Seven steps of temptation. In Genesis chapter 3 we see the account of the temptation of Adam and Eve.
The first thing that we see is that satan confronted them with suggestive,
enticing and tempting thoughts. Let's look at the verse 1 of chapter 3. "Now the serpent being more
cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God has made. And he has said to the woman,
"Has God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?'" So satan plants the thought.
Suggestive, enticing and a tempting thought. Now we don't know exactly if he was physically present
with them. But we do know that when it comes to us, he sends these thoughts as arrows. Fiery
darts, scripture talks about in Ephesians chapter 6. And these thoughts, sometimes they seem like
your own. It seems like you came up with that. And people accept those things and let them inside.
The Bible says concerning Judas, is that satan placed in the heart of Judas to betray Jesus.
I wonder if Judas thought that it was his own thought. Instead of differentiating it, that it
was not his own thought. So satan here, he plans a suggestive and enticing and a tempting thought to
Eve. "Has God really said that you shouldn't eat of this?" Number two is Eve begins to entertain,
harbor and discuss the suggestive thought. Instead of completely walking away, Eve begins to
entertain and begins to discuss and go in discussion with satan. Verse 2. "Now the
woman said to the serpent, 'We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden." And so she responds
back and she pretty much begins to already have a conversation. And begins to entertain the very
thing that the enemy was suggesting in step one. Let's go to verse 3. And step three is
the doubt of God's Word. If we read the verse 3, "But the fruit of the tree which is in the middle
of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat it, nor you shall touch it, lest you die.'" You
know God didn't say that you shouldn't touch it but Eve adds you know you shouldn't touch it.
See the enemy cannot defeat you until he can disarm you. And he can't disarm you until he
can plant seeds of doubt of God's Word. Seed of doubt that God is watching, that God is present,
that God loves you, that God cares for you. And so doubting God's Word is when the temptation
goes even deeper. Now let's go into step four and the verses 4 and 5. It's when we are thinking
that we can be more fulfilled and could be more satisfied. We will gain more and benefit
more without God. God is withholding something from us. That's really the whole idea of step four
of this temptation. Let's dive into the verse 4 and verse 5. "Then the serpent said to the woman,
'You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day that you will eat of it your eyes will
be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.'" I mean satan point blank says God is
a liar. He says you're not gonna die. So God says you will die you know and satan questions that in
verse 1. He doubts that. And now he point blank says that's not gonna happen. Pretty much he says
that's a lie. God is a liar. And then he adds his spin to it. He says God is withholding something
from you. God is not very honest with you. Like God is not telling you the whole picture. God is
hiding certain things from you. He doesn't want you to have it. He makes us doubt God's goodness.
He makes us doubt God's love. He makes us become suspicious of God and that's exactly what Eve fell
for. You know when you begin to doubt God's love. It's one thing when you doubt God's word but
then he wants to push further for you to doubt God's character, God's goodness, God's loyalty,
God's faithfulness. He begins to say there's other ways to begin to satisfy yourself outside
of God's perimeters. God is withholding something from you. I can't tell you how many young people,
they fall into sexual sin thinking God is withholding something from them when he's
asking them to live in purity. People who go into drugs, people who go into alcoholism,
people who go into exploring fulfillment outside of the boundaries of God's law. They believe this
lie that God is withholding something. God has something good and He doesn't want you to have.
He wants you to have a boring life and He himself has all the fun. He doesn't want you to have
any of it. When you bite into that temptation, you will go into step number five. You will start
looking and desiring. Let's dive into Genesis 3:6. It says that, "So the woman saw that the
tree was good for food, and it was pleasant to the eyes, and the tree desirable to make
one wise." Have you noticed it goes from doubting, you know being filled with these confrontive,
suggestive thoughts. Goes into she's entertaining it, she's doubting God's Word. She now believes
that God is withholding something from her and now she is staring at that fruit. She's
not running away from it. She's not forsaking this conversation and turning her look away. The
Bible says, "she saw the tree." Meaning she's now looking, she is now desiring it. And she's now,
it's honestly like speaking to her. Says, "Hey it's not a big deal it's not a problem. Just,
just do it." And then step six is she eats. She took of its fruit and she ate. This is when person
already commits the sin, when they take and they eat of the forbidden fruit. When you honestly say,
"Hey you know it doesn't matter. What the heck. I'm just gonna do it." And you do that sin but
it doesn't end there. Step number seven is, we see this with the woman in verse 6. She also gave it
to her husband with her. And he ate. See sinners are evangelists. They get other people to sin. You
lead other people to sin, you become a stumbling block to others. Eve didn't just commit sin,
wiped her mouth and went on her business. Eve took that sin and gave it to her husband. See
when people sin they entice and draw others to sin. See, for satan to cause other people to sin,
all he needs to do is to get you on the hook. Once you are on the hook of sin, you will do the job of
evangelism for him. So you're either evangelizing for God or you're evangelizing for the devil.