TEXT: Genesis 2:1-6

SUBJECT: Henry on Man’s First Temptation #3

Tonight, with God’s blessing, we’ll move on in our study of Matthew Henry on Man’s First Temptation. The story we know, of course, but we don’t think about it as deeply or as often as we ought to. If we did, we’d be wiser than we are, firmer in the face of temptation, and more thankful for the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.

We started with the circumstances of the temptation. The tempter was Satan in the form of a snake. Many of us are afraid of snakes—I can’t even look at them in a cage without feeling nervous. But, at the time, they were not the least bit dangerous or scary. Before the Fall, man and beast lived in peace and the animals gladly submitted to our dominion. The serpent, therefore, seemed innocent and there was nothing bizarre or menacing in the conversation he struck up with Eve. Satan rarely comes to us as a roaring lion—if he did, we’d run like crazy and beg the Lord for help. Thus, he comes as a friend, a servant, or even an angel of light with a supposed message from God. This means we’ve got to be wary of his charming offers of happiness without obedience.

The first person tempted was Eve. This shows the cleverness of Satan. How do you tempt someone who’s already happy—and without the aid of original sin or bad habits or wicked examples all around her? I don’t know, but I do know this: If Eve was subject to the devil’s cunning, then we are too. No one is above sin; no one is above any sin! If yours is a holy life, thank God for it, but don’t congratulate yourself!

The temptation took place when Eve was away from her husband and near the forbidden tree. This teaches us the great value of Christian fellowship and the importance of doing what we can to stay away from people and places and situations that bring out the worst in us. This is not always possible; but, often, it is.

Then, last time, we looked at the temptation itself: it began with a question about God’s Word: Did He really say that? Eve knew good and well He did, but the more she thought about it, the less certain she became. Then the danger was denied or diminished: maybe God did say don’t eat the fruit, but He probably wouldn’t do anything about it—and if He did—it couldn’t include death. Then, the benefits of sin were brought up: disobedience—though wrong—would result in something good. Finally, the goodness of God was called into question: He’s trying to keep something good from you. Why should you listen to that Old Tyrant? He’s being mean and way too strict.

That’s where we pick it up tonight. The serpent has wound himself around Eve’s heart and now she’s going to act.

Great sins are rarely committed all at once. No, they grow out of lesser sins and then, produce ones that are even greater. David lazes around one day (that’s not too bad), but then he spots a bathing beauty and looks at her a little too long (that’s worse, but you can understand it). Then he inquires about her (that’s worse), then he takes the woman (that’s far worse)…

…Then he tries to cover it up (even worse). Then he has her husband murdered (worse still). And then—to top it all off—he plays the hypocrite with God—pretending everything is fine, just fine! David’s great sin was not one great sin—but a lot of sins bunched together.

The same is true with Eve in tonight’s story. Henry calls them

There’s a logic to sin; there’s a momentum to it. We must beware of little sins—because they have a way of not staying little!

Eve took six steps down. Each one followed quite naturally from the one before it and led to the next one. Together they destroyed Eve and her husband and the whole human race.

Henry tells us what her steps were:

The next time you hold a grudge, remember that’s a seed of murder. The next time you look at a woman in the wrong way, remember, that’s where adultery starts. White lies lead to black lies which lead to a life of lying which leads to hell (cf. Revelation 22:15).

Don’t make big, giant, appalling sins your chief concern. No, worry about the little, "innocent" ones because they’re the ones that lead to the sins that wreck families and churches and eternal souls.

Having said all this, let’s go on to briefly look at each of her fatal steps.

I won’t labor the point, but when you think of "the lust of the eyes" what usually comes to mind are beautiful women or men posed in an alluring way to excite one kind of lust. This is an example of it, of course: in today’s world, maybe the chief example. But don’t suppose that this is the only thing one shouldn’t look at. Discontent, covetousness and envy are also lusts of the eyes. Looked at from a certain angle, they’re more dangerous than the other kind of desire because you’re not likely to feel guilty about them.

Let me tell you a couple stories; they’re made up, but they’re also true.

Frank and Nancy are a young couple with two or three kids. She stays home with the children and he makes a living. Nancy spends a lot of time in front of the TV, mostly watching soap operas. On the programs, she sees men very much unlike her husband: they’re handsome attorneys and well-built doctors. Frank, however, is a skinny little man who works in a factory. He comes home tired and sweaty and without much money. She resents the kind of man he is and cuts him down as often as she can. He tries to be patient, but exhausted after long hours at work, he snaps, and punches her in the mouth…

…She fights back and, after months of screaming and fighting and accusing each other, they separate and then divorce.

Their family was broken up because of the lust of the eyes which led to discontent which led to fighting which led to…worse.

Ava is a young woman with a good salary and relatively low expenses. Yet she is up to her eyeballs in debt. Her father has gotten her out of it several times, but he’s had enough. Now, at twenty-five years old—with a good job, not married and with no kids—she has to declare bankruptcy.

How did she make such a mess of her debts and her life? It was the lust of the eyes. She loved catalogues and shopped for the fun of it. She didn’t intend to spend too much, but every catalogue had a sale too good to pass up. And, without knowing she needed it, every store had something she couldn’t live without.

Beware of looking at things you shouldn’t have! Whether it is your neighbor’s:

A whole range of sins—hideous sins—like lust and envy, covetousness, discontentment and more are the resulting of following Eve’e example and looking.

One last thing here: beware of the Christian form of the lust of the eyes. I talked to a woman who was always comparing her husband unfavorably to other men in the church. Why, they’re godly and wise and firm and loving and blah, blah, blah, while my man’s stingy and mean and selfish and so on….

… Even if the thing she’s lusting for is a godly husband, that is still a lust! She has no more right to look at another woman’s husband in that way than she does in the other way!

SHE TOOK AND ATE

Had Eve stopped at looking, maybe we wouldn’t be in the mess we are. But, of course, she didn’t stop there. As I said before, there’s a logic to sin—a snowball effect. Henry says,

Two things to say here: though the devil can tempt us brilliantly and relentlessly, he cannot make us sin. He is not a rapist, but a seducer. This means that we are responsible for what we do—no matter how pressed we are to do it.

One of the surest signs of a graceless soul is blaming others for what you do. We’re born with this tendency. It’s seen in small children, in senior citizens, and in people every place in-between. It makes no difference if you’re educated or not; if you have money or not; if you’re religious or not. When confronted by God, Eve blamed the snake and Adam blamed the woman and the Lord Himself!

There is no lesson harder to learn that the one taught in Proverbs 28:13:

Parents, don’t let your kids get away with blaming each other for what they do. Don’t be obnoxious or hard-nosed about it, but try to show them how that—even if they’re provoked—they need to do the right thing. But don’t leave it there—with teaching and correcting them. Pray for them—"Pray without ceasing".

Last Christmas I got a call from a young man I hadn’t seen since he was a boy. I asked him what he had been doing and he told me he had been in jail. I asked him what he had learned from the experience—and his answer made me cry for joy:

That’s what we want: not finger-pointing and explaining everything away, but owning up to your sins before God and asking for His pardon.

Henry’s other point has already been made: sin is like skiing. Starting downhill is a lot easier than stopping. So, don’t start! And, if you do, stop now, for who knows what it may come to!

SHE GAVE TO HER HUSBAND AND HE ATE

The next step down for Eve was tempting her husband. Henry says

If everyone stinks, no one stinks. But a clean man makes a dirty man feel dirty. And he doesn’t like it. Thus, there’s nothing he wants more than to make the other man dirty. That’s how Eve felt. She eating for forbidden fruit, she fell out of happiness and couldn’t stand seeing her husband happy. So she tempts him to join her in disobedience.

One reason you ought to beware of sin is that—if you fall into it—you’re like to drag others down with you. And most likely, they’ll be the ones closest to you—a husband or wife, children, brothers and sisters, best friends, people in the church.

Do you want to ruin them? Do you want them to be as stained as you are? You say you don’t—no not that! But how can you tolerate them if their holiness makes you feel guilty? There’s no way out: repent or destroy the ones you love the most.

The last act of rebellion seems pathetic, but innocent. But it is not innocent. In some ways, it was the worst thing they ever did. Henry says,

Adam and Eve should have cried out to God for mercy, confessing their sin and showing Him how naked they were before Him. But they did none of the above. They sought to cover up before God with the stupid hope that He wouldn’t notice.

This is where sin often leads: to hypocrisy before God. Adam and Eve tried to cover up their nakedness; David tried the same; we’ve all done this at times—and maybe someone is doing it right now. Sin is deceitful. Therefore, don’t commit it and when you do, confess it as soon as you’re aware of it, and pray for grace to repent of it and to escape it’s power.