Pillars of Faith

The Crisis in the Garden

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: John Lomacang, Pastor

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Series Code: POF

Program Code: POF000007A


00:25 Hello, and welcome to Pillars of Faith.
00:28 We are here
00:30 in the Thompsonville Seventh-day Adventist Church,
00:32 also known as the 3ABN Worship Center
00:34 in Thompsonville, Illinois.
00:36 A small town of about 600 people,
00:38 but God is using this area
00:41 to bring the gospel to all the world
00:43 through Three Angels Broadcasting Network
00:45 via nine satellites that are beaming the message
00:48 all around the world.
00:49 And we praise the Lord for what He has done
00:52 in this series so far.
00:53 We have our speaker for this series
00:55 is Pastor John Lomacang.
00:58 You are acquainted with him through the House Calls program
01:03 and as well as the Wednesday night Bible Study
01:05 that you can see here on
01:06 Three Angels Broadcasting Network.
01:09 We want to tell you that this is a five part series.
01:13 The series has the title, "The Anatomy of the Crisis."
01:17 Already we have heard the message,
01:20 "The Crisis in Heaven."
01:22 This is message number two of five.
01:24 And the title for this message is "The Crisis in the Garden."
01:28 On the next time, you see this program
01:31 or hear this program,
01:32 you will see the message and hear the message
01:34 "The Crisis in the Family."
01:36 "The Crisis in the Heart," will be the next one.
01:39 And finally,
01:41 "Solving the Crisis in the Church."
01:43 We hope that you are prepared to study God's word together,
01:48 and we appreciate Pastor Lomacang's
01:52 dedication to the study of the scriptures.
01:54 When he comes before you to present a message,
01:56 it is because he has studied and prayed
02:00 and asked for the Lord to bless him
02:01 with the Holy Spirit.
02:03 And we know that you'll be blessed.
02:05 And we encourage you to remain with us
02:07 until the very moment
02:09 this message comes to its conclusion.
02:12 Before we begin, we like to go to the Lord in prayer,
02:14 and ask Him to bless our speaker and also bless you.
02:18 It does not mean that
02:20 Pastor Lomacang will not also pray,
02:22 but we want to pray for him as he leads us in this study.
02:26 So for now,
02:28 we encourage you to stop what you're doing,
02:29 and join us in prayer.
02:31 And as we pray,
02:32 we're going to ask for the Lord's blessing.
02:34 Let us pray together.
02:36 Our loving heavenly Father, we are grateful Lord
02:40 for this opportunity to bring this message to Your children
02:44 all around the world.
02:46 And we thank You for the speaker
02:48 that You have brought to us.
02:50 We pray that as You have used him in the past,
02:53 use him once again Lord.
02:55 Therefore, we ask that You'll bless him with the Holy Spirit.
02:58 Give him the words to speak and direct us
03:01 as we study the Holy Scriptures.
03:04 We pray that as we dig into the scriptures,
03:06 your holy angels will draw near to every person
03:09 that stops to listen to this program.
03:11 And we pray that
03:12 Your Holy Spirit will direct our thoughts
03:14 to what we need to do as we hear this message.
03:17 We pray for revival and transformation to take place,
03:21 and we pray that all honor and glory be on to your name.
03:26 And we thank you Father
03:27 for hearing our prayer, for we ask it
03:29 in the mighty and wonderful name of Jesus.
03:32 Amen. Amen.
03:34 Well, at this time, we like to invite our speaker
03:37 Pastor John Lomacang,
03:38 and we leave the rest of the time with him.
03:40 May God bless each and every one of you.
03:42 Pastor.
03:43 Thank you, Pastor Dinzey, I appreciate it very much.
03:46 And hello, everyone, once again
03:48 welcome to the second part in a five part series
03:54 entitled "The Anatomy of the Crisis."
03:57 We are praying that the Lord will
03:59 once again open our eyes
04:00 and give us understanding and wisdom from His Word.
04:03 And as I did in my last presentation,
04:06 I want to always put my mind in my life,
04:10 and this message in the hand of the God
04:12 that I've been called and asked to represent.
04:14 So bow your heads with me
04:17 as I ask the Lord to give me wisdom.
04:19 Heavenly Father, this is Your message,
04:23 I'm Your servant, I pray that You'll give understanding
04:26 where right now their,
04:29 the understanding may be lacking.
04:32 Give wisdom and direction, and may this message
04:36 find the fertile soil that will come to understand
04:39 Your purpose and will for their life,
04:42 in Jesus name, I pray.
04:44 Amen.
04:47 Genesis 3:8-10 is where we find our scripture reading.
04:52 And I'm going to open my Bible, my Bible has...
04:56 I share that verse with you, The Crisis in the Garden.
04:59 If I could give this message a another title, it would be,
05:03 "I heard your voice."
05:05 I heard your voice.
05:08 Genesis Chapter 3, and look with me to verse 8-10.
05:15 And we read in Genesis Chapter 3,
05:18 "And they heard the sound of the Lord God
05:22 walking in the garden in the cool of the day.
05:26 And Adam and his wife hid themselves
05:30 from the presence of God among the trees of the garden.
05:34 Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him,
05:39 "Where are you?"
05:41 So he said,
05:42 "I heard your voice in the garden,
05:46 and I was afraid because I was naked
05:49 and I hid myself."
05:51 Crisis in the garden.
05:53 I heard your voice.
05:55 Ours is an age of one crisis after the other.
06:01 We are in the midst of a political crisis.
06:04 Our world is wrecked by a financial crisis.
06:08 When we look at the world in the broad sense,
06:10 we are under a very unstable economic foundation.
06:14 There is an economic crisis.
06:16 Unemployment, double dip recession.
06:19 We are in the midst of a real estate crisis.
06:23 There are more homes than there are buyers.
06:27 We live amidst a military crisis
06:30 now engaged in a new kind of war,
06:33 a war that has brought the fight to America.
06:38 We are in an international crisis.
06:41 The constant threat to the United States,
06:44 and war from rouge nations and rouge underground movements.
06:48 And also there is an oil crisis.
06:51 Instability in the Middle East.
06:53 We live in an economy
06:55 that has seen gas prices go as high as almost five dollars
06:58 and almost as low as under a dollar.
07:00 The instability of the oil market
07:02 brings to humanity in the world,
07:05 a crisis of that kind of magnitude.
07:08 And add to that, the family crisis,
07:11 the health crisis, and the moral crisis.
07:15 But let me suggest to you that in the midst
07:17 of all of this broken glass, there is still a diamond.
07:22 God still brings hope
07:25 in the midst of a hopeless world.
07:27 In the midst of these turbulent times,
07:29 serenity because of Jesus Christ
07:32 can still be found.
07:34 In the midst of a society gone mad,
07:36 there is still a better world that's coming.
07:39 Praise the Lord for that.
07:41 I'm so glad that this is not the final world.
07:43 Can you say amen to that?
07:45 This is not the final world.
07:46 There is a better world coming.
07:49 And I thank the Lord that as we read His word,
07:51 He has told us how the story ends.
07:54 But there are questions that are begging
07:56 to be answered.
07:58 And I hope to answer those questions
08:00 through this message.
08:01 How did we get into this mess
08:04 that we are living amongst today?
08:07 Did we just wake up one morning and chaos existed?
08:10 Did we miss the broadcast, from now on the world
08:12 will be messed up?
08:14 Did we get assigned to the wrong planet?
08:16 Did we win a one-way ticket to misery?
08:20 Well, as bizarre as it may seem,
08:22 it all started in a quiet place.
08:26 It started in one of the most perfect settings.
08:30 Now in the last message,
08:31 we talked about this crisis that began in heaven.
08:34 But I also pointed out that,
08:35 that crisis was transferred to the earth.
08:39 It began in a quiet setting where God gave Adam and Eve,
08:44 His first creation, the mother and the father of all humanity.
08:49 He gave them everything that they would ever need.
08:51 Listen for a moment.
08:53 They had the best library, instant intelligence.
08:57 They had the best communication,
08:58 open face-to-face communication with God.
09:02 And the Bible gives us a glimpse
09:04 into the imagination of our Creator.
09:07 Genesis 1:31 says it this way,
09:11 "And God saw everything that he had made
09:14 and indeed it was very good."
09:18 Not somewhat good, not pretty good,
09:20 indeed it was very good.
09:22 "And so the evening and the morning
09:24 were the sixth day."
09:27 Let's think about Adam for a moment.
09:29 Adam was fit beyond any modern standards.
09:34 There were no preexisting medical conditions
09:36 in Adam's life to limit his creative ability.
09:39 He was the consummate athlete, flawless in every particular,
09:43 because God made him.
09:45 His eyesight was at peak performance.
09:48 As a matter of fact, I can say it this way,
09:50 he had his father's eyes.
09:52 Adam was a prototype built by the master designer
09:57 God Himself.
09:58 But think about Eve, because Eve was the crowning act
10:02 of God's creation.
10:04 If you've seen beautiful people before,
10:06 Eve was beauty personified.
10:09 She was in fact the original Miss Universe
10:13 because there was no woman on planet earth
10:15 to rival the beauty that God had imparted to her.
10:19 They also had the best economy.
10:21 Adam and Eve did not have to go to the store
10:24 like here in southern Illinois.
10:26 We get excited
10:27 when we go to Wal-Mart or to the mall.
10:29 They live in the best economy.
10:31 People get excited about fashion designers.
10:33 God was the best designer.
10:37 Their garments radiated
10:39 with the glory of the righteousness of God.
10:41 There are no designers
10:43 that can give you a garment radiating with glory
10:46 that also guarantees the pure
10:49 and unsullied righteousness of God.
10:53 And there are no gardens in our world today
10:55 that could ever rival the Garden of Eden.
10:59 Think about it.
11:00 There was no disease or decay, nor death.
11:02 Vitality was bursting forth
11:05 from everything that their eyes rested upon.
11:08 The atmosphere was filled with the life.
11:11 Life was in every leaf, every flower, and every tree.
11:17 Adam and Eve roam freely
11:19 with the most powerful beast of the earth.
11:22 And before sin, there was no fear at all.
11:25 They were able to communicate with lions, and tigers,
11:30 and bears.
11:31 They were able to speak to the birds,
11:33 and everything that God had placed in creation
11:36 for their enjoyment.
11:38 However, there was a controversy brewing
11:42 that would eventually threaten homeland security.
11:47 And God told Adam and Eve to watch.
11:49 He informed them that an assault was coming.
11:52 And he said that failure would be devastating.
11:57 The Lord warned Adam and Eve of the far-reaching consequences.
12:01 Look at Genesis Chapter 2,
12:03 notice what God said to this perfect pair.
12:07 "And the Lord God commanded the man, saying,
12:11 "Of every tree of the garden, you may freely eat..."
12:16 In other words, God placed no restrictions
12:18 on what He had created for Adam, except one.
12:23 "Of every tree of the garden, you may freely eat,
12:27 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,
12:31 you shall not eat of it.
12:33 For in the day that you eat of it,
12:36 you shall surely die."
12:39 Not might die, not could die, but you shall surely die.
12:44 In other words, the stop signs were posted,
12:48 the guardrails were lowered, the path of destruction
12:51 was outlined with flashing warning lights.
12:54 The road to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil
12:57 was replete with severe penalty signs
13:01 posted everywhere.
13:03 This was the road of stiff fines,
13:05 and a jail sentence.
13:06 Hear me carefully.
13:08 With a consequence of more than 6,000 years of human suffering,
13:13 this journey was wrapped in irreversible consequences.
13:17 And so God warned Adam, whatever you do Adam,
13:20 I've given you everything that your eyes can sit upon,
13:24 but just stay away from this one tree.
13:29 And John the Revelator made it clear
13:31 as to why God's warning was so urgent.
13:33 Revelation 12:9, we read these words
13:36 from our Creator.
13:40 So the great dragon,
13:42 that one who lost the war against Michael, the archangel,
13:45 who is Christ by the way.
13:47 So the great dragon was cast out,
13:51 that serpent of old called the devil
13:54 and Satan who deceives the whole world.
13:59 He was cast to the earth,
14:01 and his angels were cast out with him.
14:06 When Satan lost that battle of deception
14:09 that he spread clearly among the other angels.
14:12 We read also in Revelation that when Satan lost this battle.
14:16 Also one third of the angels fell with him.
14:18 The Bible says, "He drew a third of the stars of heaven
14:22 and they were cast to the ground."
14:24 Now even though one-third fell,
14:26 the good news is two-thirds remained.
14:29 There are more on the side of good
14:32 than there are on the side of evil.
14:34 Can you say amen?
14:35 You see, God still has the greater good on his side.
14:39 So when you feel as though
14:41 the world has turned against you,
14:42 when you feel as though you have been abandoned,
14:44 all you've got to do is turn to God
14:46 and discover that there are more with us
14:50 than there are more with the enemy of deception.
14:53 The Bible made it clear that Satan lost the initial battle.
14:57 And so this innocent pier
14:59 that just rolled off of God's assembly line
15:02 was in the midst of the second stage of the battle.
15:05 A crisis brewing in this perfect garden.
15:09 It was clear that Satan had become in his own mind
15:12 the representative now of the earth.
15:15 In Job 1:7, we read
15:18 about a meeting that had taken place.
15:20 And the Bible says in verse 7 of Job Chapter 1,
15:23 and the Lord said to Satan in this meeting.
15:26 "From where do you come?"
15:27 God knew, but testimony always reveals our own position,
15:31 and so Satan answer the Lord and said,
15:34 "From going to and fro on the earth
15:37 and from walking back and forth on it."
15:40 You know, the amazing thing about that is this,
15:42 when you think about temptation.
15:44 He said, "I was going to and fro
15:46 walking back and forth,"
15:47 but God limited Satan.
15:50 God did not allow Satan to pursue Adam and Eve.
15:55 God placed the hedge of protection around them.
15:58 They were in a garden home that was secured day and night.
16:02 The angels of God watched over them.
16:04 So Satan could not bring the temptation to Adam nor Eve.
16:08 You'll discover, friends, often times,
16:10 one of the ways that we fall into temptation
16:12 is when we go to the temptation.
16:14 You see the bar doesn't come to us, we go to the bar.
16:17 The places of ill repute do not come to us,
16:20 we go to the places of ill repute.
16:22 The immorality of the nation doesn't come to us,
16:24 we go to it.
16:26 Often times, we find ourselves
16:28 where God never gave us permission to go.
16:32 So God protected this pair from everything
16:34 that Satan could bring their way.
16:36 But he said, "I'm walking back and forth
16:39 and going to and fro in the earth."
16:42 And then the scene changes to Genesis 3:1,
16:46 for this self made, I would say real estate owner,
16:52 as he thought he was,
16:54 was about to establish the greatest temptation
16:58 that humanity would ever endure.
17:01 This predator angel began to change his approach.
17:06 And so we read in Genesis 3:1,
17:09 the first temptation to humanity.
17:12 The Bible says,
17:13 "Now the serpent was more cunning,"
17:15 the King James Version says, more subtle.
17:18 In other words, he came in a manner
17:21 that was almost imperceptible to the one
17:24 that he had focused on.
17:26 You've seen those pictures before,
17:28 tigers and lions, and cheetahs
17:32 and leopards in the jungle.
17:33 You see them as they focus on their prey,
17:36 they walk so stealthily, they move almost imperceptibly,
17:41 they allow the grass not to ruffle
17:43 any of their surroundings,
17:44 they keep their eyes fixed on their victims.
17:47 And I believe that as death
17:51 is the outcome of any hunt,
17:53 Satan saw the very same thing.
17:55 The Bible says, "The serpent was more cunning,
17:58 more subtle than any beast of the field
18:01 which the Lord God had made.
18:05 But he could not tempt Eve,
18:07 except she's strayed away from the protective custody
18:11 that God has established for her, her husband.
18:13 And that's why the Bible said,
18:14 "It's not good that man should be alone."
18:16 Let me amplify that, it wasn't just the phrase,
18:19 speaking of the agenda,
18:21 but when God establishes a relationship of safety,
18:25 it's always dangerous
18:26 when we stray outside of that relationship of safety.
18:29 It was not good for Eve to be alone.
18:32 It was not good for Adam to be alone.
18:34 They were placed in a relationship
18:37 to establish checks and balances on each of them
18:40 that they both together can be obedient to God's word.
18:44 And so he said to the woman, Genesis 3:1,
18:49 "Has God indeed said that
18:52 you shall not eat of every tree of the garden."
18:55 Is that what God had said?
18:57 Are you sure that God said that?
19:00 You see, friends, the first phrase of this crisis
19:05 was to put a question mark where God had placed a period.
19:09 God did not say it's possible for you to die.
19:12 God didn't say, "Adam, I think that you might die,"
19:14 God said, "You will surely die."
19:17 And the devil said,
19:19 "Are you sure you're clear on what God has said."
19:22 You see, friends, today, one of the reasons
19:25 why Christians of varying degrees
19:28 that don't pay attention to what God has said
19:30 find themselves in an eventual crisis
19:33 is they to put a question mark where God has placed a period.
19:36 The Lord said,
19:38 "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy."
19:39 And they say, "Do I have to keep the Sabbath holy?"
19:43 The Bible says, "The dead know not anything."
19:46 And they say, "Do the dead know anything?"
19:49 The Bible says, "Honor thy father and thy mother,"
19:50 and children say,
19:52 "Do we have to honor our father and our mother?"
19:54 When you put a question mark where God puts a period,
19:57 a crisis is in development.
20:01 For Satan asked an ambiguous question.
20:03 He made it vague by intent,
20:06 because his object was to plan uncertainty
20:09 to put uncertainty in the mind of Eve.
20:14 And so whenever you doubt what God has said,
20:18 revisit the Word of God and always choose
20:22 on the side of caution.
20:25 If you're not sure what the God said,
20:26 go or not go, don't go.
20:30 Always make your decision on the side of caution.
20:34 Did God really mean Eve
20:36 that you could not eat of every tree of the garden?
20:41 How can you trust a God with such restrictive abilities?
20:45 How can you feel comfortable
20:48 if God does not give you complete freedom
20:50 to do what ever you want?
20:52 Every tree, if you think about it,
20:54 implies all trees.
20:58 Any tree implies some trees.
21:02 The Lord said, "I'm giving you every tree except one."
21:06 Satan said,
21:08 "God's holding from you every tree," that was not true.
21:12 You see, friends,
21:13 when we feel that God is restrictive,
21:16 there's a reason why God establishes
21:19 parameters in our lives.
21:21 He does it because there's no greater safety
21:24 than staying within the parameters
21:26 that God has established.
21:28 For example, think about as a driver.
21:30 There are many people that don't like red lights,
21:32 but I tell you, red lights are not stop lights,
21:33 they're go lights.
21:35 If you don't think that when the red light breaks down,
21:36 traffic comes to a screeching halt.
21:38 Red lights are go lights.
21:40 And some people in cities think that
21:42 they speed right through the red lights,
21:44 that's not what I mean.
21:45 But when they're functioning,
21:46 when these restrictions that are placed
21:48 there for our safety are in operation,
21:51 we find that we can enjoy continuous safety.
21:54 But when the lights of safety go out, chaos ensues.
21:59 And so God placed green lights on the good things,
22:01 yellow lights of temperance on the things
22:04 that should be taken by temperance,
22:06 and a red light on that which we should always avoid.
22:10 And you discover that Satan's level of success
22:13 was evident.
22:15 Somehow, he made a way into the mind of Eve,
22:18 because Eve changed God's statement of certainty.
22:23 It was statement of possibility.
22:24 Notice Genesis 3:2 and 3, God was certain
22:28 but Eve changed it to a statement of possibility.
22:32 Verse 2 and 3 of Genesis Chapter 3,
22:34 and the woman said to the serpent.
22:37 "We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden,
22:41 but of the fruit of the trees
22:45 which is in the midst of the garden
22:47 or the fruit of the tree
22:49 which is in the midst of the garden.
22:51 God has said you shall not eat it."
22:56 But here's what she added that God didn't say,
22:58 "Nor shall you touch it, lest you die."
23:02 God didn't say that death would be in the touching.
23:04 God said death would be in the ingesting.
23:08 God said death would be in the taking.
23:11 You know, sometimes we pick up a cigarette
23:14 and we look at it.
23:15 A cigarette that you look at
23:16 cannot bring danger to your life,
23:18 but a cigarette that you light and put to your mouth
23:20 can begin to shorten your life by minutes.
23:23 Every puff begins to shorten your life.
23:25 You may pick up a bottle of alcohol,
23:27 something that could
23:29 kill your brain cells every time you ingest it.
23:32 It doesn't bring danger when you pick it up,
23:34 but it brings danger when you begin to ingest it.
23:36 You may hold a marijuana in your hand,
23:38 and you may hold illicit drugs
23:40 and illegal prescriptions in your possession.
23:42 That's not where the death comes,
23:44 but it comes when we begin to ingest in our bodies,
23:47 God's temple, those things that God
23:49 has strictly and unequivocally prohibited.
23:54 And she said, "God said, don't touch it."
23:56 God said, "No, don't eat it.
23:58 In the day you eat of it, you'll die."
24:00 And lest you die also implies that
24:02 there is a possibility that you might die,
24:05 but God didn't leave any room for doubt,
24:07 He said, "You will die."
24:09 God did not say there was a possibility.
24:11 He said, "You will surely die."
24:14 And then the light came.
24:15 Genesis 3:4,
24:17 that's why Satan's next statement was
24:19 so easily accepted.
24:21 Let me lay the foundation.
24:23 Once you think that
24:24 there's a possibility that you won't die,
24:26 then you open yourself up to possible options.
24:29 Eve said well, "There's a chance that I won't die.
24:32 So then the risk is lessened."
24:34 God never lessened the risk.
24:36 God said, "There is a certainty of death coming
24:39 if you make a decision against my will,
24:42 but Satan had led her to believe that,
24:44 "Well there's a chance, you might,
24:45 but there's a chance you won't die.
24:47 But he even made it even more impacting,
24:49 and her choice followed his statement.
24:52 Genesis 3:4, the serpent said to the woman,
24:55 "You will not surely die."
25:00 If you read there in the Hebrew,
25:01 it really reads this way.
25:03 I am sure Eve that you will not die.
25:06 I think about the young people that I was raised with,
25:07 many of the young people
25:09 that I went to school with are dead today
25:10 because they thought that
25:12 marijuana could not possibly kill,
25:14 it's just a harmless cannabis plant,
25:17 some died of brain cancer, and lung cancer.
25:20 I mean they thought surely I won't die.
25:23 Some people got involved in gang violence
25:25 and promiscuity and died of sexually transmitted diseases.
25:29 Surely, I won't be the victim of my own choices.
25:32 Friends, don't fool yourself.
25:33 Any time we ignore God's direct command,
25:37 consequences always are the result.
25:40 We could never ignore God's command
25:42 and think that death does not begin.
25:44 Now you may not die immediately,
25:46 but I heard just recently in a report
25:49 that sometimes a disease could
25:51 hide itself in your body for 20 to 30 years
25:54 and then later on begin to manifest itself.
25:57 When your kidney begins to die
25:58 or your liver begins to function less,
26:01 or all of a sudden you begin to see
26:03 legions break out on your body,
26:05 and they trace it back to an activity that
26:07 you participated in when you were a young person.
26:10 So young folk, take it seriously.
26:12 If God says don't do it, don't do it.
26:14 Because somewhere along the way,
26:16 your body will begin to operate,
26:18 not at the peak perfection and performance
26:21 that God knows it could be.
26:23 You will somehow surely die.
26:27 Eve followed
26:30 the suggestion of this rogue angel.
26:34 But I suggest to you today that Eve would not have taken
26:39 his suggestion unless he made it seem as though
26:43 there were no consequences.
26:46 You see, the crisis in the garden
26:49 today has now become the crisis in the world.
26:53 And think about that,
26:54 what was the suggestion of Satan?
26:56 What did he say?
26:57 You will not surely die.
26:58 Today, you hear in funerals, people say they're not dead,
27:01 they're in heaven.
27:02 They're not dead, they are now your angel.
27:04 They're not dead,
27:05 they have just moved somewhere else.
27:07 We talk about this embodied spirits,
27:09 they're really not there, they're now watching over you,
27:11 but that's not the truth.
27:13 The Bible says, "The dead know not anything.
27:15 You do die when you die."
27:17 Your battery in your car when it dies,
27:19 it doesn't work in another car.
27:20 When your pets die, they don't become somebody else's pet.
27:23 I don't want to sound cynical, but when we die,
27:25 death is obvious, there is no existence of life.
27:30 And so today, to the disobedient and rebellious,
27:33 they follow the same lie, the lies told,
27:36 you will not surely die.
27:37 To the drug abuser, to the alcohol drinker,
27:40 the lie is told, you will not surely die,
27:42 to the sexually immoral and sexually promiscuous,
27:45 the lie is told and believed that you will not surely die.
27:49 To those who ignore God's word and turn their backs
27:53 on a thus smith the Lord, the lie is not only told,
27:57 but accepted that you will not surely die.
28:00 The liar of all time told a lie of all time,
28:04 you will not surely die.
28:08 You see, friends, Eve could absorb,
28:10 before Eve could absorb what had happened,
28:13 Satan furthered his attack.
28:15 And get this, by blaming God
28:18 for Eve's apparent misunderstanding.
28:21 In other words,
28:22 how could I find myself in a situation like this,
28:26 he is saying to Eve,
28:29 unless there was some misunderstanding
28:30 between God and me.
28:31 Maybe God wasn't as clear as He could have been.
28:34 And that's exactly what Satan suggested.
28:36 You see, if God was really clear Eve,
28:39 he really wouldn't be in this mess.
28:41 And so people today teach the very same thing,
28:44 is God really clear about which day is holy?
28:48 If he meant the Sabbath and why do so many honor Sunday?
28:51 God really wasn't that clear, it really doesn't matter.
28:54 Friends, you better revisit God's word.
28:56 He says, remember
28:57 the Sabbath day to keep it holy.
28:59 He only blessed one day, the seventh.
29:02 God was clear about His Word, but so many people today
29:07 are falling for the same tactics
29:09 that Satan used on Eve.
29:11 See God knows something he said to Eve.
29:13 God knows something that he doesn't want you to know.
29:17 Listen to Genesis 3:5, listen to the way that Satan maligned
29:21 and misrepresented what God had said.
29:23 He said to Eve, for God knows, that is the word in the Hebrew,
29:29 Elohim, for God knows
29:32 that in the day you eat of it.
29:37 Here's what's going to happen, Eve,
29:39 you're going to have better eyesight,
29:41 your eyes will be opened.
29:44 And you know what, Eve, finally, you'll be like God.
29:49 I mean, I'm sure he made you very well
29:52 but if you just disobey Him,
29:55 you would be elevated to a status that God
29:58 never wanted you to accomplish.
30:00 You will be like God and not only that,
30:04 your intellect will expand.
30:05 You will know good and you will know evil.
30:08 Well, you know, I want to say this again,
30:10 I think, I said this in my last presentation.
30:13 It is not necessary to know evil to appreciate good.
30:16 Come on, can you say amen to that?
30:18 You don't have to know death to appreciate life.
30:21 You don't have to know pain to enjoy a life free from pain.
30:25 You don't have to experience
30:26 freedom from a broken down life to appreciate a pure life.
30:31 If they had only made the right decision,
30:33 I want to say this clearly,
30:35 we would not be in the mess that we are in today.
30:39 But Satan made it ambiguous.
30:41 God is trying to hold out on you.
30:43 There's a knowledge that God doesn't want you to have.
30:46 You see,
30:48 you could have more freedom than God has offered
30:50 you to this point if you just disobey him.
30:52 And there are people that live like that today.
30:55 There are people that
30:56 as the Bible says in 1 Thessalonians,
30:58 "They are the children of the night, not of the day.
31:01 They're of the world, not of the kingdom.
31:03 They believe that they are free, they can do anything,
31:06 they can go anywhere, they can dress anyhow,
31:09 they can eat anything, they can wear anything,
31:12 they can say anything,
31:13 they are completely free
31:15 when in fact they are bound by sin.
31:19 But Satan makes it feel like freedom.
31:21 He says, "You don't have to answer to God,
31:23 you are your own voice,
31:24 you are your own person of accountability."
31:27 And that's why today, I spoke to somebody recently,
31:30 they said, "Now I don't know if God exists
31:32 but whomever you may speak to
31:35 or whomever you may acknowledge,
31:36 I mean, it could be the stars that are lined up,
31:39 it could be everything's working out right,
31:41 it could be karma."
31:42 And I said to the person, "Look, just don't tell me that,
31:45 just say God answered your prayer."
31:48 Amen.
31:49 Don't give the credit of God's blessing to the stars lining up
31:53 or to karma or things just falling into place.
31:56 We don't serve a coincidental God,
31:57 we serve a God that answers every prayer
32:00 in harmony with His will.
32:03 But Satan offered a life quite different
32:06 than the life that God intended for Adam and Eve to have.
32:09 He said, "God is not being upfront with you Eve,
32:13 He's hiding something.
32:14 God is concerned that you could become his equal."
32:19 And then Satan led Eve to attempt.
32:20 Hear me carefully.
32:22 He led Eve to attempt, what he knew could not be accomplished.
32:29 Example, there is no life in death.
32:33 There is no blessing in disobedience.
32:36 There is no safety in rebellion.
32:39 You never accomplish a safe life
32:43 driving with a rebellious attitude.
32:47 You never find the blessings of God
32:49 on the edge of disobedience.
32:52 You will never experience life when you make death choices.
32:56 In the Book of Deuteronomy, the Bible says,
32:58 "Behold, I place before you two rows,
33:00 life and blessings on the right,
33:02 death and cursings and I add, on the left,
33:05 the Bible doesn't say right and left.
33:08 Life and blessings, death and cursings
33:11 and God loves us so much.
33:12 He doesn't say, "Pick one," He says "Choose life."
33:16 God's plan for every one of us is that we might have life.
33:19 John 10:10, and have it more abundantly.
33:23 As a matter of fact, he said the thief Satan himself,
33:25 the father of lies, the thief, he said,
33:27 "The thief comes to kill, to steal, and to destroy."
33:32 But he said, "Don't mess up why I've come.
33:35 I haven't come to make your life miserable.
33:36 I have come that you might have life,
33:38 and have it more abundantly."
33:41 Now somebody might say,
33:43 "Well, you're not going to live forever.
33:44 So you're going to die of something."
33:45 I heard a person once say that, he said,
33:48 "Pastor John, no matter how old good you live,
33:50 no matter how good you eat,
33:51 you're not going to live forever."
33:53 And so since I'm not going to live forever,
33:55 you might as well choose your vice,
33:57 you might as well just enjoy yourself and just die.
33:59 He said, "You're going to die, and I'm going to die."
34:01 I said, "No, no, no, you are going to die eternally,
34:05 I might die and come forth to eternal life."
34:08 Amen.
34:09 So it's not about the time the world gives to you
34:11 when God establishes a blessing,
34:13 He does it so that we can enjoy life more abundantly.
34:18 I think of that deceased now George Burns, many years ago,
34:21 he was in a movie entitled, "Oh, God, You devil."
34:24 I never forgot that.
34:26 I was on a plane coming back from Taipei,
34:27 Taiwan on my way to Hawaii.
34:29 When I was in the singing group,
34:31 the Heritage Singers, I never forgot that.
34:33 They were showing the movie on the plane entitled,
34:35 "Oh, God, You devil."
34:37 And the flight attendant came by, and she asked me,
34:40 if I want a pair of headsets to listen to that movie.
34:42 Well, I have to tell you the rest of the story.
34:46 I said, "There is no way I'm going to watch a movie
34:48 with a man with a cigar in his mouth claiming to be God.
34:53 I'm not going to watch anything blasphemous like that
34:56 when I'm in an airplane over God's ocean
35:00 and I need the safety and security of God
35:02 to hold this thing up until we get to safety.
35:04 There is no way I'm going to watch that movie."
35:06 So I refused, I opened my Bible,
35:08 I began to read the Word of God,
35:10 I began to read the Book of Hebrews.
35:12 And I remember very carefully even to this very day
35:14 when I open my Bible.
35:16 I see the Book of Hebrews outlined carefully.
35:18 I'm now up to my fourth Bible,
35:20 but when I open the Book of Hebrews to this very day
35:22 I never forget that experience.
35:26 That plane flying over the Pacific Ocean.
35:28 And God found a way to get everyone's attention,
35:31 because during the portion of the flight
35:32 where they began to give out the meals.
35:35 It always seems to happen when they give out the food,
35:37 the plane began to shake and rock
35:39 and turbulence began to hit,
35:41 and the flight attendants locked down their carts
35:43 and found the nearest seat,
35:45 and the pilot made the announcement.
35:46 "Please, we're suspending all service until further notice."
35:50 And the plane began to shake, this 747,
35:53 this monstrosity of a plane
35:54 with nowhere to land shaking over the Pacific Ocean.
35:58 And I thought to myself if we go down,
36:01 I rather go down with the knowledge of God in my head
36:03 than with a blasphemous movie like "Oh, God, You devil."
36:06 With the very last thought
36:08 before I close my eyes in death.
36:09 So I stayed in the word, I stayed in the word,
36:12 and somebody saw me,
36:14 I remember somebody on the plane
36:15 that I know very well, I won't give his name,
36:16 but he saw me and he said,
36:18 "John, I was holding on to the seat
36:20 with dear life or for dear life."
36:22 And he said to me, "John, don't you know
36:25 that if the plane goes down, the seat goes down with it."
36:29 And I thought to myself, that's true,
36:32 but even more than the seat
36:34 was my concern of the condition of my mind.
36:37 If I were to close my eyes in death at that moment,
36:42 how wonderful that would have been to know
36:44 that my last thoughts were the last six books of Hebrews
36:48 that my mind was now
36:50 enjoying that I was imbibing that I was thinking on.
36:55 Friends, you see so many people live their lives
36:57 not considering the last moments of their lives.
37:01 The blessing will never come on the heels of rebellion.
37:05 Life will never be found in activity of death,
37:08 and there is no safety in any rebellion.
37:12 When you think of the situation that Adam and Eve was in,
37:16 the Bible said, "It was clear that Satan directly related
37:21 the condition that he insinuated upon Eve
37:26 to the attempts he had in his mind,
37:29 when he began his rebellion in God's government.
37:31 He said, "I will be like the most high, but God said,
37:33 "No, you won't, you will be cast down to the ground.
37:38 You will be seen for who you really are.
37:41 And this fallen being found a way to bring to humanity,
37:47 the choices of a fallen, broken rebellious angel.
37:52 One writer once said
37:54 that "If God is small enough for us to understand,
37:58 he is not big enough for us to worship.
38:01 Satan tried to bring God down to Eve's level
38:04 for her to understand.
38:06 But I want to tell you today.
38:07 I like what the Book of Job says,
38:09 "Can you search out the deep things of God?
38:11 Can you find out the limits of the Almighty?"
38:13 Job 11: 7.
38:15 You see, friends, here's the point.
38:16 It is not necessary to understand everything
38:20 God calls us to accept.
38:22 It is not important for God to give us every reason
38:27 why we need to be obedient, anymore than a parent
38:30 qualifies every statement that
38:32 he or she makes to their children.
38:34 But if they say don't do this,
38:36 be certain that they have your best interest in mind.
38:39 At least, I know that's true about our heavenly Father.
38:41 When God says don't, He means don't for our safety.
38:45 When He says don't, He means that for our blessings.
38:47 When He says don't go, He means there's danger lurking there,
38:50 don't go on that path.
38:55 But the fact is, the deed was done,
38:58 and the seeds of doubt began to sprout.
39:03 What were they?
39:05 Think of this carefully.
39:06 What were they?
39:07 There were only three areas of temptation
39:09 continually outlined in scripture,
39:12 "The lust of the flesh,
39:14 the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life."
39:16 Adam and Eve failed in the lust of the flesh
39:20 because she saw that the tree was good for food.
39:23 In the lust of the eyes,
39:24 the tree was pleasant to her eyes,
39:27 and in the pride of life,
39:29 desiring to make herself more wise than even God Himself.
39:34 There are only three temptations,
39:35 that's why Jesus was tempted three times.
39:37 In 1 John 2:15, talks about these three temptations.
39:42 But here's the good news.
39:44 Where Adam and Eve failed, Jesus succeeded.
39:48 Can you say amen to that?
39:50 When Adam and Eve failed, Jesus was successful.
39:53 There're only three temptations,
39:55 three categories that outline every temptation
39:59 that humanity will ever face.
40:02 The lust of the flesh, the thing they want so much,
40:06 it looks good for food.
40:09 The lust of the eyes, when we see it,
40:11 we want it, it's pleasant, I like the way it looks.
40:15 And the pride of life.
40:16 If I fall into it, it'll make me better.
40:19 If I decide to accept it, I will become more intelligent
40:22 than I am outside of God's restrictions.
40:25 You see, the crisis in the earth began,
40:28 the rejection of truth
40:30 proved to be the truth after all.
40:33 Adam disqualified himself
40:35 by joining Eve in the rebellion,
40:38 that's why 1 Corinthians 15:22 says these words,
40:41 "For as in Adam all die."
40:44 You see, friends, the reason why we die today
40:47 is not because we eventually break down,
40:49 but we have a nature that was given to us
40:51 by our father Adam.
40:53 In the Garden of Eden, when he rebelled,
40:55 when he chose to follow even her rebellion,
40:58 he became a victim of the very same experience that she had.
41:03 The Bible says, "Eve was deceived,"
41:06 but Romans 5:12 makes it clear that Adam was not deceived.
41:11 Let me read that verse to you,
41:13 listen to Romans 5:12, it says,
41:15 "Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world,
41:20 and death through sin,
41:21 and thus death spread to all men,
41:26 because all sinned."
41:28 Now you think about that, you might say,
41:30 "Well, Pastor John, are you saying baby sin?"
41:32 "No, what I'm saying is
41:33 babies are not guilty of the actions of sin,
41:36 but babies are born with the nature that
41:38 as it leans as it continues to grow,
41:41 it always leads in the direction of rebellion,
41:44 and disobedience, and dishonesty, and lies."
41:46 Have you ever seen a baby lie?
41:48 Have you ever seen children with dishonest practices?
41:50 These small little innocent children that look so cute,
41:54 they gonna lie so beautifully, but it's still a lie.
41:57 That's why Lord allows them to be born so young.
42:00 You see, Adam gave to us the best he could.
42:05 Even though he was the only male created before a sin,
42:08 he handed down the best he could,
42:11 ''as in Adam, all die."
42:16 The second phrase of any crisis is this,
42:20 thinking that we're gonna accomplish
42:22 a greater level of success by ignoring God's word.
42:26 Look at Genesis 3:7, Genesis 3:7,
42:30 amazing how this unfolds in God's word.
42:34 After they follow the suggestions of the evil one,
42:37 after Eve fell by deception and Adam fell by choice,
42:43 the Bible says in verse 7 of Genesis 3,
42:46 "Then the eyes of both of them were opened,
42:50 and they knew that they were naked,
42:54 they saw themselves in a condition
42:56 that they never saw themselves before.
43:00 And they sewed fig leaves together,
43:02 and made themselves coverings."
43:05 Friends, God gave them
43:06 a glorious robe of righteousness,
43:08 a robe of incomprehensible glorious light.
43:15 And they traded that garment for fig leaves.
43:18 You see, anytime we choose anything other than
43:20 what God has given to us, it's nothing but fig leaves.
43:24 Fig leaves of excuses, fig leaves of decisions,
43:27 fig leaves of indulgences.
43:28 It's nothing but fig leaves,
43:30 and it's not sufficient to cover our lies.
43:34 Now if you read further on,
43:36 God didn't settle for the fig leaves,
43:38 he killed animals and covered their nakedness,
43:41 so that their shame would not appear.
43:43 But think about it for a moment.
43:45 They tasted what they realized they should not have tasted.
43:49 They saw what they wish they had never seen.
43:53 They understood what God never intended for them to know
43:56 and that's the lot of humanity today.
43:59 We do what we should not have done.
44:01 We see what we wish we had never seen,
44:04 and we understand what God never intended
44:07 for us to experience, that's our world today.
44:10 When you go on the internet,
44:11 you have to be careful where you go.
44:12 When you turn on television,
44:14 you have to be careful what you watch.
44:15 When you listen to the radio,
44:17 you have to be careful what channels do you stop on,
44:19 things that we do, we taste, we touch,
44:22 we understand, we see, we participate in.
44:25 This world is just like it was after the fall of Adam and Eve,
44:29 all because of one rogue angel,
44:32 this angel once called Lucifer
44:34 fallen now into the pit of satanic activity,
44:38 the lights went out,
44:40 their righteous garments went out confiscated by sin,
44:43 the feelings of a new discovery
44:45 that seem like it was a right thing was now dissolved
44:48 by the reality of an old lie.
44:51 It was not a new discovery, it was an old lie,
44:53 they fell hook line and sinker
44:55 for something that Satan knew would bring
44:57 misery, death, and destruction.
45:00 But I want to end my message with not sad news,
45:03 I want to end my message with good news.
45:06 For you read in the Bible, in the midst of every crisis
45:10 there is an all of a sudden.
45:13 You see, some people say to themselves
45:15 why didn't God just get rid of Adam and Eve
45:18 and start all over again,
45:20 He could have, He is god.
45:22 Why didn't God wipe out Satan
45:24 when Satan fell into rebellion?
45:26 Why didn't God just get rid of all the angels
45:28 that had followed him in his deception
45:31 and his war that failed in heaven?
45:32 Why didn't God just wipe them all out?
45:35 And we wouldn't be in the problems
45:36 that we are in today.
45:37 You see, friends, let me make it very clear,
45:39 God's love is so far beyond our understanding
45:42 that He is not a wipe out God,
45:43 He is a rescue God.
45:46 He is the God who loves us with an everlasting love.
45:49 He is a God that ceases in our sin
45:52 but He doesn't leave us in our sin.
45:54 He came looking for Adam and Eve.
45:56 He came to find them
45:58 in their disappointing moments.
46:00 When coldness introduced itself in an atmosphere of comfort,
46:04 when the trees began to die
46:05 and the roses that would bloom for ever
46:07 began to start to fade,
46:09 when animals that had no fear for man
46:12 was now filled with great fear,
46:13 and the night was filled with a chill of disobedience.
46:17 God came looking for Adam and Eve.
46:20 You see, we looked at the phases of the fall,
46:22 but the first phase in reversing any crisis
46:25 or the first phrase or first step
46:28 that has to be taken
46:30 in reversing any crisis is Jesus.
46:32 He comes to rescue us from our own choices.
46:36 I say praise God for that.
46:39 If there was no one to rescue us,
46:43 we would be for ever bound in sin.
46:47 And so there are four questions
46:48 that every one of us must answer,
46:49 Genesis 3:9, four questions,
46:52 these are the questions of redemption,
46:55 not the questions of condemnation.
46:57 The Lord wants us to understand what we have done,
47:01 where we are,
47:02 the consequences of our choices,
47:04 but He doesn't bring that to make us
47:06 feel worse than we already feel.
47:08 He says, see what your choices have made of you,
47:13 and thus in the midst of your choices,
47:15 here are the choices I can give to you.
47:17 Genesis 3:9 the Bible says,
47:19 "Then the Lord God called to Adam
47:20 and said, 'Where are you?'
47:23 " I read that statement sometimes
47:24 and one day it came and dawned on me
47:26 that God was not asking for location,
47:28 God was asking for confession.
47:30 He knew where Adam was but the question was
47:35 Adam now where are you physically?
47:37 Adam now where are you geographically?
47:39 But Adam where are you in response to my word?
47:44 Where are you in relationship to the things
47:46 that I've told you to do?
47:48 Where are you in relationship
47:50 to the things you know are right?
47:51 Where are you in relationship
47:54 to the life that I've given to you?
47:55 You see, friends, unless we answer those questions,
47:57 we stay behind the trees of our own rebellion.
48:01 We continually hide in the home that
48:03 we have made for ourselves.
48:04 We live a life of uncertainty and abandoned member.
48:07 When we answer those questions where are you,
48:11 we discover that God is on a rescue mission.
48:14 Adam came out of hiding
48:16 with the same 'I' trouble that he had when he went in.
48:19 You see, Satan said, I will be, I will be, I will be,
48:22 and Satan came and Adam came out
48:25 from behind the tree with the same situation,
48:27 now fallen into sin,
48:29 now embracing the character that was delivered to him
48:32 by the rebellious one himself, Satan.
48:36 Look at Genesis 3:10,
48:39 Adam came out with the bunch of 'I's'.
48:41 He said, "I heard Your voice in the garden,
48:44 and I was afraid
48:46 because I was naked, and I hid myself."
48:51 Notice the same problems that Lucifer had,
48:54 I will be, I will do, I will exalt,
48:57 the same issues, ''I''
49:00 it's all about 'I', in the midst of sin is 'I'.
49:07 Friends, be careful, be careful
49:10 because when it's all about you,
49:11 you're about to fall into sin.
49:14 If it's about Jesus,
49:15 you are walking on the foundation of safety,
49:18 it was all about I.
49:21 But I like what the Lord ask him,
49:23 who told you that you were naked?
49:24 Now think about that for a moment.
49:26 He said to Adam,
49:28 who have you been listening to?
49:31 Now follow this very carefully.
49:33 The Lord knew who he was listening to.
49:35 He listened to the voice of his wife.
49:37 She listened to the voice of the serpent
49:38 and when you fall, when you go down the line,
49:41 you'll see how that unfolded.
49:43 If you were not listening to what I said, Adam,
49:46 who told you?
49:47 Where did you get your information from?
49:49 Here's my point.
49:50 If the things that you believe don't come from God's word,
49:53 who told you?
49:55 Who told you that there was a new day of worship?
49:57 Who told you that the dead are alive in heaven?
50:00 You don't find that in my word I never said that,
50:02 who told you that?
50:04 Who told you that there is a secret rapture?
50:06 It's not in my word.
50:08 When I come back, it's gonna be visible,
50:09 it's gonna be audible, it's gonna be earthshaking.
50:11 Who have you been listening to?
50:13 Christian, you see the point as you may be a Christian,
50:16 but if your beliefs are not found in God's word,
50:18 I ask you the same question
50:19 that God asked Adam, who told you?
50:22 Where did you get that from?
50:24 And then he brought it home he said to Adam
50:27 okay, I can tell by your answer
50:29 that you've eaten something
50:31 I never gave you to eat,
50:33 that's why we say today in our world we swallow a lie.
50:38 When you eat what God has not given you,
50:41 friends, you are ingesting something
50:42 that God never created to be ingested,
50:45 you swallowed a lie.
50:47 Don't swallow lies and think
50:48 that it brings the nourishment of righteousness.
50:50 Don't swallow lies and think
50:52 that it brings a heart at peace.
50:54 Don't swallow lies and think that
50:55 somehow it gives a new and exalted way of worship.
50:59 Only when it comes from God's word
51:02 is it on the safe plane.
51:03 Have you eaten?
51:05 In other words, have you done, Adam,
51:06 what I told you not to do?
51:10 Now at this point, Adam could have confessed
51:14 but Adam looked into the eyes of God
51:16 and he blamed his wife.
51:18 The first domestic dispute I believe in human history
51:22 Adam said to God in verse 12 of Genesis 3,
51:25 "Then the man said,
51:27 "The woman You gave to be with me,
51:29 she gave me of the tree, and I ate."
51:32 In other words God,
51:34 God, if you didn't give me this kind of women
51:35 I wouldn't be in trouble.
51:37 Friends, don't ever blame your wife for your predicament.
51:39 Don't ever blame your spouse
51:40 for the situation that you're in.
51:42 Don't blame the person that's with you
51:44 for the choices you make.
51:46 In other words, God if you didn't create
51:48 a woman like that,
51:50 I wouldn't be in a predicament like this.
51:52 He couldn't open his eyes in his mind to blame himself,
51:55 he couldn't take personal responsibility,
51:58 somehow God had to be the reason for his misery.
52:03 But it didn't stop there.
52:06 Eve stepped out to face the music.
52:08 And I'm sure, and I say this as a marriage counselor,
52:11 I'm sure that may be the first time in human history
52:13 that a woman wanted to go upside a man's head.
52:15 If she had frying pan,
52:16 she may have hit Adam in the head,
52:18 but she came out with the same infected position.
52:22 She said in verse 13 of Genesis 3,
52:25 "And the Lord God said to the woman,
52:28 'What is this that you have done?'
52:30 And the woman said,
52:33 'The serpent deceived me, and I ate."
52:37 The serpent deceived me, and I ate.
52:41 In other words, Lord, you see,
52:45 Father, as Adam and I talked about this,
52:47 I know he blamed me but let me just tell you,
52:49 if you really think about it, Lord,
52:51 if you didn't create a serpent
52:53 Adam nor I would be in this predicament.
52:55 They couldn't take personal responsibility,
52:58 they blamed God's creation.
52:59 Adam blamed his wife, you gave me a woman,
53:01 she blamed the serpent,
53:02 God it was your creation that brought us this problem,
53:08 but I want to tell you,
53:09 you got to ask yourself the question.
53:11 Whose fault is it that we are where we are?
53:16 The bottom-line is, friends, it is our fault.
53:19 The death sentence was passed, eternal life was forfeited,
53:24 the serpent's wings were clipped,
53:26 the ground was cursed,
53:28 thorns and thistles began to be connected to the roses.
53:31 The first eviction notice was served.
53:34 They would not have access to the tree of life
53:37 and they would have no strength to continue,
53:41 to propagate sin in the earth.
53:44 And God put Satan on notice.
53:46 You see this is a tragic story but has a good ending.
53:49 God put the devil on notice.
53:52 Nearly 6,000 years ago, God so loved the world
53:55 that he put the enemy on notice
53:57 He says, I've seen the heartache,
53:59 and devastation I've seen the pain,
54:02 the multiple millions and billions that have died
54:05 through the thousands and thousands
54:06 and thousands of years of human existence,
54:08 but Satan tonight I'm gonna put you on notice
54:11 because the trouble you've caused
54:13 humanity will one day come to an end.
54:16 Hallelujah somebody.
54:17 The trouble that you have brought to humanity
54:19 will one day be forever crushed,
54:21 for ever brought down
54:23 and God gave us a message of insurance tonight, friends,
54:27 here it is, Genesis 3:15,
54:31 he said, "I will put enmity between you and the woman,
54:37 And between your seed and her seed,
54:41 he will bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel."
54:46 The first prophecy of the coming Messiah.
54:48 When Jesus comes, you'll nip His heel
54:51 but He's gonna crush your head.
54:52 Hallelujah, when Jesus comes
54:54 all the people that have rested in their graves
54:56 because of sin that you caused to come upon humanity,
54:59 it will be reversed,
55:00 I will win over you eventually.
55:04 God put the devil on notice.
55:07 When My Son comes, He's gonna crush your head.
55:10 You wound Him temporarily
55:12 but in the end He will rise again.
55:14 All, friends, today don't cry yet
55:16 because this series is not only title,
55:18 the anatomy of the crisis but also from crisis to Christ.
55:22 You see, in every crisis there is a way out.
55:26 No temptation has overtaken you,
55:29 but such as it's common to man,
55:30 but God is faithful,
55:32 who will not suffer you to be tempted
55:34 above that what you're able
55:36 but with every temptation make a way of escape
55:39 that you may be able to bear it.
55:42 1 Corinthians 10:13, so friends, today
55:45 it's not where you are but is where God knows you are.
55:48 It's not what you have done
55:49 but is what God knows you have done.
55:51 Today there is still hope because Jesus lives.
55:54 Today there is still forgiveness
55:56 because Jesus reigns.
55:57 Today there're still freedom
55:58 because Jesus has the keys of death and of a grave.
56:02 Today they are still alive because Jesus is Lord of lords.
56:06 And so if there was only one garden,
56:10 we would be lost,
56:11 but there was another garden,
56:12 the Garden of Gethsemane
56:14 where Jesus bled and prayed for us,
56:17 the hill called Golgotha
56:18 where Jesus shed His blood to save us.
56:20 There is not just one garden where we fail,
56:22 but one garden where Jesus was victorious.
56:25 So today whatever crisis you may be in,
56:28 whatever situation you find yourself in,
56:31 you don't need another plan,
56:32 just give your life to Jesus, you don't need any leader,
56:35 don't need another leader
56:37 just turn your life over to the Lord
56:40 who is Lord of all,
56:41 not about presidents but about kings,
56:43 not about the White House but about the right house.
56:45 So today, friends, whatever your crisis may be,
56:48 let me encourage you with these words.
56:50 The anatomy of the fall is replaced
56:53 by the anatomy of the raise,
56:55 Jesus is victorious were Adam failed,
56:58 don't be discouraged, don't be downhearted,
57:01 don't walk away sad, don't be discourage
57:04 or distress for in the midst of your difficulty,
57:07 there is an eternal answer and his name is Jesus.
57:11 So today make that choice
57:13 for one day the serpent's head
57:15 will be forever eternally crushed
57:17 and when that day comes,
57:19 you want to be on the side
57:21 of the one who is King of kings and Lord of lords.
57:24 God bless you until we see you again.


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Revised 2016-08-15