The liar is still at work among us -- Let us know the consequences

 

                                                    The Fall

 Genesis 3:1-23  Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 

2  And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 

3  but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” 

4  But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 

5  For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 

6  So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. ......

8 ..... the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 

9  But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 

10  And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” 

11  He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 

12  The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 

13  Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” .....

 16 ..... To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.” 

17  And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; ....... 

22  Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” 

23  therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. 

                                The Temptation of Jesus

Matthew 4:1-11  Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 

2  And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 

3  And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 

4  But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” 

5  Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 

6  and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’” 

7  Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 

8  Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 

9  And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 

10  Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’” 

11  Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him. 

The Way of Love

                                                            The Way of Love

1Corinthians 13:1-13  If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 

2  And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 

3  If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. 

4  Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 

5  or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 

6  it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 

7  Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 

8  Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 

9  For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 

10  but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 

11  When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 

12  For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. 

13  So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. 

Sowing the good seed of God's Word

                                                             The Parable of the Sower

Luke 8:4-8  And when a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable, 

5  “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. 

6  And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. 

7  And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. 

8  And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold.” As he said these things, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” 

                                                         The Purpose of the Parables

Luke 8:9-15  And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, 

10  he said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’ 

11  Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 

12  The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. 

13  And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away. 

14  And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. 

15  As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience. 

The last will be first, and the first last.

 

1Corinthians 9:24--10:5  Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. 

25  Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 

26  So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. 

27  But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. 

                                                   Laborers in the Vineyard

Matthew 20:1-16  “For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 

2  After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 

3  And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, 

4  and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ 

5  So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. 

6  And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ 

7  They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ 

8  And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ 

9  And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. 

10  Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. 

11  And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, 

12  saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ 

13  But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? 

14  Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. 

15  Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’ 

16  So the last will be first, and the first last.”