True And False Faith

Genesis 3:1-10 "Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? [2]  And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: [3]  But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. [4]  And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: [5]  For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. [6] And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. [7] And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. [8]  And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. [9] And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? [10]  And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. "

There are so many voices in the world today, proclaiming so many different "ways to God". Which way is best? Who should I trust? Is there really only "one way" to God, and if so, then what is that way?

Its easy to blame the ills of our society and ourselves on television, movies, poor parental guidance, poor environment - and yes, these things all contribute to the confusion that reigns supreme in America and in the Church today. Rather than help correct the deficiency misguided Churches, under the guise of being "user friendly", often tries to blend the message of the Cross with the message of the world. The resulting mess-age is often less pleasing to the hearer than if all of the Gospel, or all of the World was preached.

Today we want to look at True and False Faith in the light of our Genesis passage. What are the marks of False Faith? How can I recognize it in myself or in the world around me? Let's look at what the Word of God has to say.

When the serpent, Satan, came to Eve in the Garden, I want you to notice what his first words were:

Genesis 3:1 "... Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?"

Capitalize, for a moment, those three words in your mind: hath God said. Satan's implication was "You really misunderstood God's command .. did He really give you this directive, or did you 'add to' the message?". Though Satan addressed his question to Eve I want you to note that the Bible tells us that Adam was with her while this whole event took place. Again, notice in Genesis 3.6:

"... and (she) gave also unto her husband with her... "

Adam stood quietly by while Eve listened to the devil. Adam knew full well God's command:

Genesis 2:16-17 "And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: [17]  But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."

When Satan said "Hath God said?", Adam should have immediately spoke up and said "Absolutely! The Lord said that we must not eat of this particular tree. He has given us all other trees, we do not feel deprived - Satan, go away!". Yet Adam failed to do this - He listened to Satan. And in listening, set in motion the events that would lead to the fall of mankind.

My friends, if we imitate the wrong source we tie ourselves to disaster. Today you may have come to Church, not out of a willingness to hear God's Word, but because it's Sunday and that the proper thing to do on Sunday. You may have entered this assembly thinking that your works are pure, that you really don't need Christ as your Saviour. You may have listened to the many voices of the world, voices spoken of by Paul as:

2 Corinthians 11:12-15 "But what I do, that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from them which desire occasion; that wherein they glory, they may be found even as we. [13]  For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. [14]  And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. [15]  Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works."

But I tell you today, unbelievers and believers alike, that if you have modeled your faith after "good works" and Satan's lies, if your life is an imitation of the false apostles who roam the world today, then your faith is empty and will not save you. Do not model your spiritual life after the ways of this world. Be ye imitators of Christ. What has Jesus said?

Matthew 7:21-23 "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. [22] Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? [23]  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."

You cannot enter Heaven by imitating religion, you cannot enter Heaven by imitating Satan's lies. God has one primary and Sovereign command that He demands of you this day. He demands that you, above all, accept Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour. Here is the will of the Father:

John 6:39-40 "And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. [40] And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day."

The world tells us: "Imitate us. Don't give your life to Christ. Don't publicly profess your faith in Him. You're a good person - imitate other good people". God says, "Imitate my Son - accept Him as your Saviour today, not tomorrow!"
 
 

A new missionary went to Venezuela for the first time. He knew nothing of the Spanish language, but he thought "I'll just imitate the actions of the people around me and everything will be fine".  As he walked into a local Church he followed a rather distinguished looking Venezuelan and thought to himself "I'll imitate this guy during the services". Throughout the rest of the service he kept his eyes on this man and did exactly what he did. When he stood up, the missionary stood up. When he sat down the missionary sat down. When he sang the missionary tried to imitate what he said. Everything seemed to be going well. At the end of the service the Pastor said something from the pulpit and the distinguished gentleman stood up - as did the missionary. Suddenly there was a gasp from the congregation. The missionary turned around and noticed no one else was standing, so he quickly sat down. At the end of the service the bi-lingual Pastor came up to the missionary and asked, "You don't speak a word of Spanish, do you?". The missionary said, "No, was it that obvious?" The Pastor said, "Yes. At the end of the service I announced that the Accosta family had a newborn baby boy, and would the proud father to stand up." (from Alan Smith, Boone Church of Christ)

Be careful that your salvation is not an imitation salvation, but a true faith in Jesus Christ!

Had Adam and Eve clung fast to the Word of God they would have quickly ran Satan off. Yet they failed to do this. I want you to notice in what Eve said in Genesis 3.3:

"..But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.."

Do you notice what Eve added to God's command? Look at these five words: neither shall ye touch it. Just a few little words, yet they changed the command of God into a lie. God never told Adam and Eve that they weren't allowed to touch the forbidden fruit - just that they weren't allowed to eat of it. In fact, God specifically told them that their job was to:

Genesis 2:15  "And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it."

In the original language of the Scripture dress means "to cultivate, tend to the well-being of, or prune". God told Adam and Eve to cultivate the Garden of Eden, the whole Garden, which meant they would indeed have to touch the forbidden tree. There is no way you can cultivate anything without touching it, pruning it, digging into the soil at its base. Eve added to God's message just as false prophets add to and attack the Gospel message today.

There are two extremes in the world today that equally attack the Gospel message. One extreme we've already discussed, the extreme that says "I'm good enough to go to Heaven on my own. I don't really need to profess Christ as Saviour". The other extreme is the one that says "To be saved I must accept Christ as my Saviour and _____".

One day a friend and I were out witnessing door to door in a small trailer park when we came up on three men working on a truck. I noticed a six-pack of beer sitting on the fender of the truck, but said nothing about it while I told them about our Lord and our Church. Though none of the men made a profession of faith, they listened politely and remarked when we started to leave that I had said nothing about the beer. They had been evangelized before and told that in order to be saved they would have to accept Christ as Saviour and give up the beer. I told them that, once they accepted Christ as Saviour, God would take the beer away, but they certainly didn't have to do anything in order to be saved but believe.

Dear friends, when we add to the Words of God we pervert the Gospel. When our Lord walked the earth he said:

Matthew 9:11-13 "And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners? [12]  But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. [13]  But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."

When people looked for Jesus they knew exactly where to find Him, for he went where the sinners were and preached the Gospel of Salvation to them. Yet you will never find Jesus telling these sinners to accept Him as Saviour and "give up" a bad habit. Yet those who came did, indeed, give up bad habits. For I tell you this: when God comes into a heart He heals its scars, purifies it, and lifts the sinner to new heights of accomplishment. Do not think that you need to "give up" something to be saved today, unless it be your own will. Lay down your will to God, accept His Son as your Saviour and you will be saved. God will manage the rest.
 
 

C.H. Spurgeon said: "The longer I live the more I bless God that we have not received a classical Gospel, or a mathematical Gospel, or a metaphysical Gospel; it is not a Gospel confined to scholars and men of genius, but a poor man's Gospel, a ploughman's Gospel ... We want no fine words when the heart is heavy, neither do we need deep problems when we are lying on the verge of eternity, weak in body and tempted in mind. At such times we magnify the blessed simplicity of the Gospel. Jesus in the flesh made manifest becomes our soul's bread. Jesus bleeding on the Cross, a substitute for sinners, is our soul's drink. This is the Gospel for babes, and strong men want no more.."

Genesis 3.4-5 ".. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: [5]  For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil."

Once Satan gets his hooks into us, once he gets us to respond to his lies, be becomes bolder in discrediting God. The lie gets into our minds and begins to take over our very souls.

Did God really say what He said? I have heard the claims of evolution, and I have heard the "Biblical Scholars" who claim that the Bible, that grand Old Book, is no more than a series of myths written by an ancient people. We have heard the lie, accepted it into our house, and now begin to believe it to our own destruction.

As to the question as to whether there is a God I say to you, "Look around yourself" and answer, in your own minds, if the beautiful design we see in nature could have just "happened". Is there a God? Absolutely, yes there is a God who created all this, and you know it in your heart of hearts.

Those who deny the Scripture say that when they die, they are just dead, ceased from existence much like a dog or cat would die. "When I'm dead I cease to exist, that's all there is to it". Yet you see all around you evidence of the Creator, can you not believe the evidence of the Scripture. God offers you blessed hope, the blessed hope of eternal life by faith in Christ. The world offers wretched hope. What would you rather believe?

The Apostle Paul, imprisoned for his faith and ministry in Christ, said:

Philippians 1:19-21 "For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, [20]  According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death. [21] For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain."

Paul knew that his time was short but because he did not doubt the Word of the One who called him, he did not fear death. This is something to rejoice about. I cannot call you together today and say, "Rejoice, brothers and sisters, for we will all die like dogs and cats!". No, this is not a message of rejoicing. But I tell you, if you are in Christ you will one day certainly pass through the veil of this life into eternal life, a life full of joy, a life free from pain and suffering. Don't doubt God's Word, nor let that old Tempter deceive you by twisting the Perfect Word. Salvation is by faith in Jesus Christ alone!

Genesis 3.8-10 " And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. [9] And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? [10]  And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself."

You stand before God in this assembly today with the one thing God has allowed you and will allow you to the very end: your will to accept or reject this Gospel message. And, just as Adam and Eve did, you can ignore the Word of the Lord, partake of the forbidden fruit of the world, and suffer the consequences. Or you can, today, this very moment, come forward and accept to yourself Jesus Christ as Saviour.

Adam and Eve took lightly the promise of God. Remember He told them:

Genesis 2:17 "... in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."

They thought that God mis-spoke, that His Word was less than it really was. Friends, our Heavenly Father is true to His Word. If you, on hearing this message, reject His Word you will surely suffer the consequences. For the Bible tells us that there is no place in Heaven for unbelievers, that God has a place where unbelievers must go. Hear the Words of Jesus:

Matthew 8:10-12  "When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. [11]  And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. [12]  But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

The Israelite thinks that, just because he's an Israelite, he shall enter the promised land of Heaven. Jesus said that your place of birth, your nationality, will not save you. If you are relying on your position in the Church for salvation, your end is to be cast away at the final judgment, your end is an eternity of weeping and gnashing of teeth. Dear friends, you must accept Jesus Christ as your Saviour. You must do this now, today! Will you come?
 

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