Greg Laurie at Harvest Ministries recommend a great resource about the end times by Dallas Theological Seminary professor Mark Hitchcock. He's written a brand new book called The Revelation Answer Book, 125 Common Questions People Ask About Earth's Final Days. And guess what? We have a copy with your name on it.
So for your gift of any size, we will rush you your own copy of the Revelation Answer Book. Available at harvest.org. Wherever we are, whatever we're doing, temptation seems to find us. Coming up today on a new beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie helps us with our escape plan. Here's what you need to remember: every temptation can be resisted and overcome.
Every temptation. The Bible says, blessed is the man that endures temptation, for when he is tried, he'll receive the crown of life. And the word blessed can be translated happy. You're happy when you overcome temptation. This is the day when the lost are found.
This is the day for a new beginning. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound. Oh, can you hear all the angels singing? This is the day, the day will lie. In the Lord's Prayer, we read, Lead us not into temptation.
And we certainly don't want to go down that path. But haven't you found that sometimes temptation comes up the path and finds us? Temptation is pervasive. It's ubiquitous. And today on a new beginning.
Pastor Greg Laurie helps us dissect temptation. will trace its roots all the way back to the Garden of Eden. And Pastor Greg offers some good biblical insights on how to stop Satan's attacks. right in their tracks.
So I heard about it, Pastor. Who was taking over a church? He didn't really know anybody there yet.
So, on the Saturday before that Sunday, he decided to go meet people in the congregation.
So he met a few folks and he came to one home of one of his congregants and he knocked on the door and there was no answer. He knocked again, again, still no answer. Knocked one more time and so he left his business card with his name on it. And then he wrote down Revelation 3.20. Which of course says, Behold, I stand at the door and knock.
If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in.
So the next day was Sunday, and someone took that card the pastor gave to them and gave it to an usher to give back to the pastor. And the pastor looked at the card, and they too had written a scripture reference. They wrote down Genesis 3:10, which says, I heard your voice in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid myself.
So we'll actually get to that verse in this message today, among others.
So we've Looked at the creation of all things.
Now we're looking at the story of Adam and Eve's sin against God in the Garden of Eden. We're reading about the creation of men and women. And in Genesis 2, Moses zooms in from the cosmos to the Garden of Eden. This new section of Genesis deals with the relationship between God and man.
So let's read together Genesis 2, verse 7. And the Lord God formed man. of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. And man became a living being. The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there he put the man whom he had formed, and out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow, and is pleasant to the sight and good for food.
The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This word breathed is interesting in verse 7. It's warmly personal. God was face to face with man and with the intimacy of a kiss. or a little puff of air.
God brings men to life. And now, drop down to verse 15. Then the Lord took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat. For in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.
We'll stop there. Eden The Garden of Eden. By the way, the word Eden means delight. The very name Eden is used synonymously with names and phrases like, oh, it's like Camelot or Atlantis or Utopia or Shangri-La.
So we might think of Eden as a fictitious place, but it was a real place. that God placed Adam in, in this garden of absolute delight. It was a paradise beyond anything you could imagine. I mean, think of the most beautiful places you've ever been to. Eden was that, and much more.
Hen made by God Himself. Untouched by sin, it was literally perfect. Adam had the coolest job of all time. He was the gardener in the Garden of Eden. His job was to discover what the Lord had made.
to enjoy what God had created. and to tend to this garden. But something was missing in Adam's life. And more specifically, it wasn't a something, it was a someone. But Adam didn't know that yet because he had not yet met the someone.
Here she comes. Genesis 2 verse 18. The Lord God said, It's not good that man should be alone. I will make a helper comparable to him. Drop down to verse 21.
And the Lord caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam. And as he slept, he took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man, he made into a woman, and he brought her to the man. Adam said, This is not bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man.
Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh, and they were both naked, the man and the wife, and they were not ashamed.
So here are Adam and Eve in perfect paradise. Living the dream, man. It can't get any better than this. Surrounded by beauty, surrounded by the most amazing wildlife. All the animals are docile and tame, and the greatest food to eat, and it's so good.
Well, there was trouble in paradise. Enter the devil. Go to Genesis 3, verse 1.
Now, the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, Has God indeed said, You will not eat of every tree of the garden? The woman said to the serpent, Well, we may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, You shall not eat it, nor touch it, lest you die. The serpent said to the woman, Oh, you will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be open, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.
And when the woman saw the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and desirable to make one wise, she took of the fruit and she ate. And she gave it to her husband with her, and he ate. And the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked. And they sowed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. And they heard the sound 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 among the trees of the garden. Then the LORD called to Adam and said to him, Where are you? Adam said, I heard your voice in the garden, but I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid myself.
So here now we see How the devil seeks. To attack and undermine us. We see his four. Waves of attack that he uses over and over again. Interesting, he comes.
As a snake, a talking snake. Did other animals talk at this time before the fall? I don't know. That'd be kind of cool, having conversations with different animals. But he comes as a snake.
You know, snakes are interesting creatures. When I was a young boy, I was really an avid collector of snakes. I had boas and pythons and king snakes and gopher snakes, and then I went out and caught snakes, and you know. Snakes are not expressive creatures, they're cold-blooded. Snakes don't show affection.
Like a dog. You know, dogs are so affectionate, they want to be with you. You know, when a dog's happy, you know, when a dog's sad. Cats, they're more mysterious. Filled with murderous thoughts.
They might occasionally lick you with their little weird sand peeper tongue. But even with a cat, you can read them to a certain degree, though they're a bit more mysterious than dogs. But reptiles, snakes in particular, you don't know if they're just kind of looking around or they're gonna strike at you. It's hard to tell. And so they're very clever, they're very skillful.
Fly, and the devil is compared in the Bible to a snake. I read a sad story about a large python that ate a chihuahua.
Well What happened was Some family had a snake that was their pet that slithered around the home. And they had a chihuahua. What could go wrong? And one day they found the snake and the chihuahua's dead. And that should have been their first warning that trouble was coming to the Chihuahua.
So one morning the kids got up and went into the front room and there is This like finishing off the chihuahua. And uh but come on, man, I mean If a snake's in your bed, trouble's gonna follow. And I think sometimes we think, oh, I can handle this temptation. I can control this vice. It won't get the better of me.
And next thing you know, you're in trouble. That's how the devil works, he's subtle. What does he do? He questioned the word of God. Hey, did God really say what you thought he said?
Interesting.
Now, coming back to something I mentioned earlier, Satan uses the name. In the first chapter of Genesis for God. Elohim. Did Elohim really say, but remember, the Lord introduced himself as Yahweh, a more personal name. Hey, did Elohim really say what you thought he said?
And Satan also questioned the love of God. If God really loved you, He'd let you do whatever you want. No, He loved you too. Too much doesn't let you do whatever you want. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment.
Emails, phone calls, and social media messages from listeners are so encouraging to us. and they let us know the effectiveness of these studies. I love the wisdom of Greg Laurie. Most nights I listen to his podcast before going to sleep. After each episode, I feel more confident in understanding God's Word.
I also love how Gregg is so down to earth and I think he's so funny. I'm very thankful for his commitment to Christ in teaching people how to grow in their walk with God. Has Pastor Greg heard from you? Why not drop him an email and let him know? Send it to Greg at harvest.org.
Do it today while you're thinking about it. Again, that's Gregg at harvest.org.
Well, today Pastor Greg is showing us the pivotal moment in the Garden of Eden when sin entered the picture. Provoked by temptation from our spiritual adversary, We continue now. The devil's primary objective is to separate you from God through sin. And always be looking for ways to do that. And once he succeeds, Once you take the bait that he offers, then he'll come and condemn you.
That's why he's called the accuser of the brethren. I'm King James. But he will tempt you and then condemn you for giving in to his temptation. And he'll say things to you like, oh man, don't read the Bible now. That would be hypocritical.
Don't you dare go to church. I mean, when we've sinned, we think, well, I can't go to church after what I did this week. What do you think the church is? Think of the church like a hospital. Think of the church.
like a place that you go to get better. As I've often said, the church is not a museum for saints, it's a hospital for sinners, right? But the devil will try to keep you from church, keep you from God's people, keep you from opening the Bible, keep you from praying. Don't listen to him. But that's what the devil does.
Did God really say what you thought he said? And he introduces the assumption that God's word is subject to our judgment. Hey, you know what? I don't know. I mean, do we really want to?
Listen to what God said in His Word, and people do this all the time. They'll say things like, Well, I'm a Christian. And I love the Lord, but I don't know if I agree with this part of the Bible. Because my God would never send a person to hell for living in rebellion against him and outside of his plan, or my God. Thinks doesn't so well listen.
I don't know who your God is, but he's not the God of the Bible.
Someone once asked me, what do you do when you come to a verse in the Bible you don't agree with? My response was change your opinion because you're wrong.
Now, you want to make sure you've correctly interpreted that verse in context and so forth, but having said that, The Bible is the source of all truth. And so we believe this, but the devil attacks the word of God. Really, what he is implying is God is holding. You're away from something good. Man, if God really loved you.
He lets you do whatever you want. Why would he restrict you? Why would he say you can't eat of this tree? God's holding you back from this thing because, in the day you eat of it, you will be like a god yourself. You'll be a goddess, knowing good and evil.
He's a liar. If God tells you not to do something, it's for your own good. Is it really that bad? God gives us commandments: you shall not lie, you shall not steal, you shall not take the Lord's name in vain, you shall honor your mother and father. Live in these standards and by these principles because these are walls of protection keeping evil out.
But we all know God's cageing me in. And the opposite is the case years ago. Uh we had a German Shepherd. And one day I looked out the window and saw him staring at something in the grass. What is that?
And it was this brightly colored little finch. And so I walked out in the backyard and I thought, what, this looks like someone's pet bird. And I put my index finger down. This bird hopped right on my finger.
So I walked into the kitchen. Kathy, look what I found in the backyard. Beautiful little bird. She was cooking something at that moment. Look at this bird.
So we threw the bird in, we ate it. It was. It's delicious. I have to tell you. No, that didn't happen.
I made that out. Just keep your attention. Where did this bird come from? It must be someone's pet, and Jonathan. who was a little boy then said, There's a kid down the street.
That their bird died and they have a cage. I said, go get the cage. He runs down the street, comes back, puts a cage on the kitchen counter. I open the door of the cage. He hops into the cage.
He was so happy. He gets on the swing, happy days are here again. He didn't see that cage as a prison. He saw that cage as protection. from my German shepherd.
who would have eaten him if I left him out there much longer. And when you understand the commandments and the principles of Scripture, In their proper context, they're there to protect you. God says, the Bible says, no good thing will he withhold from those. that walk uprightly. And then the devil denied the word of God.
You know, it's a short step from questioning the Word of God. To deny the word of God.
So, what do we learn?
Well, don't get into conversations with the devil. The Bible says, resist the devil, and he will flee from you. And then the devil substitutes. His own life. Amen.
You become like a God knowing good and evil. That was a complete lie. Listen, command central of your life is your mind. You are the air traffic controller of your own mind. The air traffic controller Tells one pilot he can take off.
He tells another they can land. He tells another to change their altitude. He tells even another to change their attitude. Probably not, but. But he's there directing.
Directing people, and you decide what thoughts come into this mind of yours and what thoughts stay out. Paul writes about this in 2 Corinthians 10 when he says, The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of this world, on the contrary. We have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God. And we take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ.
So when that thought comes, you say, No, I'm not letting that one in. That thought of fear, that thought of lust, that thought of vengeance, that thought of whatever it is, that's not coming in here. Oh, that thought, that thought's coming in. That passage, that beautiful thought about the Lord, that is going to come in.
So we ask ourselves the question, where is this thought coming from? Here's what you need to remember. Every temptation can be resisted and overcome. Every temptation. The Bible says, Blessed is the man that endures temptation, for when he is tried, he'll receive the crown of life.
And the word blessed could be translated happy. Happy You're happy when you overcome temptation. Then 1 Corinthians 10.13 says, There is no temptation taking you, but such as is common to man. But God, who is faithful, will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able, but woe with the temptation, make a way of escape that you may be able to bear it. Good encouragement.
about the escape route available to all believers when temptation comes knocking. Pastor Greg Laurie, with his message called Trouble in Paradise today here on a new beginning.
Now, God gives His children help so we won't fall victim to our adversary's temptation. But it's a different story with those who have never entered into a relationship with the Lord. It's a good time to ask: have you ever come to the Lord and asked Him to forgive your sins and be your Savior and Lord? Pastor Gregg, what would you say to the person who wants to make that kind of change today? What I would say is He is only a prayer way.
Which means if you will call upon the name of the Lord right now through prayer, He will hear your prayer and answer your prayer. Listen, if you want Jesus Christ to come into your life, if you want Him to forgive you of your sin, If you want to know that you'll go to heaven when you die, just pray this prayer right now after me. Just pray, Lord Jesus. I know that I'm a sinner. But I know that you're the Saviour, Who died on the cross for my sin?
and rose again from the dead. I turn from my sin now and and I choose to follow you. From this moment forward, as my Saviour and Lord, as my God and my friend. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Amen. And listen, if you have just prayed that prayer and meant those words sincerely.
Well, we want to welcome you into the family of God. And let us help you get started walking with the Lord each day. Pastor Gregg wants to send you his New Believer's Bible, absolutely free. Along with some other helpful resources, they'll help answer your questions and get you started off right as you live for God each day. Just let us know you prayed with Pastor Gregg and that you want the New Believers Bible.
When you call 1-800-821-3300. We can take your call any time at one eight hundred eight two one three. The majority of the 2008 is a very good thing. or write a new beginning box four thousand Riverside, California, nine two five one four. Or go online to harvest.org and click the words Know God.
Pastor Greg, we're so thankful for the work God is doing through this ministry. We're touching lives for eternity. And we're really thankful for our friends who see the fruit of this ministry and invest so this work can reach even further, isn't that right? Absolutely. When you invest in harvest ministries, you're investing in the souls of men and women.
Boys and girls, and what is the value of a soul?
Well, let me personalize it. What's the value of your soul? What's the value of the soul of your husband, your wife? your son or your daughter. Oh, your mommy, your dad.
Or your best friend.
Well, I would say you probably couldn't put a price tag on it. It's so valuable.
Well, listen, God says all souls are mine. God loves us and sent His Son to die on the cross to pay the price for all of our sins so we could be forgiven and come into a relationship with Him. I can't think of a better investment of my resources, of my money, Than in the work of the kingdom of God.
So we would ask you to prayerfully consider investing in harvest ministries. as we continue on to fulfill the great commission. Yeah, that's right, and you can make your donation right now at harvest.org or write us at a new beginning box 4000. Riverside, California New York. 92514.
or call 1-800-821-3300. That's a 24-7 phone number. 1-800-821-3300.
Well, next time, more insight on how to stand against our adversary. as we learn lessons born in the Garden of Eden. Join us here on a new beginning with Master and Bible teacher, Greg Laurie. This is the day, the day when life begins.
