THINKING TOO MUCH LIKE A MONKEY
JANUARY 5
▼ GENESIS 3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD GOD had made. And he said
to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘you shall not eat from any tree of the garden?’”
Monkeys and Genesis always makes us think about evolution
That would be Genesis 1
Let’s talk about monkeys and Genesis 3
John Piper says that sin (lust for example) “gets its power by persuading me to believe that I will be more happy if I follow it. The power of all temptation is the prospect that it will make me happier.”
E. Lutzer, Putting Your Past Behind You, Here’s Life, 1990, p.54.
Men who trap animals in Africa for zoos in America say that one of the hardest animals to catch is the ringtailed monkey. For the Zulus of that continent, however, it’s simple. They’ve been catching this agile little animal with ease for years. The method the Zulus use is based on knowledge of the animal. Their trap is nothing more than a melon growing on a vine. The seeds of this melon are a favorite of the monkey. Knowing this, the Zulus simply cut a hole in the melon, just large enough for the monkey to insert his hand to reach the seeds inside. The monkey will stick his hand in, grab as many seeds as he can, then start to withdraw it. This he cannot do. His fist is now larger than the hole. The monkey will pull and tug, screech and fight the melon for hours. But he can’t get free of the trap unless he gives up the seeds, which he refuses to do. Meanwhile, the Zulus sneak up and nab him.
THE MONKEY THINKS THAT I WILL BE HAPPIER NOT TO LET GO
when in fact, not letting go of his temptation, is going to be his sure death
Genesis 3 has our first introduction to Satan.
Martin Luther said “the devil is God’s devil.” Satan is not an autonomous being, he is under the control and the commands of God
Himself. From the very beginning we read that though he was crafty he was made by God. WE KNOW TWO THINGS FROM THE FIRST
VERSE THAT INTRODUCES SATAN. FIRST, HE IS MADE AND SECOND HE TALKS. And he is talking to man.
The devil loves to talk.
Let me just give you some bullet points about temptation from the first introduction of it to us in the Bible.
• ❑ TEMPTATION ALWAYS COMES LIKE THE SERPENT……SUBTLE
The word subtle means delicately suggestive and not grossly obvious
It goes like this: “a king has a right to walk on his own roof. It’s not my fault that there may be people bathing up there. A man who has
battled for some 25 years has a right to take a break from going to the battle.”
It seemed logical for King David to stay in Jerusalem while the troops fought the battle (II Samuel 11).
Listen to the President of Yale’s Divinity School Charles Reynolds Brown: The agents that are used in the garden is not of an unholy
suggestion or something that would seem wicked
It is a serpent which is not out of place in the garden. Satan comes in the form of a serpent because that is what is in the garden. He does
not come in a red suit but he comes blending in the environment.
TEMPTATION COMES IN THE FORM OF A QUESTION NOT DECLARATION Man was approached with a question
It questioned the goodness of God
The enemy was not asking for information
The enemy was suggesting to man THAT RESTRICTION BY GOD WAS WRONG AND UNKIND
How can He be good if you have boundaries
TEMPTATION COMES IN SECURE ENVIRONMENTS
This is the garden of Eden not the ghetto of Eden.
No one is shielded based upon geographical location
The terrible tragic fallacy of the last one hundred years has been to think that all man’s troubles are due to his environment, and to
change the man you have nothing to do but to change the environment. This is a tragic fallacy. It overlooks the fact that it was in
PARADISE THAT MAN FELL. It was in a perfect environment that he first went wrong; so to put man in a perfect environment cannot
solve his problems.
D Martyn Lloyd-Jones
TEMPTATION BEGINS WITH AN EXCITING CURIOSITY
The tree was new and it looked good to the eye. this was not an ugly tree.
TEMPTATION DOES HAVE SOME TRUTH IN IT’S LURING STATEMENTS
There is a proverbial statement that goes like this
“a half a truth is more dangerous than a whole lie”
And no where is this more true than in the religious realm
The last man to be brought under the saving influence of Jesus is not the thoughtless, reprobate, but rather the thoughtful , highly
intelligent, highly moral man who has been doing his utmost to live a clean life
IT APPEARS TO BE VERY MUCH EASIER TO CONVINCE A PERSON WHO HAS BEEN ENTIRELY WRONG OF THEIR NEED FOR JESUS
THAN ONE WHO HAS BEEN PARTLY WRONG
He who knows half the truth is in a sense further away from the whole truth than the one who believes in an absolute lie
A lie is a blank contradiction; it makes not pretence , it is entirely the reverse of the truth
The half truth man imagines that he knows a lot more than he does and becomes unteachable
Isn’t it amazing that people argued with Jesus
It was never the publican and tax collectors but the religious scribes and Pharisees
The latter just fell at His feet and worshipped Him
The revelation of God has always had to wage war against the “wisdom of this world”
Jesus came to reveal the cause and the cure of mankind
Men believe in improvement but not change in the born again way
We are not really bad just need to be better
This flatters us
How much nicer than a gospel that calls even our good part filthy rags
What is remarkable about man (Israel did this in their history) that they were prone to go deeper into sin when things were going well
They went into idolatry in ideal conditions not in warfare
They would always turn to God in difficulty and turn to wickedness in good times
TEMPTATION NEVER TELLS THE WHOLE STORY
The penalty for wrongdoing did not come immediately
The woman did not fall dead; there is no sign that the fruit was disgusting
The enormity of evil is not to be estimated by the immediate physical and visible consequences
OUR GREATEST SECURITY AGAINST SIN IS TO BE SHOCKED BY IT. Let me give you these final thoughts on temptation and sin….
Temptation is not sin
Temptation should not be engaged in conversation, crush the serpent
Temptation at times is best avoided by distancing yourself and not being alone
Temptation overcome leads to greater strength in future battles