Be Careful When All Is Well – Dr. Charles Stanley

you have to be careful when everything is good you have to be careful when everything is right and what happens is this when everything is just right that's when people drop that guy next on InTouch dr. Charles Stanley begins his series guidance from the garden today's message be careful when all as well well it's natural for us to strive to do the best we can do whatever we do and whether that's for our health in our occupation whatever that might be in our relationships every aspect of our life we we want to do our best and when you think about the area of your life that you don't feel like you do your best it may be the area that sort of frustrates you and makes you anxious and maybe the thing that you pray about most of all and in that striving believe our best we discover what our strengths are and we discover what our weaknesses are and so sometimes we put a lot more effort in that area that we probably feel the weakest and so we work harder and sometimes we improve and maybe sometimes we feel like we're not getting anywhere and yet if you're really working at it you probably making more progress than you think you are so you reach your goals and after you reach some of your goals in life you relax a little bit you take it easy and then after a while maybe after taking it a little bit easy you begin to be less sensitive to the things that made you very sensitive to make you a success at whatever you were doing and sometimes that being less sensitive means we relaxed about our attitudes relaxed about where we are who we win what we do what our goals are in life and so especially is that true in our spiritual life and so I'm titling this message be careful when all is well we have to be careful when all is well because everything is going good you're making enough money and you do well in your job and you got Alexa money level extra time and so you know life's treated you well and so just relax and enjoy it and so we have to be careful when everything is going our way sometimes that can be the beginning of disaster so I want you to turn to the second chapter of Genesis and so you know that the first chapter primarily is about the creation of the earth and all the good things that God did and starting the second chapter I want to salute the beginning if you will in verse 7 then the Lord God formed man of the dust from the ground and breathed into him into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living being the Lord God planted a garden till the east indeed we call it the Garden of Eden there he placed the man whom he had formed out of the garden the Lord God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food listen that every tree beautiful to look at good to taste good for food the Lord he says the Tree of Life also in the midst of the garden and then the tree of the knowledge of good and evil now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden and from there and divided and became four rivers the name of the first is fish on it flows around the whole land of havilah and where there is gold I thought that was interesting that you got identified place where there's goal the goal of that land is good the Delian and onyx are there the name of the second rivers Gahan those around the whole land of cush the name of the third river is Tigris it flows east out of Assyria and its fourth River is the Euphrates you say well why he got to put all that in the Bible because he wants us to know where it is so then the Lord God took the man put him into the Garden of Eden to cultivate and to keep it the Lord God commanded the man saying from any tree of the garden you may eat freely but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die so God has created this awesome beautiful place to live and so he says having created all those beautiful things then he put two trees in the garden the you now might think well why didn't you just leave it like it was you gotta put a pear tree there apple tree orange trade lemon tree lime tree but this tree you put there was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil why did you have to put that in the garden so we'll talk about that in a moment so I want us to look at Adam and look at him in this light first of all his residence where he lived which we've been talking about the Bible says it's pleasing in the sight of those who could look at it absolutely beautiful trees good for fruit that it satisfies their hunger so he's living in this awesome beautiful garden everything about it is absolutely perfect now there is a tree that's sort of strange over there but we don't know how long Adam and Eve lived in the garden together when everything was beautiful and they were obedient to God so when you think about that and you think about how perfect everything was and then it's interesting that God gave Adam a responsibility in this awesome place in which he live and the scripture says that he told Adam that youth you too keep the garden that is year to manage it so it was a garden that grew and I don't know what to managing that garden would have been in the Garden of Eden had a responsibility and that responsibility was to keep that garden the way God had made it and so everything was just right he said good for food their words there were no needs you can think of a single need or desire that Adam would have had so when you think about that and you think about well what's this all about well it's all about this God had one restriction he said all of this all the food everything is perfect perfect wife perfect husband he said there's one restriction and that restriction has to do with a tree and that tree is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die now what's that word surely because remember what Satan said to her you might surely die God said you'll surely die watch this and Satan said he won't Cheerilee die now watch this exactly the way the devil still works well you won't really get caught nobody's really gonna find out about it she won't know he won't know they won't know and if you take a little it's okay because all kind of folks do all kinds of things in other words the devil has not changed it worked with Adam and Eve is still working and the purpose of this message is to warn you lest you drop your guard and become less sensitive that what's going on around you because things look so well and finds yourself losing out on God's blessing on your life and so he said one thing you have to remember the tree in the midst of the garden is deadly so let's ask a question at two trees there the Tree of Life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil why would you why would you put that tree there so he could tempt man no but think about this suppose for example there were only one other woman in the world one of a man in the world and you want to get married she's your only choice he's your only choice that's it so where is love in other words if Adam and Eve had not had a choice they hadn't been like robots and that is why do I love her I don't have insurance what do I love them I don't have a choice in other words if he created them and placed them in the garden and gave them no choices then is that love or is it not and I believe that one of the reasons he gave them that opportunity to make a choice what's this is not to choose evil and be harmed by but to listen to love him enough to choose right he gave us a choice to love him another loving and that makes our relationship with him far more precious and rewarding and fulfilling we have a choice - loving or not loving and so let's look at the Adams response for a moment here he is this awesome beautiful indescribable place and his response well what was his response well he kept the garden everything was fantastic and then God had given him Eve and she decided that she would try the fruit because the devil's offer was then you'll be like a God think about this they were already like they had all the knowledge that they could possibly need everything they could possibly want in life total satisfaction and Satan says he's keeping something from you now you can be like God all you have to do is take a bite and it's interesting that I don't know how long that conversation went on is very brief in the Bible but finally she decided to take a bite now watch this according to the scripture she handed Adam let's just say it was an apple she handed Adam the Apple he took a bite he didn't say Eve don't you remember what God said we are not to eat of the fruit of the tree in the midst of the garden both of them fell and all of a sudden the Bible says they discover that they were naked and so they have to go hide and then you know the story God comes walking in the cool of the day it says Adam where are you and he had to say you know we had to find us a tree big enough to hide behind and because we knew you'd show up Sandra later now what I want you to see in this is this in your walk with God everything's going good I mean he's blessing you you're making it us money your family is good you drive a nice automobile living in a nice house as far as you're concerned everything's just going fine we have to live in this world on guard we have to live on guard we can't come to the place at any point where we say well you know what everything is fantastic just relax because the devil always has an offer that is absolutely diametrically opposed to what God has for you and I am certain that when Satan made the offer to Eve it was a very deceitful lying offer but instead of thinking about what she had thinking about where she was thinking about what God had said and how absolutely perfectly they lived she decided because he said now if you want to be like God take a bite she decided she wanted something that watch this that was forbidden when she had everything something that was forbidden because Satan said well if you really want to enjoy the garden do you read if you really want to enjoy life you'll have a life just take one bite but that was Satan's lie that was his trap Satan is still lying he's still killing people you need this well if you're really going to live you ought to have some of this or if you really want life you need to be married to her instead of her or him instead of him and you name it Satan's full of lies he hadn't changed he uses the same tactics he's always use lying about the truth denying what God has said is true he said in the day that you eat of this you will surely die and that's exactly what they did so think about this all the pain all the sorrow all the heartache all the death all the misery that has happened in this world began in a perfect garden between two people who disobeyed God in any family if one family if one person disobeys God specifically very clearly what happens everybody in the family hurts everybody in God's awesome family from the beginning of time until this moment we have all hurt we have all been injured we have all felt the weight in the burden and the yield of sin you have to be careful when everything is good you have to be careful when everything is right and what happens is that when everything is just right that's when people drop their guard that's when people begin to think well you know how well they're doing well before you were doing so well you were praying to God if you were obedient to God you asking God to give you direction and guidance for your life and you're asking him to meet your needs and healed your body or whatever it might be and now that everything is going so good and you decide they will I'll try some of this or some of that I'm telling you that's the devil's trap that's Satan's trap over and over and over again what we find going on all around us is Satan's trap a little bit of this won't hurt you listen a little bit of sin will hurt you because a little bit of sin usually multiplies and a whole lot of sin and a lot of disobedience to God but everything is looking good be careful who you listen to be careful who you look at and the way you look at it and the way you respond to other people and the way you choose your friends so the last thing I would mention the size Adams response is Adams regrets look what happened expelled from the garden first of all the shame they had to hide try to hide from God they had they had to cover their bodies because all of a sudden they never they never experienced shame all of a sudden they were shamed to being naked ashamed to be in the presence of God afraid that God would find them and that's what he did fear of what was going to happen because all of a sudden they could hear it like an echo and the day that you eat of the fruit of this tree you shall surely die too late too late inside if I wish I had I wish I had not too late you have to be careful who you listen to what you look at who you see what you want what you desire what your future looks like because remember this the soul that's in it that you'll die that law of God has not changed you reap what you sow more than your soul later than yourself has not changed the wages of sin is death has not changed and so we have the privilege of living obediently before God we have the Holy Spirit living within us to give us warnings they'll say watch this watch that and we we can't really excuse ourselves for the things that we do not right because God warns us and we have a whole Bible for the warnings Adam and Eve had they had the voice of God crystal clear in the ether in the David you definition Shula died now we have from Genesis to Revelation a Bible full of proofs the day that you sinned against God something happens to you you down inside listen to me carefully that many people who have died every day on the inside and college something else the wages of sin there's only one healing for that God hasn't changed his laws and if you'll think about Adam and Eve they had everything what's this how long did it take them to lose everything and they lost it all so I would simply ask you a question are you careful about who your friends are are you careful about what your husband or wife brings home are you careful about reading the Word of God every day are you careful about talking to the Heavenly Father every day are you sensitive about your relationship to God every day are you tempted having watched other people up here to have such a good time and maybe in your circumstance you not having a very good time but you're paying God are you tempted to want something that will end up absolutely destroying you remember this cannot change the laws of God the soul that sinneth it shall die the wages of sin is death you cannot change it therefore as followers of Jesus we have to be listen still with his spirit obeying the promptings of the Holy Spirit sensitive to when he shows us something that does not belong in our life that a you and I are able to say no no no no don't worry what about what your friends think people who are living with the Lord Jesus Christ are dying a little bit every day so when everything is going well we have to be careful to listen clearly to the voice of God when he gives us a warning and then not argue with it I have a discussion with him but obeying well if you've never trusted Jesus as you save you listen to this you like Adam and Eve hiding behind the tree you're lost and the only hope of salvation is accepting Jesus phrase as your personal Savior trusting him for the forgiveness of your sins but the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to enable you to be the person who God wants you to be does that mean you'll never be tempted no does it mean you'll never sin no but it means that you have the Lord Jesus Christ living on the inside to warn you the Holy Spirit to empower you to say no to sin and yes to the Living God and I trusted you be wise enough to do that if you're here this morning you've never trusted Jesus as you save you if you willing to ask him right where you sit god that sounds just like me I've sinned against you I've known better I knew the truth but if I violated it I'm asking you this morning to forgive me of my sins I'm asking you to forgive me right where I sit I'm trusting use my personal Saviour giving my life to you how will God respond forgive you of your sins save you right where you sit if you ask him he will do it and that's my prayer for you and father we thank you that you placed in the word this simple account of why we are where we are today and I prayed that you have spoken to anybody here who is on the verge of who has tasted of who has fret no's with who is being tempted to to be reminded that your law doesn't and even after we are saved and we choose to send against you something dies on the inside of us and I pray it's seated right here if they're those Lord and that surely must be a you and have me preach this message though being tempted for making choices for listening to the devil saying you are not surely die or whatever line he said Grantham wisdom old God to say no to the devil and yes to the holistic is my prayer in Jesus name Amen if you've been blessed by today's program please visit us at intouch.org e in Dutch leading people worldwide into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ and strengthening the local church this program is sponsored by InTouch ministry and it's made possible by the grace of God and your faithful prayers and gear [Music]

Channel: In Touch Ministries

Views: 229,488

Keywords: Charles F. Stanley Dr. Charles Stanley Dr. Stanley In Touch InTouch God Jesus Holy Spirit Christian, Charles Stanley, garden of eden, temptation, sin, satan, genesis, in touch with dr. charles stanley, dr. stanley, dr. charles stanley, charles f. stanley, preaching, bible, christianity, evangelism, sermon series, sermon

Id: BDUnfcuqfIA

Length: 25min 47sec (1547 seconds)

Published: Mon Jun 19 2017