Foundations of Faith - Part 2

By Iverna Tompkins
Transcribed by Jane Vaughn

In Part 1 of this message, we looked at four vital things, behaviors of ours, that limit faith in our lives.  They were: a limited concept of God, a limited knowledge of the Word, limited obedience to the Word, and limited hearing.  Let’s look at the importance of obedience, especially as it relates to faith.  Genesis 2, verse 15.  This is the beginning of all time – Creation – creation of man.  The Lord God took the man and put him into the Garden of Eden. 

Before we actually begin our study, here is a side-sermon for some of you.  In the Bible, the Garden, or the Garden of the Lord, or the trees, speak of people, or the people of God.  We (believers) are trees planted (Ps.1:3; Is.61:3).  The Lord put us into the Garden.  To do what?  To dress it and keep it weeded, watered, fed, nourished and fruitful.  Selah.  And incidentally – well, not so incidentally – the first Garden you are to take care of is your own (Sol.1:6), for we are the Garden of the Lord (Sol.4:12-16;5:1;6:2). 

Gen.2:16 and 17.  “The Lord God commanded the man, saying, of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shall not eat of it for in the day that thou eatest thereof, you shall surely die.”  And the Lord looked at Adam, this first man.  Adam was created in the likeness and image of God (Gen.1:26).  Think about what that means.  Our God is a “Triune” God – three parts in One – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  So, He made man a tripartite being – three parts in one – spirit, soul and body.  Let us agree that it is in that particular order that man was created.  It is the spirit of man that is to be in control of the soul.  The soul is the seat of intellect, will, and emotions.  The body then, is to be in subjection to all (Rom.6).

God came in the cool of the day and fellowshipped with Adam but He didn’t think it was quite enough for His man.  God looked down and thought, “This is not good for man to be alone.  I will make him a help meet…” (Gen.2:18).  We need to pause here to understand that in the original language, there are two separate words.  “Help” is the same Hebrew word that is used by the psalmist to describe God Himself: “the Lord is my help (aid)” (Ps.33:20; 70:5).  The Hebrew  word “meet” means “equipped” or “capable” or “fit.”  We put the words together creating “helpmeet.” Subsequently, there has followed a lot of extrapolated teaching on the wife’s responsibility in a marriage.  But the truth is, these are two separate words.  God is saying, “In the same way I can fellowship man, I am going to create someone who can fellowship spirit, soul, and body, and I’m going to equip her for that.” 

God put Adam to sleep, took a rib from his side and made “us” (Gen.2:21,22).  Then He awakened Adam and said, “Well, what do you think?”  And Adam said, “Whoa, man!” (Gen.2:23).  And God said, “That’s a deal.  We’ll call her that – woman.”  :-)

Genesis, chapter 3.  The serpent comes on the scene.  “Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made.  And he said to the woman, Hath God said, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?”  Let’s pause here just a moment and think out loud.  Here we have Adam and Eve in the Garden.  God created the Garden; He created us, male and female.  God put us in the Garden and said, “It’s yours.  Just partake of everything.  But listen, there’s one tree that’s a ‘no-no.’  You may not eat of that tree.  You got it straight?  Just that one tree.”  (Recall now, our topic is obedience.)

God said that to Adam (2:16,17).  Then Adam made it very clear to Eve.  Her answer to the serpent proves that she knew that specific tree was a ‘no-no’ – it was forbidden fruit (3:2,3).  What would be our attitude if God was saying this to us?  “All this is yours, Iverna.  This whole fantastic setting is yours, except that one tree.”  Do you know what my honest response would be?  “Then why did you put it there?”  And it would be yours too, if you were as honest as I am. :-)   “Why do you put something in front of me, Lord, and then say ‘no-no – don’t touch?’”  That is the voice of the world today. 

May I be very bold and talk to you like “Mama?”  Young people, that’s the voice of the back seat.  God would never give you a desire, a passion for sex, if He didn’t mean for it to be fulfilled and satisfied.  The world says, “It can’t really be wrong to do this or that or the other thing now, if you really desire to do it.  If God Almighty created you, then every desire in you is from Him.”  Tell the truth.  Is that logical?  Of course it is.  That is very shrewd logic.  Most Christians are afraid to admit it, but it is very logical.  It appeals to man’s way of thinking, and completely goes along with the enemy’s approach to everything.  Logic – rational thought – human reasoning.  It is our human (humanistic) attempt to superimpose our ways of thinking on God’s prescribed ways of living (Is.55;8,9).

But God says, in essence, by putting the tree there – right there in your midst – and declaring, “Leave it alone,” He is saying, “The greatest sin of life is disobedience.  The lesson, which absolutely must be learned, is that I am your Creator and you must learn to obey Me.  If you obey Me,” God says, “the ease of life will never be destroyed” (see Deut.27 and 28 for blessings and curses).  Was life easy for them before sin?  Of course it was.  They didn’t have to work for a living in the Garden.  They could just enjoy every day as it came.  “Isn’t this a beautiful day?  The Garden is gorgeous today – every day!  Which waterfall shall we sit near today?”  Everything was so easy for them, Church. 

Hear me carefully, now.  I believe God intends for us to walk in that kind of ease of life.  “Take no thought of what you should eat or drink or wherewith you shall be clothed” (Mt.6:31).  We spend our whole lives worrying about these things.  “I could lose my job.”  “Oh, no, another Depression seems to be coming to the world, to the United States,” we wail.  “Oh, what will happen?”  The Lord assures us, “If you would obey Me, you wouldn’t have to worry about those things.  I would take care of you” (Mt.6:33).  God says, “I even know the little sparrows; I count every one that falls.  I know the count of every hair on your head” (Mt.10:29,30).  He says, “I am asking and looking for a people who will just do what I say and refrain from doing what I forbid, and the ease of life will remain.” 

The enemy comes on the scene in the Garden in Genesis 3.  Look again at the subtle approach.  He does not come straight forward saying, “Hey, it won’t hurt for you to eat of that tree.”  You see, the devil is smarter than that.  He doesn’t come to you and say, “It’s alright for you to do this or that.”  He comes in a seemingly reasonable fashion.  He approaches you logically, and says, “Talk to me, Eve.  What did you hear God say?” 

Here’s another side-sermon – the dumbest thing that Christians can do is spend time talking to the devil! 

Satan says to Eve, “Hath God said, You may not eat of every tree of the Garden?”  She responds, “We may eat of the trees of the Garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the Garden, that one, God said, No, you can’t eat it, or even touch it, lest you die” (Gen.3:2,3).

Are you seeing the subtlety of his approach?  The serpent gave his own interpretation to the woman, “When God said ‘don’t eat this, or touch of it, or you shall die,’ God didn’t mean you would die die.  He simply meant…”  What does it say?  Look at verse 5.  “For God doth know that in the day you shall eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as gods” (little g) “knowing good and evil.”

What the enemy is saying to Eve is, “What God meant was,” (giving his own spin on God’s words, if you will), “if you partake of this tree that He said don’t, you will die to your own limitations.”   What voice does that sound like today?  A bit to thee like the first voice that came to the United States of America a number of years ago with hallucinatory drugs?  That voice said, “Here.  Here’s a religious experience.  You can be free from your limitations.  You can have an experience with the Almighty that is greater than anything you could ever experience otherwise.”  And our young people, by the thousands, began to pop those little pills and became involved in the “drug scene.”  True, they had out-of-body experiences alright.  Counterfeits of God’s original intent.  And Satan just laughed because his tactics of years ago – eons ago – at the time of Creation – continue to work on us today!

Verse 6 – “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took hold of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.”  Verse 7 – “And both their eyes were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.”  Verse 8 – “And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day….”  What did they do?  They “hid themselves from the presence of the Lord….”

- - - -   Don’t we? – Didn’t they?

Any time people do not want to be in the Presence of God it’s because disobedience is present in their lives.  Absolutely and positively, there is no other reason!  For believers, for His faithful children, the Presence of the Lord is a delight!  It is refreshing!  It’s joy-filled!  The only time people do not want to be in the Presence of the Lord is because they know things are not in God’s order within them.  And under those circumstances, they cannot tolerate standing in the awesome Presence of God. 

Are you ready for the next hard point in this message?  Where did they go to hide from the Presence of God?  Read it – the end of verse 8.  Oh, isn’t that interesting?  “Among the trees of the Garden.”  Where is the safest place to hide from the Presence of the Lord?  In the church!  Because there no one will seek you out or expose you to the searchlight.  Everyone presumes or assumes that you are enjoying the same Presence of God they are. 

God is out to find you, Sir.  God’s out to find you, Sis.  You’ve been sitting in the church.  You might have been looked upon by all the others as a great Christian.  “Oh, she’s been a Christian for X-number of years.”  “He’s been Spirit-filled for so long.”  And the truth is, you’ve been hiding among the trees ever since you disobeyed God.

But today, the Holy spotlight is turned on and you know it.  And it’s as though God has read your private mail.  It’s as though God has tapped into your inward conversation and is sharing it through this preacher.  And you know that too.  God is saying, “I want you back, so I’m out to find you.  I miss our walks together.  I miss our fellowship.”

God stepped into the Garden and said, “Where are you, Adam?” (vs.9).  Now, do you really think God didn’t know where Adam was?  Is this the same voice you are hearing searching for you?  Let me say it this way: can you honestly answer the question?  “Where are you?”  Where are you with God? 

Why obedience?  Why is it so important to obey His Word?

The whole relationship of the church that bears His Name, Christian, is to be discovered as either children or…  We’ll come back to that “or” later. :-)   Let’s first look at “children of the King.”  We are the King’s kids.  We love to talk about that and it has some value.  Many of us, however, by the way we live prove it.  We are spoiled-rotten King’s kids. We throw a temper tantrum every time things don’t go our way.  But – are you ready for this? 

There are two ways to bear another’s name.  The first is – as a child of.  I have two children.  They are both grown with families of their own, but they are still my kids.  They still can do certain things in my name because they are my kids.  Are you hearing this in terms of what we can do in the name of our parent?  But yet, what my own children can do in my name is limited.  It is limited.  They may not go out and freely charge in my name.  I don’t permit that.  They may not make bold statements and say, “Mother said,” unless mother said.  Are we connecting on this?  So, let’s not be so proud of being the King’s kids.  The only reason we start out as His children is so we can grow up.  And we are supposed to grow up!

First, we come into sonship.  Now the father’s name that is given to a child has a different usage than the name and privilege that is given to a grown son.  We don’t give a Visa card to a twelve-year-old and say, “Have a good time” (at least I don’t! :-)).  But you might give it to a twenty-year old and say, “Use it wisely” because they’ve learned some things.  Then you learn some things – and take the card back! :-)   Are you still with me?  What lessons, what consistent lessons have to be taught to both the child and to the mature son?  Obedience. 

But is sonship the highest level of familial relationship into which the church may come?  Oh, there is second way to take a name, isn’t there?  This is the “or” from above.  It is far different from sonship.  There is, instantaneously, unlimited privilege when the Bride takes the name of the Groom.  Instantly, she is given all the privileges of his name, legally and lawfully.  Does this make sense?  And isn’t it interesting that the New Testament teachings on the Bride are obedience and submission – choosing to “come under” and obey – which is the biblical understanding of “submission.” 

Do you see why, Church?  Ladies, do you see that submission is not God’s way of putting you down into subservience, or into some sort of lower position, but rather it is a picture He wants us to see.  It is the reason Ephesians states it this way: “Husbands love your wives even as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it” (Eph.5:25).  If you do that, Sir, then she will choose to come under your leadership and authority because a woman who is loved as Christ loves you will delight to do your will.  Men, you need to hear this and say “Amen.” :-)

Every time you wonder if you are loving your wife in a Godly manner, if you are rightly related to her, ask yourself this question: “Do I love her in the same way that I want God to love me?”  And ladies, if that is the way he loves you, you will no longer have a problem with that awful word, “submission.”  Our response will become an easy: “I delight to do your will” (Ps.40:8) and “to walk with you is not grievous unto me because of that covering of love” (1Jn.5:3).  Can you see the truth of this?  If a wife knows she is loved by her husband like Christ loves His own, sacrificially, there is security in that and she need not fear being used or abused in the name of submission.

The Bride of Christ is the one who is going to make changes in our world today.  It’s going to be His Bride that establishes the Kingdom of God upon this earth.  It’s going to be the Bride who has complete and full access to all that her Bridegroom is and possesses.  Oh, true, that the Marriage Supper has not taken place yet, and true that it’s the Bride who is the Army.  Hallelujah!  The Bride in combat boots is going to get the job done.  She’s marching along saying, “My Beloved spake and said unto me…,” “My Beloved said….”  What His name is, Church, everything it stands for, we can walk in that fullness – if we obey.  That is how we become rightly related to Him – through obedience.

An old song from my church background says – a song I never liked, by the way – but the truth of that song?  Hear it: “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.  If we walk with the Lord, in the light of His Word…”  That’s the whole of what we are proclaiming here.  “Oh, Iverna, I thought you were talking about faith.”  I am, but if you separate obedience from faith you have nothing but noise.  

You can walk about and say a lot of things, Sir.  Sis, you can declare a whole lot of things and call it faith.  But I promise you, you’ll never change the details with God.  He is the One who established the principles of living.  He loved first, provided for, and outlined the “how-to’s” of a successful life.  When God zeros in and begins to talk to you about something specific, my dear Friend, everything you read, everything you hear, will always come back to His focus.  You can say, “Now, Lord, I don’t want to talk about that, I just want to tell You how much I love You.  I do love You, Lord.”  Then when you finish chit-chatting at Him, He will bring you back to His focus: “Now, as I was saying….” :-)

It is absolutely mandatory we understand that prosperity relates to this totally – hear me, hear me, hear me accurately, please.  (“God, give them ears to hear You in this”).  Prosperity relates totally to obedience before it is ever connected or in harmony with faith. 

Listen to these verses: 

Isaiah 1:19 – “If ye be willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land.” 

Deut. 5:28, 29a – “…and the Lord said unto me, I have heard the voice of the words of this people… Oh that there were such a heart in them, that they would fear Me, and keep all My commandments always...” 

Did you hear that?  God said, “I’ve heard the words of this people.”  And then He cries out almost in desperation and says, “Oh, that there was a heart in them that they would fear Me and keep all My commandments always” (emphasis added).

Why Lord?  Finish reading the verse: “that it might be well with them and with their children forever!” (5:29b). 

Deut. 29:9 – “Keep, therefore, the words of this covenant, and do them, that ye may prosper in all that you do.” 

Do you prefer New Testament references because you think Jesus brought an end to keeping the Old Testament commandments?  :-)

James 1:22: “Be ye doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.” 

James even amplifies the thought in the next few verses.  You can read the whole context for yourself. 

Finally, we read that Revelation 22:14 and Psalm 1 both refer to this: that those who “do His commandments” have a “right to the tree of life.”

                                                                                                  Go to Part 3