Teachings – Sentence on the Serpent in Eden

SENTENCE ON THE SERPENT IN EDEN

UNFOLDING SIX

WHERE ARE WE 

We are soon to exit the Garden of Eden. Looking back, the Garden of Paradise was a lovely, wonderful place that God prepared for Adam, and his helpmate, Eve. Unimaginably beautiful! Work was no toil, no sweat on the brow. Unlike the seeds that Jesus spoke about, and where they landed – some on the foot path where the birds ate the seed, some on rocky ground, some scorched by the sun – in God’s garden all was fertile soil, overhead, an unhampering sun, a perfect balance of warmth and rain. Everything was perfect… until… Adam sinned.

SCRIPTURE

Genesis 3: 14-15

“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; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust 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; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”

Ezekiel 28: 12-14

“Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.”

2 Corinthians 11: 3

“But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.”

Revelation 12: 8

“And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”

SENTENCE ON THE SERPENT IN EDEN
UNFOLDING SIX

In this unfolding, Pastor addresses what happened to Satan as a result of his rebellion, and his attempt to draw the human race into his treason. However, Pastor provides us fair warning as to the nature of Satan’s true (not fictional) existence. 

Satan can insinuate himself into any situation. He entered the garden. He got into Eve’s head, so to speak when she wondered whether God said if even she touched the forbidden fruit.

• When Adam ate, he entered Adam’s heart and mind; ruining his soul and bringing all men into sin and condemnation. 
• Today, he enters into our prayers, homes… churches… schools…  governments.

Regarding Satan, Pastor wrote:

“His ways are not easily found out; and though we are not ignorant of his devices, we know not which device he will next use.”

Moreover, Satan’s bites are venomous. 

“What poison one fang of the old serpent will throw into our moral system! Look around, and see how many have been poisoned with the desire for strong drink, with lust, with avarice, with pride, with anger, with unbelief.”

And yet, despite this, God reigns supreme, and with His curse – ‘Upon thy belly thou shalt go and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life,’ the serpent went. Yes, Satan – that great dragon was defeated… defeated at the cross, when the Son of God took upon himself our sin as promised in Genesis 3:14-15, and symbolically represented in Numbers 21: 8-9, when – 

“The Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh at it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.”

THOUGHT GOING FORWARD

The idea of going forward is not only the matter of where we are going next into Pastor’s next discourse, but going in life. Is God calling your name? Let us not lose sight of what we have learned so far:

(1) of God’s calling out to us by name, and 

(2) of the wiles and ways of Satan. 

Let us remember what Pastor warned us, ‘Beware of thinking too little of the fall.’ This includes treating the Devil as a fable. He is very real. His host of angels that followed him are very real. To think otherwise is great folly. Given the times we are living in – the darkness and evil, the threat of war, our children dying from drug overdoses in the streets. Are these things a fable? We would readily call a man a fool who said so, and remarkably, there are fools today who say so or want to lessen the significance of what we’re facing. Let us not be so. Oh, Lord, let us not be so!    

IN TRIBUTE TO SPURGEON’S LOVE OF SHORT RHYMES

A devil condemned but on the loose
is like a convict free,
To leave your house with open doors,
is a foolish way to be.