(# 356) Romans 10 - “Has God Said?” A Subtle Attack on the Integrity of God

 

Welcome To

BARAH MINISTRIES

a Christian Church

Rory Clark

Pastor-Teacher

 

Good Morning!

 

Welcome to Barah Ministries…a Christian Church based in Mesa, AZ…my name is Pastor Rory Clark.  Welcome to… 

 

THE LORD’S SUPPER CELEBRATION

“Has God Said?” A Subtle Attack on the Integrity of God

 

Today, just as we do every month, we celebrate the Lord’s Supper…a meal of remembrance.  It’s a way to demonstrate our love for the Lord Jesus Christ.  We eat, by breaking bread…we drink, by tasting the fruit of the vine…and we look back to the Cross…one of the most significant occurrences of LOVE in divine history.  First Corinthians, Chapter 11, Verse 26 says…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 11:26

For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.

 

At the Lord’s Supper Celebration, as a gathering of His believers, we remember the Lord’s death on the Cross which paid the price for Adam’s sin…the sin that is credited to the account of all mankind at physical birth…the sin resulting in spiritual death for all.  First Corinthians, Chapter 15, Verse 22 (the first part)…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 15:22 

For all those in union with Adam are set to die the second death…

 

At the Lord’s Supper Celebration, we remember the shedding of the Lord’s blood to cleanse us from the unrighteousness caused by this sin of independence…this turning away of creatures from their Creator.  We remember, with gladness, that the Lord Jesus Christ made a way for His creatures to be reconciled to Him…by dying on a Cross…and by being resurrected from the dead three days later…both to prove that He is Deity, and to give us the hope of a cure for our unrighteousness.  First Peter, Chapter 2, Verse 24 says…

 

FIRST PETER 2:24

…and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself bore our sins in His own body on the Cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness…for by His wounds you were healed.

 

And now we believers in Christ KNOW, through His infallible Word, the Bible, that the Lord Jesus Christ is seated victorious at the right hand of His Father’s throne, waiting for the moment when God the Father will make the Lord’s enemies a footstool for His feet.  As believers in Christ, we are seated there with Him, in union with Him, waiting for the glorious time when we come again with Him to witness His glory.  And we KNOW He made it possible for “whosoever,” for all creatures, to be saved by what He did at the Cross.  Acts, Chapter 16, Verse 31 says…

 

ACTS 16:31

“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and everyone in your household who also believes.”

 

All learning occurs when we ask questions and get answers.  The purpose of a question, from a learning perspective, is to extract the truth.

 

As parents we give our children instruction.  Often, we hear a different type of question from them.one not requesting information, “Mommy why do I have to go to bed?”  This seemly innocent question often is a subtle attack on the parent’s authority.  The question may sound sweet and innocent…it doesn’t seem like an attack…yet the evil implicit in the question is crafty and subtle.  But we don’t think children can be evil, and I don’t know why we are so naïve about that.

 

When a child trusts a parent’s direction, they don’t question a parent’s decisions.  This lack of questioning doesn’t make the child weak…it means they are in union with the parents.  It means the child is aware that the parent has his best interest in mind when giving instructions.  But when the child resists a parent’s direction, the child is resisting authority.  Many parents don’t even notice.

 

So it was in the Garden of Eden.  Satan asked a marvelous and perilous

question, which initiated the fall of mankind just as surely as a similar one of his questions began the fall of all angelic creatures in eternity past…Genesis, Chapter 3, Verse 1…

 

GENESIS 3:1

Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And the serpent said to the woman, “Indeed, HAS GOD SAID, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”

 

“Has God said,” an apparent questioning for clarity concerning what God said.  Is Satan merely checking with Isha to see if she was paying attention when Adam instructed her?  Perhaps…

 

It’s a marvelous question because of its subtlety…it’s a perilous question because the future of the human race rode on the back of its answer.  In today’s Lord’s Supper Celebration we’ll look at the damage a seemingly innocent question like this can do.

 

MUSIC AND REFLECTION

Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ

Enjoy the Singing of His Praises

 

COME SEE A MAN

June Murphy

 

If you are holding onto anything in your heart today that is keeping you from loving…from being forgiving…from being gracious…this would be a great time to place your concerns into the hands of the Lord who loves you unconditionally, and who considers your problems to be His responsibility.  Let’s reflect on the power the Cross of Christ to remove all your problems, as we listen to the opening song…COME SEE A MAN sung by June Murphy.

 

OPENING PRAYER

 

Let us pray...

 

We’re grateful Heavenly Father for the privilege of studying the absolute truth...the Word of God…

 

Father, thank you for giving us discernment…the ability to see through lies

when we have Your Word firmly implanted in our souls as our “early warning device…”

 

Help us to notice the lies Satan tells us through “the flesh” that create doubts within us about You, about Your Word, and about how we should live… show us how to resist him, while remaining firm in our faith…

 

We ask this through the power of God the Holy Spirit...in Christ’s name... Amen.

 

THE LORD’S SUPPER CELEBRATION

“Has God Said?” A Subtle Attack on the Integrity of God

 

Genesis, Chapter 3, Verse 1…

 

GENESIS 3:1

Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And the serpent said to the woman, “Indeed, HAS GOD SAID, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”

 

The woman did not hear the Lord’s instruction to Adam directly.  Rather, her husband instructed her.  Isha, the woman’s name before the fall of mankind, probably should have said to the serpent, “Why don’t you ask my husband what God said?  He was there with God to hear it.”  If she had done this, she would have been following James’ advice to us in James, Chapter 4, Verse 7…

 

JAMES 4:7

Submit therefore to God. Simultaneously, resist the devil and he will flee from you.

 

But the woman did not resist the craftiness of the devil.  She engaged it.  And she lost the battle before it began.  Genesis, Chapter 3, Verses 2 and 3…

 

GENESIS 3:2

The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat…”

 

GENESIS 3:3

“…but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’”

 

That’s Isha’s answer to the marvelous, perilous question, “Has God said?”

What did God actually say?  Genesis, Chapter 2, Verses 16 and 17…

 

GENESIS 2:16

The Lord God commanded the man (Adam), saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely…”

 

GENESIS 2:17

“…but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”

 

Let’s compare what God actually said to what the woman says He said…

 

ISHA SAYS GOD SAID…

 

“From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat, but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’”

 

What did God actually say to Adam?

 

GOD ACTUALLY SAID TO ADAM

 

“From any tree of the garden you may eat freely, but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”

 

Isha added to the Word of God…

 

THE ADDITIONS (in caps)

“From the FRUIT OF THE TREES OF THE GARDEN WE MAY EAT, but from the fruit of the tree WHICH IS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE GARDEN, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it OR TOUCH IT, or you will die.’”

 

Isha subtracted from the Word of God…

 

THE MISSES

 

“From ANY tree of the garden you may eat FREELY, but from THE TREE OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL you shall not eat, FOR IN THE DAY THAT YOU EAT FROM IT you will SURELY die.”

 

Under similar pressure, can you keep your thoughts straight?  Can you remember the Word of God under pressure?


“Has God said?” 

 

This seemingly innocent question is an INDIRECT attack on God’s integrity, His goodwill, and His purpose for His creatures.  After the indirect attack, Satan shifts to DIRECT attack against God in Genesis, Chapter 3, Verses 4…in effect, calling God a liar…

 

GENESIS 3:4

The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die!”

 

Satan is saying that what God said is not true.  Yet everything God says is true and everything Satan says is a lie.  Next an intriguing lie…that proves, by the way, that Satan knew EXACTLY what God said…proving that his original question wasn’t really a request for information.  Rather, it was a deceptive trick…

 

GENESIS 3:5

“For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and YOU WILL BE LIKE GOD, knowing good and evil.”

 

Satan knew what God had said…so why did he ask?  Crafty!  He asked the question “Has God said?” for a sinister purpose.  Let’s enjoy the elements and some music, and then we’ll see Satan’s sinister purpose.

 

THE LORD’S SUPPER CELEBRATION:

Enjoying the Elements

 

Following God’s request, we keep on celebrating CHRIST and His Cross on a regular basis…we eat to remember who He is as a PERSON…we drink to remember His WORK, the voluntary sacrifice He made at the Cross on our behalf as our sin substitute…and we are grateful for what God has done for us.  First Corinthians, Chapter 11, Verses 23 and 24 say…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 11:23

For I, Paul received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus Christ on the night in which He was betrayed took bread…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 11:24

and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is, and keeps

 on being My body, which is broken for you…keep on doing this celebration

 for the purpose of remembering Me.”

 

When we eat the bread during the Lord’s Supper Celebration, we remember the Lord Jesus Christ AS A PERSON. 

 

When we drink the cup, we remember THE WORK of the Lord Jesus Christ.  First Corinthians, Chapter 11, Verses 25 and 26 say…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 11:25

In the same way the Lord Jesus Christ took the cup after supper, representing His death on the Cross, saying, “This cup is a new testament forged with My blood…keep on doing this celebration…and as often as you drink it…do so for the purpose of remembering Me.”

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 11:26

For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup (as part of the Lord’s Supper Celebration), you proclaim (as a reality and you announce the significance of) the Lord Jesus Christ’s death (on the Cross and His resurrection from the dead) until He comes (again in the second coming).

 

As you enjoy the bread and the cup, enjoy the memory of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as well. Now and always, let us keep on giving thanks that we are loved unconditionally and accepted fully by THE LORD WHO IS ALWAYS THERE…the One we can depend on…let’s keep on being transformed by His life and His death and His Word…and let’s enjoy His unconditional love Day by Day…and that’s the name of our Lord’s Supper song.

 

LORD’S SUPPER SONG

DAY BY DAY

Godspell

 

MUSIC BREAK

DEMONSTRATED LOVE

June Murphy

 

THE LORD’S SUPPER CELEBRATION

“Has God Said?” A Subtle Attack on the Integrity of God

 

What is Satan’s sinister purpose?  Satan’s is ALWAYS out to attack the character of God, and to paint God in a negative light, because Satan thinks he is as good as God and that he can be God.  Isaiah, Chapter 14, Verses 12 to 14…

 

ISAIAH 14:12

“How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn!

You have been cut down to the earth…you who have weakened the nations!”

 

ISAIAH 14:13

“But you said in your heart…‘I will ascend to the third heaven…I will raise my throne above the stars of God (the angels in the second heaven)…and I will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north (the first heaven…planet earth)...’”

 

ISAIAH 14:14

“‘I (Satan) will ascend above the heights of the clouds (I will take over the function of God)…I WILL MAKE MYSELF (in self-righteousness) like the Most High.’”

 

The way Satan would say it is, “Question Authority!”

 

Here is a button popular during the 1960’s hippie movement.  What they really meant was rebel against authority.

 

Of course, questioning authority has its place.  Benjamin Franklin said…

 

…it is the first responsibility of every citizen to question authority. 

 

This form of questioning led the Founding Fathers to reject Great Britain as an evil nation and to establish their own nation and a new government.  The bible agrees with Franklin.  Healthy questioning of authority is effective, like in Acts, Chapter 17, Verse 17…

 

ACTS 17:17

Now the Bereans were more noble-minded than those believers in Christ in Thessalonica, for they received the Word (of God that was being preached) with great eagerness, (and kept on) examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things (they heard preached actually) were so.

 

Who is the authority Satan is questioning?  He is questioning a God whom Satan KNOWS to be perfect in thought, in word, and in actions.  God is focused.  Everything with God is one.  God is not confused or confusing.

 

God’s enemy, Satan, wants us to believe that God’s singular focus is a threat to our freedom!  In fact, God’s singular focus protects our freedom and us.  The enemy would rather we think something different, so he injects questions laced with doubt to throw us off focus and to make us question God.

 

Funny thing?  When Satan is in authority, here’s his philosophy…

 

Do Not Question Authority

 

And he uses a sword to make sure we don’t.

 

Satan knew what God said.  There is no creature more brilliant than Satan.  Of course Satan uses his brilliance to lead us away from God not toward Him…because Satan hates God…and he hates anyone who loves God.

 

“Has God said?” 

 

Yes!  God has said.  Listen to Him!  Because anything Satan says is a lie.  What is behind Satan’s crafty questions is the manufacture of an alternate reality he would like you to entertain and to believe as true.  In John, Chapter 8, Verse 44…the Lord Jesus Christ Himself warns us about that devil…

 

JOHN 8:44

“You (unbelieving Jews) are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

 

The Lord Jesus Christ did not go to the Cross to give us a life filled with lies and doubt.  John, Chapter 10, Verse 10 says…

 

JOHN 10:10

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy…I (the Lord Jesus Christ) came that believers in Christ may have the resurrection life, and have it abundantly.

 

The Lord wants us to feel secure in our relationship with Him.  Don’t believe the subtle questions of a liar, a thief and a murderer.

 

Let’s close in prayer…

 

CLOSING PRAYER

Let us pray...

 

          THANKS - INTERCESSION - PETITION

 

Thanks for coming!

Thanks for watching!

Thanks for listening!

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