The Fall of Humanity

[0:00] Throughout history, there have been first events or discoveries that have revolutionized our society and our world.

[0:15] ! There have been these first events or discoveries that have revolutionized our society and our world.!

[0:26] For example, you think about the first airline flight and how that has revolutionized now our ability to travel between continents.

[0:39] Or think of the invention or the first use of an automobile and how that now enables us to transport within our own nation and other nations in far distances.

[0:55] And likewise, think of the first printing press and the impact that has had and transformed us so that we now have access to books that we would have never had before.

[1:12] And the first book that was printed by the Gutenberg press was the Bible. The first book was the Bible.

[1:23] Now the Bible also has first events. It speaks about the first day of creation, the first man and first woman, and then the first marriage.

[1:41] And despite all these first events in history and in the Bible, arguably, arguably, the first event that impacts us more than anything else is, in Genesis 3, in Genesis 3, in which it records the temptation, transgression, and fall of our first parents.

[2:11] Now that's significant to all of us. Because when we look around, we want to know. We want to understand what is the cause of the strife and selfishness, of the enmity and bitterness that lingers in our own homes and our families.

[2:30] When we think about our own nation, and the murders, immorality, the corruption, and the idolatry, we're asking the reason, what is the basis and what is the cause of all of this?

[2:43] Or if we think about our own world, and we see the wars that are taking place over the last century and even presently, we think about also the hostility and all the enmity that's going on between nations.

[2:58] Or we think about the famine and the poverty, and we think about disease and death.

[3:09] What is the ultimate root cause? What is the origin of all of these travesties in our society today?

[3:20] And when you look into your own life, and you ask, why is it that my own conscience, my own thoughts, in private moments, when I do certain things, it is pinched?

[3:34] It is troubled. It is disturbed. Well, the answer lies in Genesis chapter 3. And in Genesis chapter 3, it is there we see the first creation, man and woman, descend from the height to the depths.

[3:54] And there we see the first temptation, transgression, and fall of our first parents. Turn with me to Genesis chapter 3.

[4:05] Genesis chapter 3. Genesis chapter 3. Genesis chapter 3.

[4:22] I am going to begin actually in chapter 2, just the last verse so that there is a bit of context there that I want to highlight and emphasize later on. Genesis chapter 2. Genesis chapter 2 and verse 25.

[4:33] Genesis chapter 2 and verse 25. It begins reading, And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

[4:44] Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, Did God actually say, You shall not eat of any tree in the garden?

[4:59] And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden. But God said, You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.

[5:18] But the serpent said to the woman, You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be open and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.

[5:34] So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate.

[5:52] And she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. And the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked.

[6:03] And they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves loincloths." So ends the reading of God's Word. Let's pray together. Let's pray together.

[6:20] Almighty God, You who are the Lord Most High and who reigns in heaven, Amen. And over the earth. We thank You this morning for the revelation that man does not live on bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.

[6:41] And knowing this truth and believing it, you who are gracious and kind and who delights to give good gifts to men, we ask this morning that You would give us the best gift, and that is the Spirit's presence, to preach the word and to hear it.

[6:59] We ask also that by Your Spirit, You would open the eyes of our understanding, so that we may be enlightened to what are the riches of our calling, what are the greatness of Your power toward those who believe, and what is the excellency of knowing Christ Jesus our Lord.

[7:19] Would You grant especially now that as we hear this word, that we would be hearers of it and doers of it, and that our life would reflect fruit in keeping with true repentance, and that we would walk by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

[7:37] Hearers we ask now for the sake of our Redeemer, for the good of our soul, and for the glory of Your great name.

[7:48] We ask these things now in the name of our risen Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. What I want us to see is this reality this morning, is that the temptation of our first parents led to the transgression and therefore.

[8:13] The temptation of our first parents led to the transgression and therefore. Now Genesis 3 comes in the midst, obviously, the book of Genesis.

[8:26] And we must remember now, as we just try to back up and get a bit of context of what is going on in Genesis itself. You remember that Moses is writing to the nation of Israel.

[8:37] They had just left Egypt. And so Moses is writing to them. And perhaps in their own mind, they're asking the question of, how is it that we ended up in Egypt?

[8:49] How do we end up in Egypt? And so Moses then begins to show the history of the nation of Israel, beginning with the first creation, showing that God is the one who created the heaven and the earth.

[9:04] And he wants them to know that as they are getting ready to go into the promised land, that the God who has delivered them out of Egypt is the God who has made the heaven and the earth.

[9:16] Now this same God, who was revealed in Genesis 1 and in 2, who has made all things, has made it clear that in the creation, he has made all things good.

[9:28] We see that he creates light. He creates an expanse that separates the waters above and below. He creates the plants and the vegetations. He creates the animals.

[9:39] He creates everything. And then he comes to his sixth day. And the pinnacle or the apex of his creation is man and woman. No other creative act of God has the distinct note of being made in the image of God.

[9:57] No other. No other. And so now we turn over to Genesis chapter 2 and we read that how God looked at all he had created and he said, it was very good.

[10:09] Very good. There was no sin. And the first man and woman were naked and they were unashamed.

[10:21] They were innocent. They had fellowship with God. They had communion with God. Now in Genesis 3, we turn and we see that there was a radical change that took place.

[10:34] There was an alteration that took place. Not just in the first man and woman, but in the whole cosmic universe. In all of the earth. And it begins with this.

[10:45] It's that the tempter, the serpent, Satan, came into the garden and began to tempt the woman. I want us to see that first of all, the temptation of our first parents.

[11:01] And the temptation begins with Satan tempting the woman to doubt the word of God. See that with me in Genesis chapter 3 and verse 1.

[11:23] Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, did God actually say, you shall not eat of any tree in the garden?

[11:41] Now here is the tempter. And we know that this is Satan because in Revelation chapter 12 and verse 9, it identifies the serpent as the devil, as Satan. And so here is the adversary, Satan, coming to the woman and asking a question.

[12:00] And he poses the question in a very crafty, in a very subtle, in a very sly way. Notice the question. Did God actually say, you shall not eat of any tree in the garden?

[12:17] Now, if you back up to Genesis chapter 2, you will notice that in verse 16, it says there that, when the Lord God took man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it, in verse 16, it says, Satan takes the command that God gives to Adam and to Eve, to the first man and to the first woman, and says this.

[12:59] He takes the prohibition and emphasized it. God, in his command, has shown the provision. And if you can imagine, in the garden, when God made the garden and decked it with all manner of fruit and vegetables, what it must have looked like.

[13:18] And we know what it looks like. Because in Genesis chapter 2, in verse 9, look. In Genesis chapter 2, verse 9, it says there, And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree, notice, that is pleasant to the sight and good for food.

[13:37] The tree of life was in the midst of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God had made all that was in the garden. It was pleasant to look at and it was good for food.

[13:49] So, Adam and Eve, the first woman and the first man, would have looked at all that was made. And it would have been a marvel. It would have been a delight to them.

[14:01] And Satan takes God's provision, his generous provision. Notice he says, any tree, look among all the creative things I have made. Look at all the luscious things that I have created.

[14:15] You could choose anyone and I've only prohibited you from one. But Satan says the opposite. He emphasizes the prohibition. He shows that God says, you should not eat of this.

[14:29] And he shows to the woman, asks the question to the woman, this is what the emphasis is. That what you cannot have. And that's where Satan begins to show to the woman the doubt.

[14:41] of the word of God. God commanded and Satan now turns into a question. Now this is instructive for us. Because the enemy, the adversary is not afraid to engage in Bible talk with a believer.

[14:59] He is not afraid to engage in religious discussion. He is brilliant. He is sly. And he is deceitful.

[15:11] And so, Satan begins to weaken the woman's confidence in the word of God. He begins to insinuate doubt over its meaning. And he begins to implant in her own mind, by this question, something sinister.

[15:28] Something deceitful. As one writer stated that, with subtle guise, the adversary speaks as a winsome, angelic theologian. Here is the enemy, here is the adversary coming, and as a winsome, angelic theologian, he speaks.

[15:47] He's crafty. He's crafty. And so, Satan begins to create doubt in the mind of the first woman.

[16:02] But then notice what he else goes on to do. He then begins to deny the word of God. In verse 2, 3, and 4. And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden.

[16:16] But God said, you shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden. Neither shall you touch it, lest you die. So the woman begins to answer. She replies to Satan.

[16:28] And the first thing you should notice is that the way that she replies. She replies in the same manner. She says what? You shall not eat. She emphasizes again the prohibition. She emphasizes the restriction.

[16:40] You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden. And now she begins to actually modify what God has said.

[16:52] She says there, Neither shall you touch it, lest you die. Now in Genesis 2, there is no indication that God has said that. I know that some have said that perhaps Adam had perhaps talked with his wife in concern that she would not draw close to the tree.

[17:08] He also may have given her a prohibition. That's speculation. That's a conjecture. We don't know. But we do know that nowhere, at least in chapter 2, do we read that God says to the first woman or to the first man that you shall not touch it.

[17:22] The prohibition is you shall not eat of the tree. But not only does she say, you will not touch it, but notice she even changes the form of the warning that God said.

[17:38] God said, you shall surely die. And in the original language, there is an emphasis on the fact that there is no doubt. There is no dispute about the day that you eat of it.

[17:51] God says, you will die. Notice how the first woman changes it. She says in verse 3, lest you die. She lessens the severity of what God had commanded.

[18:04] She minimizes, really, the judgment of God. And so already you begin to see an advance towards doubting and minimizing and modifying what God's Word says.

[18:21] As one writer says, Satan carefully contrived the method by which the snares he was preparing might the more easily take the mind of Eve by surprise.

[18:34] So here he is crafting, here he is suddenly coming in, and he has planted this question in such a way that now the woman herself is beginning to reply, and her reply is actually beginning to touch the Word of God.

[18:47] So, what happens in verse 4? Notice in verse 4 now. It's the minute that happens. Satan now seizes the opportunity. He sees that there has been an opening, and in verse 4 it says, But the serpent said to the woman, You will not surely die.

[19:05] He tempts the woman to deny the Word of God. He began with a doubt, and now he assaults God's Word.

[19:19] Now what's striking is that in Genesis chapter 1 and chapter 2, you remember that when God said, Let there be light, there was light. When God said, Let there be an expanse that separated the waters above and waters below, and it was so.

[19:32] So in Genesis 1 and 2, when God spoke, it happened. But here is Satan coming in, and seizing the opportunity upon the woman, and now says, God will not act in judgment.

[19:50] God's Word is not to be trusted. God's Word is not to be trusted. It is false. It's a lie. You will not surely die.

[20:01] And this is noticed. Here is a creature speaking in the form of a serpent. Here is Satan, probably using the serpent, and he actually says, You shall not die.

[20:12] And immediately, what do we have? We have now God's Word, Satan's Word. And who is the first woman going to believe?

[20:23] Who is she going to believe? And you know today, we are living in times and days in which there is, at this present time, men and women and so-called scholars who are assaulting and creating doubt in the minds of believers today concerning the Word of God.

[20:44] And some of them are outright denying the Word of God. They are saying that you cannot trust the Bible. For example, you have scientists, men of great intellect and great minds, who tell us that you and I should believe this thing called evolution.

[20:58] When God said, in the beginning, God created. Clearly, you have a division. Man, God. There is no dispute about this.

[21:09] You have others who come along and who say to us that you cannot trust God in this situation.

[21:21] Or they tell you that you cannot believe the miracles that took place in the Bible. You cannot believe, for example, that Jesus actually fed 5,000.

[21:34] And what that's doing, especially if it's undermining the Word of God. Now, someone has observed that the first doctrine that was probably denied in the Bible is which doctrine?

[21:48] The doctrine of judgment. You shall surely not die. And when men and women begin to have the doctrine of God's judgment removed, taken away, men and women do not fear anymore.

[22:10] And in our day today, right now, if any doctrine that is under assault more than any other doctrine, it is the doctrine of God's judgment. Men and women love to hear in our society, God is a God of love.

[22:23] And He is a God of love. They love to hear that He's a God of compassion. And He is a God of compassion. They want to hear He's a God of mercy. And He is a God of mercy. But the minute you start to probe and say to them that that same God has also revealed Himself to be a God of righteousness, holiness, injustice and wrath, they don't want to receive that.

[22:43] And therefore, you have people who are now denying the eternality of hell. You have those who are sitting in churches and who are preaching from the pulpit and saying that you cannot believe this truth concerning the doctrine of hell.

[23:00] Because my God can't do that. That's not the God of the Bible, brothers and sisters. That's not the God of the Bible. The God of the Bible has made it very clear that He is a God who is righteous and holy and just.

[23:15] And the final day will reveal all of this reality and truth. And so therefore, you have now the enemy coming and tempting the woman to doubt the Word of God.

[23:30] And then he outright denies the Word of God. Now, what is remarkable in this passage also is that three times there is an appeal to what God has said.

[23:57] Three times there is an appeal to what God has said. And all three times God's Word is misquoted. All three times it is either misquoted or it is not fully quoted.

[24:09] It is not accurate. Satan says this. Eve then replies and modifies it. And then you have the outright contradiction of God's Word.

[24:20] And this is a warning to all of us. That when we think about handling God's Word, you and I must be as careful and as precise as possible.

[24:32] And we certainly must uphold what God has revealed clearly in His Word. Now, not only has Satan doubted or tempted the woman to doubt the Word of God, not only has he tempted the woman to disobey or deny the Word of God, but now look and notice that Satan tempts the woman to distrust the character of God.

[25:04] He is tempting her to distrust the character of God. So, he is not only dealing with the Word of God, now he deals with the character of God. And one of the things that often the enemy will do or the adversary will do is that he will begin in a theological discussion with you about your views of who God is.

[25:24] Who do you understand God to be? He begins to approach and begins to discuss with you the character of God.

[25:35] And in this case, notice what happens. The first thing you notice is that Satan tempts the woman to distrust the character of God. And the first character he begins to distrust is in verse 2.

[25:47] In verse 1 and 2, it is the goodness of God. Satan tempts the woman to distrust the goodness of God. How does he tempt her? Well, he tempts her by putting the question in the form, like I said before, of the prohibition rather than the provision.

[26:06] He essentially is saying that here is God who has put you in the midst of this garden, and he doesn't want you to enjoy it. God is being stingy.

[26:17] God is being restrictive. God doesn't want you to enjoy these things. But not only do you see that Satan tempts the woman to doubt the goodness of God, but Satan also tempts the woman to doubt the judgment of God.

[26:34] We see that in verse 4 we just read. He said, The serpent said to the woman, You will not surely die. I mean, it's a direct assault upon the judgment of God. But then he gives a reason in verse 5 of why she should not, why she will not surely die.

[26:57] And this actually now attacks the integrity of God. Why should the first woman not believe that God will act in judgment?

[27:08] Notice in verse 5. For God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.

[27:23] The reason why God is not allowing you to touch and to eat from this tree is that he doesn't want you to be like him. He doesn't want you to be like him.

[27:36] He is holding something back from you. And so, we see that God's integrity is assaulted and attacked in this comment.

[27:49] For God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. Now, not only is that the temptation of our first parents.

[28:03] Now, let's look at, secondly, the transgression of our first parents. The transgression of our first parents. In verse 6.

[28:20] In verse 6. So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.

[28:39] And so the woman transgressed the command by being deceived. Now, notice in verse 6, there are three senses that are involved.

[28:52] The first one is a practical sense, a practical need. When the woman saw that a tree was good for food. She saw that it was good for food. She had a need. Practical need.

[29:04] But notice then, there was an aesthetic beauty to it. And that it was a delight to the eyes. She looked. She saw it was good for food.

[29:16] Now she finds it a delight to her own eyes. And so senses, her own senses are beginning to work. And operate upon her. And then third, you see this desire to be like God for spiritual wisdom.

[29:31] And that the tree was to be desired to make one wise. Now why did I say that she transgressed the command of God by being deceived?

[29:42] Well, turn over to Genesis 3 in verse 13. You remember that God comes in Genesis 3 and confronts them. And he asked Adam, what have you done?

[29:54] And Adam then blamed his wife. And now he comes to the woman. And then verse 13, the same questions asked. And she replies in verse 13, Then the Lord God said to the woman, What is this you have done?

[30:07] And the woman said, The serpent deceived me. And I ate. She was deceived. And the same thing is said in 2 Corinthians chapter 11.

[30:20] Turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 11 and verse 3. This idea that the woman was deceived. Now that's significant because when we come to Adam, you'll see the difference. 2 Corinthians chapter 11 and verse 3.

[30:35] Here Paul is concerned about the Corinthian church in 2 Corinthians chapter 11 and verse 3. And he expresses his concern, especially when he says in verse 3. I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

[30:56] So here you have it again in verse 3 that there's the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning. So the woman was deceived. And if you turn to 1 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 14, you remember that similar language is spoken about.

[31:11] That the woman was deceived in verse 14 of chapter 2 in 1 Timothy. Where Paul is explaining for the reason why male is put in leadership and why the woman is not.

[31:24] And he says in verse 13, here's the reason why. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. Now notice in verse 14, 1 Timothy chapter 2. And Adam was not deceived.

[31:35] But the woman was deceived. So the transgression of our first parents. Here is the woman, she's seeing the fruit, seeing the tree that it was good to eat for food.

[31:48] She's looking at it and finding it a delight to the eyes. And she desired, what? Wisdom. She wanted to be essentially like God. But the man also transgressed the command by his disobedience.

[32:07] The woman was deceived. But the man transgressed the command by his disobedience. His was a rebellious act.

[32:18] His was a revolt. And what's significant is because Adam was appointed as a federal head. He was the one who was representing us. So that if Adam remained in that state and condition, we also would receive all the blessing of it.

[32:32] Adam was the one who was appointed by God as the one over all of human race. So what he did has consequences on us today.

[32:43] And Adam, like I said, was the one who disobeyed. Look in Genesis chapter 3 and verse 6 first of all. So that when this woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was a light to the eyes and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and she also gave some to her husband who was with her.

[33:10] And he ate. He was with her. Now some have tried to suggest that perhaps she took the fruit, went to him, and began to reason with him. And then through that reasoning, he actually then partook of the fruit.

[33:24] That's a nice idea, but it doesn't seem, I think, in the context, the most plain and simple answer. It seems as if he was actually present there when all of this was taking place.

[33:35] Instead of being the leader of the home and saying to the serpent that you should not be saying these things, he actually seemed to have stood idle, indifferent.

[33:46] And so his act was an act of disobedience. Then turn over to verse 11 and 12 in Genesis chapter 3. He said, this is God speaking, Who told you that you were naked?

[34:03] And here's the question. Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat? And now notice in verse 12, The man said, The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me the fruit of the tree, and I ate.

[34:21] And then in verse 17, When God comes and declares judgment upon Adam for his disobedience, notice it says, Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, And the word there, listen, is this word that's used in the original language to speak of, literally, of obedience.

[34:38] It's normally synonymous. When it says listen, it's actually synonymous with the word of obedience. You hearkened, you listened, you obeyed the voice of your wife. You obeyed, you disobeyed me, and you listened to your wife.

[34:54] And so the man transgressed the command of God by his disobedience. And the New Testament makes it even more clear, where Paul is explaining in Romans chapter 5, in Romans chapter 5, where he says in verse 12, Therefore, through one man, sin entered into the world.

[35:16] One man, Adam, through the one act of disobedience, many, all, were put to death. See in chapter 5 and verse 12, Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned.

[35:39] And verse 15, But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift, by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ abounded for many.

[35:53] And in verse 19, For as by one man's disobedience, the many remained sinners. So the uniqueness of Adam, who was appointed as a federal head, his act was a disobedient act.

[36:07] He willingly chose to disobey. And the result was catastrophic. You and I, in this day and age, are feeling the effects of that one act of disobedience.

[36:25] Now for some of you, you may think, and you may be tempted to think, why should such an insignificant act of taking a fruit from a tree, result in this catastrophic event throughout history?

[36:44] Why should a simple act of just taking a fruit be so significant? Well first, you must remember that sin, at its essence, is an assault against God.

[36:59] And an assault to his throne. Sin and disobedience essentially is taking God off of its throne and removing him and either putting Satan, in this case, essentially, this is what Adam and Eve did.

[37:15] They essentially, in disobeying, had chose to listen and submit to the enemy. And so sin must not be seen as simply in its act.

[37:26] You must remember that sin, at its heart, must be evaluated in terms of who God is. Of who God is.

[37:40] And so we have the transgression of our first parents, and we have the temptation of our first parents. Well let's look now at the fall of our first parents. The fall of our first parents in Genesis 3.

[37:53] So what happened? What happened? In verse 7, And the eyes of both were opened, and they knew they were naked.

[38:07] And they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves loincloths. The fall of the first man and woman, led to a shameful nakedness for their rebellion against God.

[38:23] You remember that in verse 25 of chapter 2, it says that they were both naked, and they were not ashamed. But in verse 7, And the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked.

[38:39] They knew that they were naked. Here is this radical change that has taken place in the first man and first woman. And the first thing is that they knew that they were naked, signifies that they were shamed.

[38:53] And that shame then resulted in them doing what? They then began to take some fig leaves, and tried to hide their sin. And tried to hide their sin.

[39:06] And so here you have shame, and then subsequently guilt entered into this world, as a result of the first man and the first woman, and their sin.

[39:19] Now one writer by the name of Derek Kidner, has noted that in verse 6, there are two verbs that are significant.

[39:33] Two verbs. It says that she took and ate. She took and she ate. And why that is significant is because he then traces into the New Testament that there was one who uttered similar words.

[39:52] Take and eat. This is my body. Here is one Adam and Eve in the garden, set before them to obey God's word and to obey his will.

[40:05] They were set in paradise. They were set in an environment in which everything that they could imagine was directed towards their obedience. But here you have the Lord Jesus Christ, who in another garden, namely Gethsemane, who falls on his face, and who will go to a tree on Calvary, in which he would be crucified, in which he would bear the punishment for the sins of all of those who would believe.

[40:36] That he knew that the wrath of God would be poured out upon him and cried out, if it is possible, take this cup away from me. But not my will.

[40:49] Your will be done. The last Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ, accomplished what the first Adam did not.

[41:03] And in that accomplishment, what he has done is that he has actually come and reversed the effects of the first four. He has reversed, He has reversed, by his death on the cross, has reversed the effects of the first Adam.

[41:25] And he bids, take, eat. Now, no doubt there are some here this morning, who, hearing these words, concerning the temptation, the transgression, and the fall, object to these truths.

[41:51] They do not believe what the word of God says. They have been entranced, they have been enticed, they have been bewitched by what men and women say.

[42:03] They tell you that God really isn't going to judge you on the final day. They tell you, for example, that though your sins may be bad, they're not as bad as others.

[42:19] And therefore, they begin to look at their own righteousness and begin to see themselves at a standard, not according to God's perfect standard. And then they also think that they will not face this God on the final day.

[42:34] But dear friend, hear this very clearly, hear this very clearly, that on the final day, there is no doubt that the holy, righteous, and just God will manifest who He is.

[42:49] And if you doubt that, you need to remember that no one spoke more about the coming judgment than the King of love. the Lord of compassion, the Lord Jesus Christ.

[43:03] No one spoke more about hell than the Lord Jesus Christ. Twelve times in the Bible, in the New Testament, the word hell is used.

[43:14] Eleven times, it's on the lips of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a reality. It is a certainty. And the offer that is presented that God has presented this morning is that to those who are still trusting in their own righteousness, to those who think that when they appear before God and they look at others I haven't done this, or they think that they're not as bad as this person, they will discover that all of their filthy rags are nothing in the sight of God.

[43:48] Now believer, let me turn and speak to you. You and I live in a world in which we are still tempted.

[44:02] You and I are tempted by many, many things. We live in a world we are tempted to doubt God and His word. We are tempted not to believe His promises. We are tempted to believe not to believe in the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

[44:14] And every day, you and I are assaulted. We are bewailed by the enemy not to believe His word. But you must remember that heaven and earth shall pass away but the word of God shall endure forever.

[44:36] Heaven and earth shall pass away but the word of God will endure forever. And so what God says in His word that He promises that for some of you who are in very difficult situations that He will never leave you and never forsake you.

[44:51] That's not pie in the sky. That's not something upon which you can just think it's... No. It is a reality in which He has promised to be with you in the midst of the storm.

[45:06] He didn't say you won't have a storm but He will be with you to gird and strengthen you in your soul so that in the midst of a storm you can actually have legitimate joy.

[45:20] ! And where does that joy come from? It's being filled with the Spirit so that now you, what? are producing the fruit of the Spirit which is love and joy. joy.

[45:31] Now for some of you perhaps also who are believers you need to also be reminded of the example of our Lord Jesus Christ.

[45:44] That when He was tempted when temptation does come and it will come when temptation did come our Lord Jesus Christ was tempted by Satan. Satan. Satan came to Him and said what?

[45:56] Turn these bread into stones show you all the kingdoms of the world and you just fall down and He's still doing the same today. How many men and women are actually being cast down because they're living in the world?

[46:18] brothers and sisters our Lord Jesus Christ gives us how we can overcome temptation. It is by taking that Word of God and bringing it to Satan that it is the Word of God that overcomes temptation.

[46:38] Let's close in prayer.