Below are notes to a sermon preached Sunday morning and evening, Feb. 4, 2001, at Gospel Light Baptist Church, Albany, Georgia.

SEVEN SINS OF THE FIRST LADY AND HER SIDEKICK

(THIS IS NOT ABOUT HILLARY CLINTON )

By Michael D. O’Neal Pastor, Gospel Light Baptist Church Albany, Georgia

Scripture Reading: Genesis 3:1-16

Text: Genesis 3:1

Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil 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?

Introduction: I believe that the last Presidential administration was the most corrupt administration in my lifetime. Bill and Hilly Clinton have been associated with lying, stealing, fornication, theft, and murder from the beginning of their presidential campaign until today, after they have left the White House.

However, this message is not about THAT “First Lady.” Nor is it about the new First Lady, Mrs. Lara Bush. I am talking about the first lady in the world, whom Adam named Eve, because she was the mother of all living, according to Gen. 3:20. By the way, that verse settles the issue of where Cain got his wife from. His wife descended from Eve, as did everyone else in this world. Adam and Eve, as well as those who descended from them in those day, lived to be nearly 1,000 years old. Cain could easily have married a descendent of his mother without marrying “close kin.”

The Bible says that Adam was not deceived by the serpent, but that he sinned deliberately. He sinned with his eyes open. He loved his wife more than he loved God. The woman sinned through being deceived. Let’s look at some of
her sins, because her sins were the same sins that many people commit today, men, women, boys and girls.

I. SHE CONSIDERED TO THE SERPENT

Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil 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?

A. He will cause you to doubt the scriptures

“Yea, hath God said …?”
He will get you to doubt the message of the Bible – the very words
He will lead you to doubt the miracles of the Bible
He will lead you to doubt the “minutes” of the Bible – the miniscule details of names, ages, weights, measures, and numbers.

B. He will cause you to delay salvation or service

His most powerful temptation is to “DO THE RIGHT THING LATER.”
He says get saved later.
He says get baptized later.
He says join the church later.
Felix – Acts 24:25 And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee.
Agrippa – Acts 26:28 Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.

C. He will cause you to disobey God

He will get you to quit what God told you to do.
He will lead you to start what God told you NOT to do.

D. He will cause you to depart from God’s place for you

Someone said that Eve ate Adam out of house and home.
Jonah wanted to go somewhere other than where God told him to go – Nineveh.

Don’t give Satan consideration!
Don’t listen to him!
Don’t even THINK about his offers!

II. SHE CHANGED THE SCRIPTURES

Genesis 3:2-3 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.

A. She abandoned an important word

She omitted the word, “freely” when she said, “We may eat …” God told them in Gen. 2:16 that they could FREELY eat.
This reminds us that salvation is a GIFT. Not only that, it is a FREE gift. Christ paid for it when He died for our sins according to the scriptures, was buried, and rose again the third day according to the scriptures.
This reminds me of how many of the new “Bibles” leave out the words, “through his blood,” in Col. 2:14.

B. She added some false words

She said, “neither shall ye touch it!
God never told them they could not touch the tree. Perhaps that was a good idea, but it was wrong to say that God said something He didn’t say!
We need to be careful that we let people know what the Bible SAYS and be sure to make a difference between that and what we think the BibleTEACHES, SUGGESTS or IMPLIES.

C. She altered God’s pure words

She said, “lest ye die,” but God said, “thou shalt SURELY die.”
One of the first sins committed by man on earth was to change theword of God!

III. SHE CAVED IN TO SUGGESTION

Genesis 3:4-6 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.

1 John 2:15-16 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

A. The lust of the flesh

She “saw that the tree was good for food”
The devil will sidetrack you by an appeal to your desire to make more money and have more “things.”
Be careful. Being able to teach a Sunday School class is more important than making enough money to put a swimming pool in your back yard. Think twice and pray three times before you take that second job or start working that shift work. God gave permission for a husband to be away from his wife for a time during WAR, not for the purpose of putting more food on the table.

B. The lust of the eyes

“and that it was pleasant to the eyes”
Many people succumb to this. They go after something because it LOOKS good.
That could be a car, a house, a suit of clothes, jewelry, a man, or a woman.
It is not wrong to HAVE beautiful things, but one of the commandments of God, found in both Testaments, is “THOU SHALT NOT COVET.”

C. The pride of life

“and a tree to be desired to make one wise”
Pride is the number one sin on God’s hate list in Prov. 6.
Pride knocked the devil out of his position in heaven.
People have pride of face, pride of race, pride of place, and even some of grace.
Proverbs 16:18 Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.

IV. SHE CORRUPTED HER SPOUSE

Genesis 3:6 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.

A woman may ask, “Where would you men be without us women?”

The answer: “Back in the garden of Eden, fellowshipping with God!”

A. She drew him in

B. She defiled him

C. She destroyed him

The wages of sin is death
Adam WAS responsible for what he did, but he did it at the bidding of his wife!

V. SHE COVERED HER SIN

Genesis 3:7 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.

Proverbs 28:13 He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.

People cover their sins today by

A. A religion of their own choosing

B. A righteousness of their own making

It is as filthy rags.

C. A reasoning of their own understanding

“At least I’m not as bad as So-and- So.”
“At least I’m not a hypocrite like “So-and-So. I’m not a church member.”

VI. SHE CONCEALED HERSELF FROM HER SAVIOR

Genesis 3:8 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.

A. People avoid commitment

That’s why some people won’t get saved. They are afraid they will have to “live it” and won’t be able. They are too proud.
That’s why many people don’t get baptized, join a church, teach a class, etc.

B. People avoid confrontation

With God
With God’s word
With their sin

VII. SHE CHARGED SOMEONE ELSE WITH HER SIN

Genesis 3:13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

People blame their

Seven Sins of the First Lady and Her Sidekick