins. [18:44] And clothed them. And the Lord said. Behold the man has become as one of us. To know good and evil. And now lest he put forth his hand. [18:55] And take also of the tree of life. And eat and live forever. Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden. To fill the ground from whence he was taken. [19:06] So he drove out the man. And he placed at the east of the garden of Eden cherubims. And a flaming sword which turned every way to keep the way of the tree of life. [19:23] Amen. And may the Lord have his blessing to a reading of his word and to his name be the praise. Now before we sing your next psalm. [19:34] Just a word to the boys and girls. Before you go out to Sunday school this morning. I'm sure you know that the Lord Jesus taught many people in the world. [19:50] When he lived with us in the world. And usually the way he taught was by way of parable. He used parables. [20:01] Parables are stories which have a basis in the experiences of the world. The truth is that anybody who heard a story told by Jesus that was a parable. [20:17] They all knew what the story was. Because every one of them understood the meaning of the story at one level. But in another way they wondered why Jesus was telling that story. [20:34] And very often he said well what has that story got to do with me? What is he wanting? Why is he telling me this? And very often the reason they didn't. They said they didn't understand the story. [20:47] The truth was they understood the story. But they didn't understand why Jesus was telling the story to them at that time. They didn't like what they understood was behind the story. [21:05] That's what I'm trying to say. Many of the stories that people said they didn't understand. The truth was they understood the story perfectly well. They understood the message of the story perfectly well. [21:19] But they didn't like it because at the heart of what was being said Jesus was telling them something that they didn't want to hear. That's important. [21:31] I think very often Jesus has something to say to us. And we say we don't understand it. But the truth is we understand perfectly well what he's saying. [21:45] But we just don't like what he's saying to us. I think the children today are going to be talking, some of them anyway, or not all of them, are going to be talking about the message that Jesus has about building your house on the rock. [22:01] And if I were to tell that story today, I'm sure you'd all understand what I was saying to you. How many of you are builders? [22:13] I don't think many of you are. But you all understand how important it is when it comes to build a house. You want it to be, first of all, I suppose, wind and water tight. [22:24] You want to be able to take shelter in it. But you also understand that wherever you build it, if it's not built on solid foundations, that house is going to fall. [22:38] If you build it on the sand, Jesus says it's going to fall. So Jesus wanted the people he was telling the story to, to make sure that what they were building was going to last. [22:52] What did he mean by that? Well, he wants us when we build. We're not just talking about our homes. We understand the importance of having nice, warm, secure homes. [23:05] But when we're building for eternity, when we're building beyond this life, when we're building something that we want to last. And we read in the chapter here today something that tells us that we're not going to last. [23:24] The Bible tells us here that we came from the dust and we're going back to the dust. Now that means that we're not, this building of ours, which the Apostle Paul describes as this body, it's not going to last. [23:42] It's going to fall down. It's going to return to dust. So if that's the case, you want to be sure that what you're building for is something that the eye can't see, but that the Bible, Jesus teaches, is important. [23:58] That is something that will last for not just time, but for eternity. I hope you'll be able to see what Jesus is teaching through his parables. [24:10] And ask yourself the question, when you hear a parable, when you read a parable, what is he telling me about myself? What does he want me to do for myself? And very often he's telling us to look to him, to ask him, to help us understand what he has to say to us. [24:31] And I hope you'll do that. We're going to sing, as we go out to the Sunday school, from Psalm 119. We're singing from verse 25. [24:43] Psalm 119, verse 25. [25:13] To me, according to thy word, give strength and send relief. And so on. We're going to sing this section of Psalm 119, from verse 25 to 32. [25:27] My soul to dust leaves, quicken me according to thy word. My soul to dust leaves, quicken me according to thy word. [25:53] My words, thy children, be the word. Give me thy sight to draw. [26:09] The way of thy commandment, make me a right to know. [26:27] So all thy words, thy word. My word, thy word, thy word. I shall to my word. [26:42] My word, thy word. my soul to dust. My soul to hell to roll For heaven is not me. [27:03] Give me according to thy word. Give strength, confidence, and relief. [27:18] From me the wicked way of life set by river lake. [27:35] And gracious me, I hold in awe to the ground unto me. [27:53] I chosen heart of every great fault, Thou mayish me. [28:11] Thy judgments are most righteous, Before me lay my life. [28:29] I could not test him on his knees, Give him no doubt on me. [28:45] I'll run thy breezes with window, My heart enlarged in awe. [29:03] Amen. We are going to return this morning to the passage that we read in the Old Testament. [29:15] The book of Genesis chapter 3. We can read at verse 7. Genesis chapter 3 at verse 7. [29:27] And the eyes of them both were opened, And they knew that they were naked, And they sewed fig leaves together, And made themselves aprons. [29:41] And 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 God Among the trees of the garden. [29:54] And the Lord God called unto Adam and said, Unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, And I was afraid, Because I was naked, And I hid myself. [30:13] To many people, The account that we have Here in the book of Genesis Of the creation of the world Is but a story Which is on a par With many other stories That belong to the realm Of myth and faber. [30:37] But if you believe in God, Then you must believe in his word. And if you believe his word, Then if his word describes to you The way that he created the world, And created initially mankind, Then you must believe that That is how things were. [31:00] However unlikely it may seem To our enlightened minds. The greatest, Well, arguably, Aside from Christ himself, The greatest authority On the word of God Is the apostle Paul. [31:21] And he speaks of what Is recorded for us here. And he speaks of it as something That he believes As God's truth. [31:32] Therefore, he says, As by the offense of one, Judgment came upon all men To condemnation. Even so, By the righteousness of one, The free gift came upon all men Into justification of life. [31:49] For as by one man's disobedience, Many were made sinners. So by the obedience of one, Shall many be made righteous. Now Paul, clearly, Bases his theology On a fact. [32:06] A fact recorded for us here Of God's creation. The place that man occupies within it. And man's form From the state In which he was created. [32:24] The God who created All things good Is a God who created man In his own image. We are told that he created him In knowledge, Knowledge, With the possession of knowledge, Righteousness, Holiness, And with dominion Over the creatures. [32:45] He gave man An elevated place Within the created order. But then what we read Is that sin entered Into this Ordered universe Where Christ, Where man had been placed And given a preeminent place. [33:06] And sin entered Into his experience. And instantly, So too, We are told That the consequences Of sin. [33:18] Now today, Our focus Will be on One aspect Of the effect Of sin That affects us To this day. Even though We may not be aware Of it as an effect Of the fall. [33:34] We may not Consciously Interpret Our behavior Or our reasoning As being Seen In the very beginning As an aftermath Of the fall of man. [33:50] So there are Four headings That we are going to use Just to guide our thoughts. First of all The word Enlightenment. Secondly The word Evasion. [34:04] Thirdly The word Dread. And fourthly The word Deliverance. Four words That you can Try and pin In your head And see how Well we can Frame our thoughts Around these Headings. [34:24] Enlightenment. Now I think When we use This word Enlightenment We generally Use it In the sense Of it being A positive Experience. [34:36] The word Itself Suggests Light Being introduced Into a dark Place. So when a person Is enlightened About something Usually it means That there was A lack of Knowledge Or ignorance Which was removed When light Came. [34:59] The image Is the word Itself Produces an image In your mind Of a darkened Room For example And you go into That darkened Room And light Is introduced Into the room Gradually For example Like This morning When you Depends on when You wake up Of course But if If the mornings Are dark And you Come to In this dark And room With the light Coming in Through your window It comes Gradually And with the Gradual Coming of light You begin to see Shapes and figures Within the room However familiar We are with the room And the more The light comes The more you see And that is How you would Describe Enlightenment In a sense And What we have Here is That These Persians Who feature [36:00] At the heart Of the message That Moses Who is The communicator Of God's truth At this point Conveys Adam and Eve They discover Their nakedness Now that You might say That's That's strange That seems Quite ridiculous How could they Discover their Nakedness If anybody is Naked They know that They're naked They know that They're without Covering for their Bodies But if you If you go back To the previous Chapter At the end Of that chapter What you read Is In verse 25 Of chapter 2 They were both Naked The man And his wife And were not Ashamed Now There seems To be A deliberate Placing Of these Two Experiences At opposite Ends [37:00] As they were In one sense They were naked And without shame In one In the first Picture that We're given Of their Physical Nakedness They were Without shame But then When sin Came into Their experience They became Sensitive To their Nakedness And This is Something Of the Nature Of the Enlightenment That they Experienced Further on He goes on To say The Lord God Called To Adam And said And to Where art And he Said I heard Thy voice In the Garden And I Was afraid Because I Was naked And I Hid Myself And God Said Who told Thee That thou Was naked Hast thou Eten Of the Tree Whereof I Commanded Thee That thou Shouldest Not eat [38:01] Now God is There Instantly Pinpointing The discovery Of their Nakedness As a Result Of their Disobedience There was No Awareness No self Awareness That nakedness As far as They were Concerned Was anything Other than The natural Order Of the Way God Created Them But when Sin entered Into the World When sin Entered Into their Heart Shame Came With that Experience And they Not only Became A discoverer Of shame They also Discovered The shame Of their Nakedness And in Verse 11 The question Is asked By God Who told You In other Words God very Often asks Very direct Questions In order [39:01] To get Answers Which he Already He already Knows And he Wants Them To Understand When God Points the Finger At any One of Us And asks Us a Question It's not Because he's Asking a Question Out of Weakness But he He wants To To grasp The truth Of what Is true They Became Aware Of their Nakedness In a Negative Way Now That was Important Because what Follows Is really An outcome Of their Self Awareness What follows As we read It Is their Endeavour To cover Their Nakedness Did you Know I'm going To ask You a Question Did you Know That the Devil Tells Lies Well Theologians Tell us The Bible [40:01] Tells us That he Was a Teller Of lies From the Very Beginning And in This Account We have Actually Three Lies That he Tells The first Lie Is seen In Verse One The Chapter The Serpent Was More Subtle Than Any Beast Of The Field Which The Lord God Had Made And he Said Unto The Woman Yea Hath God Said You Shall Not Eat Of Every Tree Of The Garden Now What Are you Saying There Seems Quite Quite Accurate It's Quite You Think Well Is That Not What God Said And Yet When We Actually Read What God Said In Chapter Two We Find That God Didn't Actually Say What The Devil Is Saying The Lord God Commanded The Man Saying Of Every Tree Of The Garden Thou Mast Freely [41:01] Eat But But Of The Tree Of Knowledge Of Good And Evil Thou Shalt Not Eat Off It For In The Day That Thou Eat Is Thereof Thou Shalt Not Surely Die It's a Very Subtle Perversion Of What Is True But It Is A Perversion Of What Is True Nevertheless The First Lie That We Record There That We Find Recorded Is A Perversion Of God's Truth The Second Lichens Also In This Version We Find That God Is Accused Of Saying That He Would Die When The Truth Was Not The Truth God Said You Shall Not Surely Die The [42:03] Sefman Said You Shall Not Surely Die It's Again A Lie God Said It But The Devil Saying What God Said Is Not True It's A Lie That God Is Not Telling The Truth When He Told Man That He Would Die It's A Lie That Is Again Seen When Disbelief And Disobedience Follows Now We Could Elaborate On That But It's Important Because The The Outcome Of The Lies Of The Devil Is The Sin That Evidenced Itself In The Disobedience Of The First Man The Result Of Believing His Lies Was That He Became Informed Of Something [43:03] That They Could Not Have Known If They Had Not Believed The Lie They Would Have Remained Ignorant Of Their Nakedness They Would Have Been Blissfully Happy As They Were Without Shame If They Had Remained Believing The Truth Of God But What It Was To Disbelieve And Disobey God And What It Was To Believe And Obey The Enemy Is At The Heart Of What We See Happening I Was Reading The Interpretation Of This Section By Professor Robert Candish Who Was A Professor In The Free Church College Many Years Ago And He Has Got A Very Interesting Section In His Commentary On What Happens Here I Will Quote To You I Got Two Quotations From But This Is The First The Immediate Result [44:03] Of The Sin Of Adam Was A Sense Of Shame And Dread Of Judgment Present Death Felt And Future Death Feared Present Death Felt And Future Death Feared Instant At The Moment That They Disobeyed God And Believed The Devil They Died And The Experience Of Dying Was There From That Moment On Some People Have Discovered By Experience Something That They Would Much Rather Have Not Discovered And Unfortunately That's The Way It Is For Many Of Us We May Be Told Something About Something And We Think Well It's Not Really As Bad As That Take For Example The Danger Of Addiction When [45:07] An Addict Experiences Addiction It Begins Somewhere It Begins With A First Drink It Begins With The First Sensation Of A Drug Taken It Begins With The Experience Of Some Sensational Whatever It Is That Leads Them On To More Very Small Beginnings But It Is A Beginning Because The Addict Soon Discover That They Are Not In Control Of Their Addiction And The Outcome May Be Some Way Down The Line But It Will Be Some Way Down The Line Now In This Case The Experience Of Adam And Eve Was Instant Because This Is One Thing Which I Think Is So [46:07] Difficult For Us To Understand The Difference That There Is Between Man As Created In The Image Of God And Man As Created In The Image Of God Having Succumbed To Sin It's Just One Moment Just One Experience And Yet The Difference That Exists Between The Adam That Was Created In The Image Of God And The Adam That Fell Is Beyond Understanding It Is There At That Moment And The Consequences Of It May Not Be Realized For Some Time But Is There For Adam Death Was Instant Even Though Worse For Him Was To Fall The [47:07] Second Heading Of God Here Is Evasion And This Describes The Steps That Adam Takes Having Entled Into The Experience Of Sin And It Seems This Is Probably Part You Know People Might Understand The First Part But They Think Oh This Is Just Part Of The Myth Adam We Are Told Began To Sow Fig Leaves Together And They Made Themselves Aprons He Took Fig Leaves And Sewed Them And Made Aprons Some Theologians They go They delve Into the Meaning of Words And Some Say This This Resture That They Made For Themselves Was Just A Loined Cloth It's Just A Bare Covering But It Was It's Interesting That [48:07] When They Sensed Their Nakedness They Covered It At Once And Along With That We Are Told That They Fled From The Presence Of God They Tried To Hide Themselves John Calvin Says About Adam's Endeavor That What He Did Was Ridiculous What He Did Was Ridiculous But He Says Ridiculous In The Eyes Of God And The Reason He Doesn't Explain Why He Reasons Like That But In Many Respects If You Work It Out For Yourself His Behavior Is Illogical Because Remember And This Is The Thing Where If We Think About It Is This This Vast Leap [49:09] That Occurs From Innocence To Corruption That This Man Who Was Created In God's Image Who Had Perfect Perfect Harmony With The Creation Of God And His Place In It And A Perfect Relationship With The God Of That Creation And He Knew God In A Way That You And I Don't Know God Even Though God Has Given To Us This Book That Tells Us What God Thinks And What God Says Adam Didn't Have This Book But He Had God's Word In His Heart And He Knew God Personally He Had a Face To Face Encounter With Him From The Day He He He He He He He He And Yet Here He Is And In The Presence Of God He Seeks To Flee From It God That He Knows Is Never Far From Him That He Is Always There Because God Is Omnipotent God Is Omniscient God Is Omnipresent [50:09] Nobody Knew That Like Adam Did And Yet He Seeks To Cover Himself From The Eyes Who Was He Hiding From It Was Only Himself And His Wife Was He Embarrassed In Her Company Who Knows Maybe That Was Part Of His Shame But He Was Ashamed In The Presence Of God Because His Shame Had To Do With His Relations With God Because Instantly He Knew That That Relations With God Had His Fired And He Shows It By The Way That He Hides Or Seeks To Hide From Him How Can Man Believe That They Can Hide From God Yet Adam Did And You And I Sometimes Think We Can Hide From God We're Not Aware Of His Physical Presence His [51:10] Spirit But We Think We Can Hide From Him We Think That His Eye Can't Follow Us We Think That He Doesn't Know What's Going On In Our Hearts But He Is The Searcher Of Hearts Now We Spoke About The Parables Of Jesus And We Read This Story And It's Not A Parable It's An Account It's An Account Of What Man Did When He Discovered The Reality Of The Consequences Of His Sin He Sawed Fake Leaves Together To Hide His Shame And He Tried To Flee From The Presence Of God Now Modern Society May Not Be Well Versed In The Scripture But This Account Has Been Firmly Edged In The Minds Of Many And When They Talk [52:10] About The Hiding By Way Of Fig Leaves They Understand Perfectly Well What That Means That It Is A Metaphor For A Wasted Endeavor A Metaphor Where A Person Seeks To Cover Embarrassment Or Cover Wrong Actions Using Puny Or Futile Methodology And Coincidentally I was Thinking of This Passage For A While And Coincidentally I Think Last Week Sometime In An Article In The Daily Express Some Of You Will Know Ann Whiddicom Ann Whiddicom Is A Former Conservative MP She's Well Known She Was A Minister In The Conservative Government [53:10] At Some Point She's She's Very Often Quoted As Someone Who Makes Her Opinions Known Within Many Of The Ethical Problems Of Society And Moral Issues She's A Convinced Roman Catholic And Yet Her Beliefs Her Christian She Calls Her Christian Beliefs Are Very Much Part Of What She Writes Now She Made A Comment A Very Brief Paragraph In Her Article And She Was Referring To Bishop Nasser Ali Who Has Defected From Being A Bishop In The Church Of England To Becoming A Roman Catholic Himself Now That Often Happens Within The [54:11] Church Of England And Roman Catholic All Is A Very Fine Line Between What They Practice And Believe And Sometimes You See That Happen I Suppose As Far As This Bishop Was Concerned He Was Supposed To Be More Of An Evangelical But She Speaks Of Him And This Is How She Interprets What He Says What He Does And Why He Can No Longer Stand The Fudge And Flail Of The Church Of England And Would Rather Join A Church That Knows What It Believes In And Proclaims It Regardless Of Popularity Fashion Or Woke Opinions Now You May Differ To Her In Your Opinion As To What Christianity Is And What Form Of Christianity Is Biblical But What She Is Highlighting Here Is Quite Important [55:11] And You May Consider It At Your Leisure But This Is The Final Part Of What She Says The Established Church Is The Last Fake Leaf Of What Claims To Be A Christian Society The Established Church Is The Last Fake Leaf Of What Claims To Be A Christian Society Now There She Is Using This Imagery This Metaphor And She Is Conveying A Truth I Believe A Truth That Modern Christianity Is Said Especially In The Realms Of What Is Popular Christianity It Is But A Fake Leaf Covering Shame And Of No Real Merit Now I'm [56:12] Quoting This Because Not Because I Want To Highlight This Teaching Or This Ideology Or Belief But Just To Emphasize That When You Read This And When You Hear What Is Being Said Here You Understand Exactly What What The Scripture Is Highlighting That When Adam Took A Fake Leaf Or Fake Leaves He Took Something To Cover Something That Could Not Be Covered In This Way The Moment He Took A Fake Leaf That Fake Leaf Died That Covering Was Itself In The Process Of Perishing And If You Take That Analogy Many People Cover Their Shame And They Take Fig Leaves That Are Themselves Going To Perish In [57:13] Other Words They're Not Going To Last They're Not Going To Bear Scrutiny They're Not Going To Do The Thing That They Expect Them To Do Adam Was Miss Guided The Third Thing We Have Here Time Is Going Dread Not Only Do They Try And Hide From God They Are Filled By Fear Of God That Dominates Them Even As They Avoid Him The Fear Of God Is At The Heart Of Their Behavior Why Are They Afraid Of God This God That They Were Happily In A Relationship With Where Does The Fear Come God Just Speaks To Them Into Their Circumstances And They're Afraid Why What Does God Say That Makes Them Afraid He Just Asks The Question Where Are You And The Moment He Asks The Question They're Terrified Because They Know [58:14] At That Moment Where They Are God Speaks To Them Where They Are And He Asks Them Where Are You Now When God Does That To Us And The Question Is Asked Of Where Are You We Instantly The Conscience That Is In Foreign Tells Us Where We Are If We Are Not In Position With God Where We Ought To Be If We Are Not In Our Relationship With God Where We Ought To Be I Said I Was Going To Quote Professor Can Once Again He Makes This Observation They Were Ashamed Of Bodily Nakedness They Were Afraid Of Bodily Death But The Real Cause Of Shame Was Not In Their Bodily Members But In The Guilt Of Their Souls And The Real Cause Of Their Fear Was Not Their But Their Reliability As Immortal And Spiritual [59:14] Beings To A Far More Awful Doom Their Shame And Fear Proved That They Died Their Sin Instantly Brought Them Into The Guilt And Curse Of Sin Which Caused Their Shame They Were Spiritual Creatures You Know Men Today Speak About The Death Of Someone As If It Is Just A Matter Of Dissolution Of Body And That's All There Is They Don't Go Beyond That It's Just The Body Reaching Decrepitude Or Disease Overtaking That's The End Of The Matter That Is Not The End Of The Matter God Created Man Male And Female He Created Man In His Own Image He Created Man Body And Spirit And The Moment Man Opposes God Or Lives In A Life That Is In Opposition To The Word Of [60:14] God The Word Of God Tells Us That What Is Within Us The Soul The Conscience Whatever You Want To Describe God Does It God It Is The Conscience Is Linked To The Soul Conscience Is The Ambassador Of God Within The Heart And Mind Of Man And It Either Cuses Or Excuses What Man Is Doing In The Experience Of Adam The Conscience Convicted Adam At The Bar Of His Own Judgement Throne He He Knew That God Was Going To Be His Enemy And Going To Convict Him The Lord Joel Big Puts It Like This Sin Kills It Births Shame And Fear And Leaves A Bitter Aftertaste How Many Of Us [61:14] Long To Put Forbidden Fruit Back On The Tree How We Wish We Had Never Tasted It Have You Experienced That A Wrong Action A Wrong Thought Even Given Given Allowed To Develop And You Regret It And You You Are Paid By It You Wish It Had Never Happened It Was Never Done Well The Extraordinary Thing And This Is The Lasting Deliverance Where Do You Find In Deliverance In This Passage I Need To Read On But Deliverance There Is Or The Prospect Offered You Read On Down To Verse 21 And To Adam Also And To His Wife Did The Lord God Make Coats Of Skins And Clothed Them The [62:15] Lord God Clothed Them He Made Them Coats Of Skins He Didn't Teach Adam How To Do It He Didn't Show Adam How To Do It He Didn't Tell Adam I'll Give You A Pattern God Did This For Him Now Many People Look At This And They Say All That It Tells Is That God Did Something God Did This Thing Adam Was Ashamed Because Of His Nakedness Doesn't Say God Was Ashamed Of Adam's Nakedness But He Knew Adam's Shame He Knew What Created Adam's Shame And He Took Action To Cover His Shame And You Could See It That's As Far As It Goes It's An Action On The Part Of God That Shows His Compassion [63:15] The Naked Adam His Shame Was Taken Away By The Hand Of God But I Believe And You See I Read This And I Read Theologians And Don't Read Too Much In This Because It Says To To To To To To You People Look At These Skins And They Say God God Must Have Killed An Animal For These Skins To Be There And When He Killed An An An There Must Have Been Blood And If There Was Blood There Must Have Been A Sacrifice And If There Was A Sacrifice It Must Have Been A Sacrifice For Sin And If It Sacrifice For It Is Too Early God Doesn't Mean Us To Understand That At This Stage In The Development Of Scripture And Yet In This Very Chapter Chapter 15 Something That Chapter 3 Verse 15 [64:16] You Read I Will Put Enmity Between Thee And The Woman Between Thy Seed And Her Seed It Shall Bruise Thy Head And Thou Shalt Bruise His Heel What Is That That Is What Is Called By Theologian The Evangelical The First Gospel Declaration This Is What God Is Going To Do God Is Going To Provide A Remedy For This Sin That Adam Was Guilty Of He Was Going To Provide It In A Most Marvellous Way And He Was Going To Deal With The Serpent And He Was Going To Deal With The Fruit Of The Serpent Lies And He Was Going To Bring Salvation To Bear On The Lives That Had Been Affected By It There It Is In Chapter Three So Why When It Comes To Verse 21 People Don't See In This Verse What God Means Means To See Well I Would Ague That He Does And He Means Us To See That [65:17] What Brought Adam's Shame Was Going To Be Dealt With By Himself The Sin That Adam Committed That Exposed Him In His Own Mind To The Consequence Of The Guilt That Was Now His Was Something That God Was Dealing With When He Physically Covered His Nakedness And He Did So Using The Skins Of Animals And Even There He Was Highlighting The Fact That The Language According To Some Of The Theologians Is Language That Needs To Be Understood In This Way I Don't Know Which One Of The Preachers Was Saying That Linguistically What we Have Is A Picture Of Adam Being Clothed And The Word That Is Used For The Clothing Of Adam Is The Word [66:17] That Is Usually Translated Atonement And The Word And The Word Is Used In Association With Atonement Always Without Exception Means Covering And When You Think About What The Atonement Is When You Think About The Provision Of The Gospel It Means Jesus Covering The Sins Of His People With His Blood So That The Stain Is Removed So That The Guilt Is Obliterated So That Life Follows In The Experience Of Those Who Impress Him By Faith God Made Coats Of Skin To Clothe Them That's The Gospel That's The Gospel It Is It [67:17] Is A Metaphor No Doubt But It Is A Metaphor That Is Fully Illustrated Explained Elaborated Upon Described To Us In The New Testament If Not In The Old And We Can See Christ In His Activities Doing Something That Man Could Not Do That's Why The Emphasis Is On God Made Coats Of Skins Adam's Cuny Efforts To Cover Himself Feet Leaves They Were No Use Some Theologians Say What God Provided Was Covering Them From Head To Toe Whether It Was Or Not We Know That When Man Sins Are Deved With By God They Will Never Thrible Again Well [68:18] Friends This Is Not The Word Of A Myth This Is Not A Fable This Is God's Truth It Helps Us Understand Why We Are Where We Are Today The Modern Interpreter Will Use The Words Of The Old Testament Ancients And They Will Say We May Use Thick Leaves To Hide Our Problems Just The Same As The Ancient Had Into It Using Something That Would Not Could Not Be Of Any Use What God Has Provided It Is Not Just Useful It Is Necessary Inescapably So I Hope That Every One Of You Will Consider Well The Teaching That Is Here And Ask Yourself Are You Going To Present Yourself Before God With With Some Form Of Fig Leaf Or [69:19] Fig Leaves Are You Good At Sowing We All Are We Are Masters At That Tas But The Problem Is What We Sow To Perish It Will Disintegrate To Fall Apart Before You Know It May God Encourage Us To Look To What He Has Provided We Let Us Pray Help Us God To Believe The Word That Is The Word Of Life What Job Is Each One Bless Her Homes Her Families And All They Like Continue To Go Before Us As The Breaker Up Of Way Cleanse From Sin Jesus Amen Our Closing Psalm 116 Psalm 116 I Love The Lord Because My Voice And Prayer She Did Hear While I Live Will Call On Him Who Bowed To Me Is Here Of Death The Cards And Sorrows Stood About [70:19] Me Compass Round The Pains Of Hell To Call On Me I Grief And Trouble Foul Upon The Name Of God The Lord And Did I Call And Say Deliver Thou My Soul O Lord I Do The Humbly Pray God Merciful And Righteous Is Gracious Is O Lord God Saves The Me I Love The Lord Because My Eyes And Pray Is In Here I Fall And Will Follow Him Who Love To Me Is Here On [71:20] And The Horks And Sorrows In How Might Become The Crown The Pains Of Hell To Hold On Me I Fear And Drown Upon The Him Of God The Lord Then Get Thy For I Share Deliver All In My Soul Oh Lord I Do The Harm [72:21] I send a gold Method For On Bright Goods Years As ven Jesus, Lord, for sins have been thy wants of love, in heaven of Lord. [73:00] May we be grace, mercy, and peace in God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Christ, and abide with you all in your life. Amen. Amen.