NOTES by W. | AdventAI

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Jan 13, 1888

NOTES.

By W.

THE mean cunning of the serpent may be seen in the way that Satan approached Eve. From the fact that while they were talking Eve took of the forbidden fruit, and ate, indicates that when the conversation began they were near the tree. Said the serpent, “Is it so, that God hath said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” “Is it possible that God would make so arbitrary and unjust a command?” The object of this speech can be seen at once. It was threefold, namely, to cause her to doubt the goodness of God; to raise himself in her estimation to the same extent that he lowered God; and to make her feel that she was being deprived of her “rights.” Pride and discontent were aroused, which prepared the way for open rebellion.

“AND the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die; for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” Here was a square issue between Satan and God, and Eve had been worked into such a condition of doubt and discontent that she readily sided with Satan. This was the first sermon on the natural immortality of the soul of man. Notice that it was this teaching that caused the fall; consequently the teaching that man is by nature immortal, is responsible for all the evil that has ever come to mankind.

“FOR GOD doth know,” etc. Here again Satan charged God with deliberately withholding a good thing from Adam and Eve, so that he might keep them in a position inferior to that which their natural talents entitled them to. What was that position? “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof ye shall be like God.” This is just what Satan said, and a literal translation of the Hebrew. Said Satan, “You might as well be like God; he knows this, and has placed this prohibition upon you, so that he may keep you down. Now will you consent to be thus imposed upon? Don’t do it; assert your rights and be free.” Who is there that doesn’t recognize this kind of talk?

WE see that Satan caused Eve to fall, by instilling into her mind the same ideas that caused his fall. See Isa. 14:12-14. We see, also, whence Spiritualism comes, which claims that what the Bible calls evil is a necessity, that men cannot die, no matter what they do, and that each individual is the judge of his own acts, and is therefore equal to God. But read in Isa. 5:20-24 the fate of those who call evil good.

BEWARE of the flatterer. When a man begins to sympathize with you, to tell you how you are being “kept down” and abused, and what high positions you might occupy if it were not for the grasping selfishness of some in authority, then make up your mind at once that Satan is talking to you through him. Don’t listen to him. Says Paul: “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” 2 Cor. 11:3.

THERE is a vast difference between honest praise and flattery. It is right and just to encourage people by letting them know that their good work is appreciated. But flattery is always lying. It is Satanic in its origin. Look up and read carefully what the Bible has to say of the flatterer. “A man that flattereth his neighbor spreadeth a net for his feet.” Prov. 29:5. See also Job 32:21, 22; Ps. 12:3; Prov. 20, 19; 26:28.

SOLOMON’S words in Prov. 20:19 indicate that a tale-bearer is likely to be a flatterer. Satan’s question to Eve, “Is it so that God hath said,” etc., carries with it the air of virtuous indignation. The idea designed to be conveyed was, “I would never do such a thing; just trust me, and you shall have liberty.” How aptly the apostle Peter describes the people who work in this Satanic manner: “For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption; for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.” 2 Peter 2:18, 19. The man who comes with some false story about somebody else, trying to cast reflections upon him, does so only to conceal his own faults. The gist of all his talk is this: You and I wouldn’t do such things, would we? He is seeking to build himself up, and by flattering your vanity, to take advantage of you. Look out for such; and, above all, “be not thou like unto them.” W.