#1—God is a Cosmic Sadist

Fred R. Coulter

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The opening prayer reminded me of what Jesus prayed for us. Let's go to John 17 and see Jesus' last prayer before His crucifixion, and I think we'll find this very helpful and instructive for us. It also will lead into what we're going to do in this series.

John 17:9—here's part of Jesus' prayer: "I am praying for them… [those who believed Jesus; believed that He was the Son of God] …I am not praying for the world…" That's why the world can never be reformed. The world can only be reformed to a certain degree, because there is always evil present in the world.

"…but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. All Mine are Yours, and all Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in them. And I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I am coming to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, those whom You have given Me, so that they may be one, even as We are one. When I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. I protected those whom You have given Me, and not one of them has perished except the son of perdition, in order that the Scriptures might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to You; and these things I am speaking while yet in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in them. I have given them Your words, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You would take them out of the world… [most of us wish that we were from time-to-time; but that's why we're not] …but that You would keep them from the evil one" (vs 9-15).

I got a book that really is fantastic: Satan's Ten Most Believable Lies. God has His Ten Commandments; Satan has his ten most believable lies! We're going to examine them. I think it would be great if you would read this book; it's really tremendous. It belies one thing that we have believed in the past: all Truth is only in one corporate structure! That is not so! God will not leave Himself vulnerable to Satan that way.

• Why are we here in such a small group?
• Is that really what God wants?

We can answer it by what he's written here in his understanding about the Scriptures.

Satan's Ten Most Believable Lies (pp 141-142)

…To be well versed enough in Scripture to use it as a weapon in conflict against Satan is quite another [matter]. A small degree of understanding of the Bible, mixed with faith, will produce salvation. No such small understanding, however, will produce Christian capability in the great battle that we now face in our present age. The successful soldier, then, is the one who becomes knowledgeable to the point of the mastery of Scripture….

That's one thing that I'm trying to do here is so that you all know your Bibles! That you can be efficient in the knowledge of God's Word!

…He [this person] is the one who is always "ready always to give an answer to every man that asks [him] of "the hope" that is in him" (1-Pet. 3:15). He is the one who can stand against the subtle foe and give a "place of subjection, no, not for an hour; that the Truth of the Gospel might continue in you" (Gal. 2:5). He is set for the "defense and confirmation of the Gospel" (Philip. 1:7). He is skillful in the use of the Word of God.

The unfortunate problem of our present age is that these individuals are somewhat rare. Too many Christians have settled for a simple outline produced on their denominational mimeograph machine and developed little knowledge beyond this. We must assure ourselves that there is no religious syndicate, no organization, that has a corner on the knowledge of Scripture. Each individual is called upon to know the Word of God for himself.

That's why when we read the parable of the ten virgins, Matt. 25, that becomes so important.

Indeed, no ministry is doing its job unless it produces individual competence in Scripture.

In other words, it's not enough for a ministry or a church to be able to have some things to teach people unless that teaching is so that they become individually competent in the knowledge of the Bible. You can see why then we can put on here one of Satan's nice little lies: You don't need to study the Bible, that's for the ministers or the priests. If you accept that, then you are immediately subject to being shackled by Satan the devil. If we are all going to be judged by the Word of God, why then is it only the prerogative of the priest or the minister to know the Word of God if it's going to judge you?

Too many organizations are merely producing a limp mass of spiritual dependents…

I like that phraseology!

…saints who are not equipped to study the Bible for themselves. They must ever be propped up by their spiritual gurus, never coming to the place of personal doctrinal expertise.

No ministry is successful unless it produces independent capability in the lives those whom it reaches. The individual who comes to the place of independent capability, who enjoys the blessing of God in spiritual growth to the extent that he is "combat ready" is the one who meditates day and night in the Scriptures.

Quite and insightful bit of writing there—isn't it?

Let's go back to the first of the book. This is out of the Introduction; he gives a little bit about the rise and fall of Satan, and so forth:

p 8—Introduction:

…There is, however, a form of satanic activity that is more deadly than witchcraft.

We read about witchcraft and the problems of satanic worship and covens and all of this sort of thing. By the way, there is a movement to come through the NEA (National Education Assoc.) to bring watered-down and borderline versions of satanism right into the class in the way of teaching the kids. Know that the public schools are the breeding grounds for Satan's philosophy into our children. You can be guaranteed that. He almost has a chokehold on it.

Serious damage has been done in naïve personalities because of overt spiritualist activity…

That is something that is overt; you can see it.

…but far greater havoc has been wrought by another kind of satanism, the covert production and propagation of false doctrine.

• Didn't we have that going through the Passover?
• Didn't we have that going through Pentecost?

That's why I want you to be, as he says, individually competent in the Scriptures yourselves. What good does it do for the minister to know something and he cannot impart that to the congregation, and they never know anything except what they're told. Someone asks you a question and you say, 'You'll have to ask my minister.' Rather than say, 'Let's open your Bible and look at it.'

When I would go out visit people who were writing in for a visit—years ago—I never took my own Bible. I always used theirs. A lot of so-called Christian churches say, 'we don't study the Old Testament.' We'll see what Paul says about that a little bit later on.

Should we study the Old Testament? You'd better believe we should study the Old Testament, absolutely!

…the covert production and propagation of false doctrine. The enemy has produced a significant triumph when he can spread in our society a broad set of false views about God, Christ, the Holy Spirit, sin, the purpose of life…

Which he believes, too, to be in the God Family. Interesting, isn't it, that there's no corporate hold that no one else understands that.

…and other imperative points of Christian doctrine. For every one person who is subverted by Satan worship… [the overt kind] …thousands are enmeshed in Satan's more deadly trap: doctrinal error.

What did Jesus say? He said of God's Word, 'Your Word is Truth! The Truth shall set you free from sin, the devil.' So it's imperative that you know it.

People who are otherwise perfectly rational, who would not dream of attending a séance, are, nevertheless, the more thoroughly undermined simply because they believe the wrong thing.

Satan's trafficking in false doctrine is more dangerous than spiritism. Few inquiries could then be more helpful than to examine the doctrines of Satan in the hope of deliverance form his mind-destroying theology.

The introduction to it is more deadly than witchcraft—that's the first chapter. Witchcraft is external. False doctrine is covert and it is internal.

We were talking about the doctrine of vegetarianism under the guise of these eco-paths—animal-paths or eco-paths. They are so concerned about the ecology, they are so concerned about animal rights that they elevate animal rights to human rights.

A tree was made to cut down, but be smart enough to replant it. The northern spotted owl: they've stopped as much logging as they can in northern California, Washington and Oregon. I heard a telephone call from a fellow calling into one of the talk shows, and he was calling from Oregon, and he said, 'Ten years ago there were 240 spotted owl pairs, so we had a big deal up here in Oregon to save the spotted owl. Now there are 7,000 spotted owl pairs.' So, it's all a hoax, folks!

Do you know what the hoax is? Guess what lumber company on the east coast just did? What I want you to do is think on these as 'eco-commies.' They're really doing Communist work to destroy things here. Communists always support the motherland, the Soviet Union. So, guess what a lumber company on the east coast just did? Just contracted to buy logs from the Soviet Union!

So, there's much more than meets the eye! And it's interesting, there are more doctrines of demons that get out into the public realm, which are not necessarily in the church realm.

1-Timothy 4:1: "Now the Spirit tells us explicitly that in the latter times some shall apostatize from the faith…" What is the faith? The faith that is in the Bible talks about

• God the Father
• the Son Jesus Christ
• the hope of salvation
• the forgiveness of sin by grace
• living by the commandments of God

All of those things are contained in the Bible in the faith. These are called the words of faith. So, they will depart from the faith.

Notice what they will be doing: "…and shall follow deceiving [seducing] spirits and doctrines of demons" (v 1). Seducing spirits comes in subtly. Is it that there is a spirit going around and that spirit is kind of in the form of a big hook and it sort of grabs this person and pulls them away? No!

'There are many false prophets and many false spirits (1-John 1), because wherever the prophets go there are false spirits inspiring them so that people give heed to "…seducing spirits and doctrines [teachings] of demons." That's going on today.

• Can you recognize all of those arguments?
• Do you know the ten most believable lies of Satan the devil?
• Have they ever affected the Church of God?

Obviously, yes, they have!

Verse 2: "Speaking lies in hypocrisy… [Have we had that? Even within the Church? Yes!] …their consciences having been cauterized with a hot iron; forbidding to marry; and commanding to abstain from meats, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by the faithful, even by those who know the Truth" (vs 2-3).

Why the current rage with vegetarianism? Some people say it's more healthful! Well, it's more healthful than eating swine and hogs. It's more healthful than eating a lot of unclean foods. If you have a diseased body, vegetarianism is very good to help cleanse it. But why the current rage of vegetarianism?

There was an ad in The Vegetarian newspaper that I heard about, which said: 'Wanted: Live in roommate. Vegetarian, lesbian, and health conscience.' Most of the modern age theology with vegetarianism is because of a belief in re-incarnation. What happens in the doctrine of re-incarnation? You purge the sins out of your life by being re-incarnated from one form of life to another!

If you kill an animal, you may be killing a spirit of someone who has been re-incarnated into that animal. That's a fact. That makes me love prime-rib even more! I will enjoy it more. I don't care if it's a big baked potato with butter on it. Some people like a lot of sour cream. Or rice—it doesn't make any difference to me—I am going to enjoy it! All of those vegetarians who believe the doctrines of demons suffer! Go ahead and have your bean sprouts!

Verse 4: "For every creature of God designated for human consumption is good, and nothing to be refused, if it is received… [to be eaten] …with thanksgiving"—of them that know the Truth. What is Truth? Your Word is Truth! What tells what animals we should and should not eat? The Bible! God made it very simple. You do not need to have a professor's degree.

All fish that don't have fins and scales, don't eat them! All animals that are warm-blooded that chew the cud and divide the hoof in two, go ahead and eat, but all those that don't—don't eat them. Next time you take a trip down your little meat counter, take a look. More and more unclean food. I suspect one of these days we will see canned jellyfish.

Now, we need to add this, because there are others that come in with another false doctrine saying that every creature of God is good, so you can eat anything.

Verse 4: "For every creature of God designated for human consumption is good… [ones that God created to be received with thanksgiving is good] …and nothing to be refused, if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is sanctified… [set aside and made Holy] …by the Word of God and prayer" (vs 4-5). Whatever God says we can eat, we can eat.

Verse 6: "If you are teaching these things to the brethren, you will be a good servant of Jesus Christ, being nourished by the words of the faith and of the good doctrines that you have closely followed."

2-Timothy 3:1—talking about the end-time: "Know this also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men will be lovers of self…" That is the key thing. People love themselves. They don't love God! They don't love their neighbors! Just themselves!

Verse 13: "But wicked men and imposters shall become worse and worse, deceiving others and being deceived themselves." Do people love to be deceived? Sure they do! Yes, they do! Some will say, 'No, I don't like to be deceived.' But what if someone came up to you and said—the way that you were dressed—'You know, you really look awful today.' No, you want to be told how nice you look, how fine you look, how good you are. And you ought to see people just melt in their tracks when they are told how good they are. And if they're not told how good they are, they have little temper tantrums.

When Jose Canseco signed a $25-million [baseball] contract, guess what? Ricky Henderson was slighted! He felt put down! So, he's going to go prove that he's better than Jose. Tell them how good they are.

• Do people like to be deceived?
• How many con-games are run because people like to be deceived?
• Do you deceive yourself? Sure you do!

When you get close to doing something, or are doing something that is not right and your conscience kind of bites you a little bit, what do you do? You figure a way around it!

This happened the other day. Rachelle was watching a TV thing and I came in and was watching it. I said, 'Rachelle, don't watch that. Take that video and return it.' She said, 'I've seen worse!' So, immediately the human thinking: 'since I've seen worse then I can continue to watch this, even though it's bad.' That's just the way that human nature works. I said, 'Look, you have to decide what you're going to do. You cannot judge sin by degree. You cannot judge immorality by the fact that you've seen worse. This is how Two Live Crew gets going. 'I have heard worse on the third grade school grounds than what Two Live Crew says.' So therefore, it's all right.

Do people love to be deceived? Sure they do! Yes, they do!

Remember when Herbert Armstrong had Stanley Rader there. Stanley Rader would come on and he would introduce him for the sermon. 'Please Mr. Rader, would you give a few words. Stanley would come up there and say what a wonderful person Herbert was and the greatest man that ever walked and all this sort of thing. Herbert fell over himself! He nearly just tripped over in his tracks, sitting there just drinking in all of this and got suckered in by the messenger of Satan to do things that weren't right.

So, what was one of the things that Stanley Rader said? 'Look, the Plain Truth has too much of God in it. What we need to do is make it a little more palatable for other people.' So, because of flattery the Truth was taken out of the Plain Truth. It should be called just The Plain now. I just read the recent issue.

See what has happened to something that was good? Something that was right? Because people want to be deceived!

Verse 14: "But as for you, continue in the things that you did learn… [from the Old Testament] …and were assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them; and that from a child you have known the Holy Writings, which are able to make you wise unto salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is profitable for doctrine [teaching]…" (vs 14-16).

Some churches have said, 'We need a little more love around here, and a little less doctrine.' It's the other way around. If they had the right doctrine—the right doctrine of love—they would have plenty of love. That's another little subtle thing that comes in.

"…for conviction, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; so that the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work" (vs 16-17).

2-Timothy 4:1—here's a command, a charge, to the ministers: "I charge you, therefore, in the sight of God, even the Lord Jesus Christ…" Who should the minister listen to? The words of God! If he's not listening to the words of God then you've got trouble in the Church.

There's 'trouble in River City'; there's a pool table in here. I say that a little facetiously, because that's just exactly how the satanic doctrines work. They come in very subtly that way.

So, we're to preach the Word of God, "…Who is ready to judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the Word! Be urgent in season and out of season; convict, rebuke, encourage, with all patience and doctrine" (vs 1-2).

What does doctrine mean? Doctrine comes from the Greek word 'didaktos'—which means to teach or a teaching. What is going to save us, ultimately going to give us salvation? God is! Based upon the Word of God, the teachings of God and the Holy Spirit! That's why it's important.

Verse 3: "For there shall come a time when they will not tolerate sound doctrine; but according to their own lusts they shall accumulate to themselves a great number of teachers, having ears itching to hear what satisfies their cravings; and they shall turn away their own ears from the Truth; and they shall be turned aside unto myths" (vs 3-4). The ten most believable lies of Satan.

2-Peter 2 talks about false prophets that are coming along—these are false preachers, not just those who are prophesying of coming events, but false teachers.

2-Peter 2:1: "But there were also false prophets among the people, as indeed there will be false teachers…"—'didaktos'—a 'didaktos' does 'didakting'—a teacher is teaching; that's what it means from Greek to English. The teacher is to be the one who is doing the teaching. So, if you have false teachers, what do you have? False doctrine! Very simple!

"…among you, who will stealthily introduce destructive heresies, personally denying the Lord who bought them, and bringing swift destruction upon themselves. And many people will follow as authoritative their destructive ways… [here's why]: …and because of them, the way of the Truth will be blasphemed" (vs 1-2).

One of the first things you do to bring in false doctrine is that you start speaking evil of the Truth. Are people willing to listen to evil against the Truth? Yes, they are! Are they willing to even accept it and stand up for it? Yes, they are!

p 11—Satan's Ten Most Believable Lies:

In the light of this Scripture, the function of witchcraft is revealed. Not quite so obvious but equally satanic is the role of the religious hucksters who promotes a magic snake-oil version of pseudo-Christianity. Seducing spirits do the overt work of Satan….

…The production of attractive doctrinal falsehoods is the most deadly activity of the enemy of God in the world today….

We find in John 8:44 where Satan is a liar and the 'father of it,' and he was 'a liar from the beginning.'

…The father of lies will surely present assertions that sound blessedly true…

Interesting way that he put it.

…and are only proved false when analyzed in depth. The most subtle created being in all the universe is Lucifer. The cleverest set of lies that he has ever produced is the satanic system of doctrine. With his doctrines, he presses quiet arguments upon reasonable men…

People who don't think that they are evil. People who think that 'other people have human nature that's worse than mine.' We'll see that that's what happened to Job.

…appealing to high intelligence and mature sensibilities. Every person who is not a Christian believes one or another demonic doctrine as the first principle of his life. Many Christians, though saved by believing the Truth, have been rendered spiritually impotent through accepting, along with the Truth, a doctrine of Satan.

Very interesting—isn't it?

It is interesting and even titillating to consider the overt activities of Satan. It is surely of more value, however, to study the doctrines of the devil and the Biblical answer to these frightening subversions. Subversion, incidentally, is a good word of all of this, for it literally means "to undermine the truth," or "less than the truth." A proposition that is slightly less than the truth is a far more treacherous lie than the clenched fist of categoric denial.

Isn't it interesting that out of Communism came the greatest subversion the world has ever seen to subvert people? They operated with spies—KBG—fear.

p 12—…Few activities could be more valuable on the part of the Church of Christ than a return to the careful study of Biblical doctrine. It is the necessary prelude to prayer, more important than "experience" and any other aspect of the Christian life. Indeed, no statement about prayer, experience, witnessing, the Holy Spirit, or the nature of Christ can even be understood without a reference to sound Bible doctrine.

The reason for this is clear: sound doctrine is that set of definitions without which nothing else can be understood….

Now let's see how surely this applies to the Church of God. This time I'm going to focus in on the problems that the Church had. I'm not going to go through a great long dissertation on each one.

Revelation 2:2—the Church at Ephesus: "I know your works, and your labor, and your endurance, and that you cannot bear those who are evil; and that you did test those who proclaim themselves to be apostles, but are not, and did find them liars."

Since they're found to be liars, who sent them? Satan! He is a 'liar from the beginning' and the 'father of it.'

(go the next track)

So, the first things that Satan does, he gets lying authorities, because an apostle is sent bearing authority. If you have someone who is a liar, who has authority, and people follow him and accept that authority, they are following a lie.

The first church—the apostolic church right after the days of Jesus—was confronted with false apostles; confronted with those who were lying. Paul said, those who 'twisted the Scripture'; those who 'handled the Word of God deceitfully.' Very interesting—isn't it? As a result of that, they lost their first love (v 4). And if you don't 'I will come and remove your candlestick' (v 5).

Verse 6: "But this you have: that you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate."

Each one of the churches had their problems with Satan, false doctrine and sin. One was so worn out—the Church of Sardis—that it was dead. 'You have a name that you live, but you're dead. So worn out! God said, 'Strengthen what you have and you'll make it. Hold on to the few things that you have.'

I just want to summarize a lot of these key Scriptures. Here is why doctrine is important. The teachings of Christ were doctrinal:

• We are to obey from the heart the form of doctrine delivered to us (Rom. 6:17[transcriber's correction]).
• We are to be conscious of offenses 'contrary to the doctrine of Christianity.' (Rom. 16:17).
• We are to teach 'no other doctrine' (1-Tim. 1:3).
• We are to give ourselves to "sound doctrine' (1-Tim. 1:10).
• To 'good doctrine' (1-Tim. 4:6).
• We are to concentrate on reading, exhortation and doctrine.
• We are to take heed of ourselves.
• We are to count those who labor in the Word worthy of 'double honor' (1-Tim. 5:17).

Titus 1:9 shows us how we are able to use the Word of God: "Holding steadfastly to the faithful Word, according to the teachings of Jesus Christ, so that he may be able both to encourage with sound doctrine…" That's what's so important.

Have you ever listened to these 'Commie-crats'; 'Liberal-crats'; 'Libie-coms'—there's a name I have for the Democrats that are that way, too—have you ever noticed how their thinking is off? Listen to these people talk and their thinking becomes totally skewed! Why are you able to detect that skewed thinking? A lot of people can't. Why are you able to detect that thinking that is wrong? Because you know the Word of God! You have the Spirit of God!

That's why you're going to find yourself sitting there watching the news sometimes—and this happens to me quite often—you get just absolutely disgusted with these meely-mouthed, double-tongued, hypocritical, sleaze-bagged politicians that come along and do all of this nonsensical 'good' trying to reform the world. They themselves are in the bondage of corruption! Totally!

I think if there's any one institution that God really is angry at, that's the Congress of the United States—maybe more so than other legislatures. The Congress of the United States! You listen to the way some of these people think and you know that there's something wrong mentally, because of what they believe! So, we have to have sound doctrine to refute it.

pp 13-14—Satan's Ten Most Believable Lies

In the light of the clear teaching of Scripture, it is frightening to hear a Christian speaker naively declare that "What we need today is not more theology and doctrine but more experience!" Such assertions indicate a shortage of Biblical understanding. They are not only untrue—but dangerously untrue. They pave the way for satanic activity….

…An understanding of sound doctrine makes it possible for us to perceive unsound doctrine….
That's what's important!

I heard a sermon by a man who was with us when we were in Biblical [Church of God] who is now giving some of the most unsound, confusing doctrines and the people that he is teaching are so inexperienced. They are sitting there just lapping it up like a kitten laps up warm milk. 'That's so good! That's so exciting! All this new stuff!' They don't know their Bibles! And unfortunately, that's the way it is with too many people. That's what happens.

…This kind of understanding will mean that we never again need be ignorant of his devices, the most deadly of which is doctrinal subversion.

Paul gives a warning of that doctrinal subversion. We just read it.

It follows, of course, that a general knowledge of the Bible does little good. Who of us have not heard about people who are members or grand masters of some mystical organization, that quote an obscure verse from Ecclesiastes and thereby make the claim that their views are Bible-based?….

That's what they do, they take a verse and they say 'we're Christian.' What do you mean you're Christian? That's the first question you ought to ask someone who says 'I'm a Christian.' Listen to what they say and then ask them: What do you mean you are a Christian? Would you define it for me?

…Their knowledge is simply not sufficient…

It says that we have a high degree of people like this.

…to give them a reason for their faith or to equip them to defend the Gospel. Alexander Pope's warning that "a little learning is a dangerous thing: applies not only to philosophy but even more emphatically to Christianity. The lunatic fringe of Christianity is well populated by people who picked up some verse of Scripture many years ago and have been attempting to live on it ever since.

Interesting phraseology: "…lunatic fringe of Christianity…"

We must know the details of Scripture, the whole of Scripture, and the doctrines of Scripture. No one who does not know the Scripture in detail can claim to know the Scripture at all.

More imperatively, I will make a statement here to ministers: Any of you who try and substantiate doctrine and you don't know at least Greek well enough to understand what the Bible is teaching, you can never be sure that you're teaching the Truth as it ought to be taught. You yourself become victim to being able to produce false doctrine while you sound authoritative, but you're not!

When discussing the dangers of satanic doctrinal subversion, the Bible is clearly warning thoughtful people. Let no one say, "I don't claim to be a witch, a prophetess or a magician; therefore, I am not really vulnerable to satanic activity."….

Another way of phrasing it: 'I am basically a moral person. I have high standards in my life. Therefore, I don't need to go to church and study the Word of God.' Oh, have you swallowed it: hook, line and sinker!' There are a lot of people that way. 'Well, I go to church and all I see are hypocritical people.' Maybe it's the church you're going to! Is that the only one in the world? You can hear all of these excuses. Granted, those may be true statements. But you're setting yourself up for a fall.

…Think again. The witches and the magicians provide Satan with some fun and games along the way, but his real activity is subverting the insiders, the reasonable, and the semi-studious with false doctrine.

To believe the wrong thing is far more serious than to do the wrong thing….

That's quite a statement—isn't it?

…Ask yourself: How many doctrines of the devil do I really understand? With how many have I already been subverted? Doctrinal subversion is more deadly than witchcraft.

Let's come to Satan's first most believable lie:

God is a Cosmic Sadist (p 15)

…Satan uses "almost true" intellectual propositions to appeal to reasonable people. His most effective work is done—not in saloons and brothels—but in the minds of men. He is a destroyer of Truth. He is a liar from the beginning. He is a pusher—not merely of marijuana or heroin—but of false propositions. He promotes an addiction to lies.

Let's go back and we will see the first lie given to human beings. He presents it here in just a little bit different way. So, it's worth our while to go back to Gen. 3.

Genesis 3:1: "Now the serpent was more cunning than any creature of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, 'Is it true that God has said, "You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?"'" Which means God said that you shall not eat of any of the trees of the garden—didn't He? That's his first lie!

• God doesn't want you to enjoy a thing!
• God does not want you to have anything!
• God put all of this here because He is a sadist!

But what was the original command? God said, 'Of all of the trees of the garden you may freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat of it, for the day that you eat thereof you shall surely die!'

Satan comes along and say, "…'Is it true that God has said, "You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?"'" That is, you shall not eat of any of them. That isn't what God said!

A lot of people think that God is against them, because He has rules. Where does this attitude come from? Does it come from God? What else does God say when He created man and woman?

Genesis 1:27: "And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him. He created them male and female. And God blessed them. And God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of heaven and over every living thing that moves upon the earth'" (vs 27-28). God gave mankind the whole world! God had plenty of permission, plenty of good things.

Here's another way of translating it:

p 16—…So the serpent came to the woman. "Really?" he asked. "None of the fruit in the garden? God says you mustn't eat any of it?"

What a clever ploy! The enemy suggests that God is a moral tyrant, so bluenosed that He has forbidden His creatures any enjoyment whatsoever. The implication is that God filled the Garden with delightful array of delicious fruits to taunt man, forbidding him to eat of any of these fruits. God is therefore a negativist who made man merely to frustrate him. He is a cosmic sadist, inflicting an impossible set of rules and punishments upon man. God is therefore impossible to please, a total tyrant, so the best thing to do is to chuck the whole thing as of right now.

That's the way a lot of people view God—isn't it! Isn't it true? But it's just the opposite! Because He knows our nature, He provided a way out through Jesus Christ, and forgives us by grace! Overlooks our sins! Quite different—isn't it?

So then, Eve adds something else when she answers back, Genesis 3:2: "And the woman said to the serpent, 'We may freely eat the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has indeed said, "You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die"'" (vs 2-3). So, she added a little something to it. God didn't say, 'touch it.' He said, 'Don't eat of it.'

p 17—Before Adam and Eve was the possibility of many delicious involvements in eating the fruit of the Garden. The instructions that God had given were—with but one exception—on the positive, permissive side. God had in effect said, "Im for you! I made you with palates to enjoy the exquisite sweetness of the strawberry and the grape. The tart delight of the crab apple, the bananas, oranges, pears—they all are yours." Every physical gratification was given to the couple in the Garden. Every pleasure, every fulfillment was theirs.

Only one restriction! The one tree! Just the one! But men do not like to believe God. So then, what happened? Satan has his trick! By this he is saying—when he turns it all around—'God doesn't want you to have anything.' But it's there for you to take. 'And God is holding back so that you do not succeed. Therefore, why don't you become like God and why don't you eat of this tree, for it will open your eyes and you will be like God. You won't be able to make the choices like God, if you eat of this tree, just trust me!' I hate that whenever anyone says, 'Trust me.' Once that trust in Satan has taken hold:

p 19—So the author of all evil, whose own heart is filled with violence, seduces legions to follow him. With neat finesse, he is often able to introduce drugs, illicit sex, and even violent crime as "authentic moral symbols of that righteous rebellion."….

Didn't that happen when Cain killed Abel? Why did He kill Abel? Because Cain looked upon Abel as more righteous! So therefore, he'll get rid of him.

Isn't that the way it is today? When someone is righteous, trying to do right, don't they try and get rid of them? Didn't that happen in the Church of God when people came along and said, 'Look, this is what the Word of God says, we ought to re-examine to see if this is right.' And for standing for the Truth, people were kicked out of the Church of God! Were they believing one of Satan's most believable lies? Absolutely!

…Only too much later does Satan's hapless victim realize, as he stands amid the wreckage of his life, that he has been duped by the devil. He has been consumed by the fire that he started when he began to listen to the whispered suggestions of the evil one.

What happens when sin takes place? James 1 talks about how sin takes hold in our lives. God does not tempt us with sin. He did not tempt Adam and Eve with that tree. The tree was put there, and there was one little prohibition, which was: Don't eat of that tree! All of the rest you can have freely, except that one.

James 1:13: "Do not let anyone who is tempted say, 'I am being tempted by God'…" Sometimes we're tried of God, that is true. But the trial comes not in the way of making us choose evil. Understand that! A trial from God is to see whether you will obey Him and keep His words! That's what the trial is. A temptation of evil is not a temptation of God.

God is not going to put you in a circumstance where some lascivious woman is going to come and try and seduce you and you say, 'Oh, God, thank You for sending her.' Nonsense! You happen to be in a situation where Satan sent his messenger and you wanted to be seduced by that. So therefore, you were! If you wanted to follow God, there would have been no seduction; you would have seen it coming! You would have said, 'I have an appointment right now—sayonara!' And get up and leave. That's actually true. Even though you don't have an appointment with someone else, you can still say that's true because you have an appointment with the Truth to get your little feet out of there and on the way so that you're not going to get seduced. Very simple!

That's why "…let anyone who is tempted say, 'I am being tempted by God'…" Oh, this cocaine just happened to be right there and someone just took a razor blade and cut off a little snort for me.

"…because God is not tempted by evil, and He Himself tempts no one with evil. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away and is enticed by his own lust" (vs 13-14). Your own desire to do evil, that's what does it.

Then you get trapped! Like some of these women who go out. Teenage girls get lured into the sex; they get trapped into it; they become pregnant. They get an abortion or they wait until it's born and they throw it away in a garbage disposal bin someplace, hopeful that no one would discover it.

God didn't do that!

Verse 15: "And after lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is completely finished, brings forth death."

That's the thing that does it. God is not there trying to squash us for everything that we do. NO! God has given us so many things that we can do, which are good, right, perfect, fine and lovely, which God blesses. But the things that God says 'don't do' are for our own good. That's why He says, 'Don't do it!'

So, the first lie of Satan the devil is that God is a Cosmic Sadist!

All Scriptures from The Holy Bible in its Original Order, a Faithful Version by Fred R. Coulter

Scriptural References:

• John 17:9-15
• 1 Timothy 4:1-6
• 2 Timothy 3:1-2, 13-17
• 2 Timothy 4:1-4
• 2 Peter 2:1-2
• Revelation 2:2, 6
• Titus 1:9
• Genesis 3:1
• Genesis 1:27-28
• Genesis 3:2-3
• James 1:13-15

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Matthew 25
• 1 John 1
• John 8:44
• Revelation 2:4, 5
• Romans 6:17; 16:17
• 1 Timothy 1:3, 10; 4:6; 5:17

Also referenced: Book:
Satan's Ten Most Believable Lies by Dave Breese

FRC:bo
Transcribed: 1-17-13