“For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.”  (1 John 2:16,17)

 

We will (DV) define the terms above, however, in verse seveteen (17) we see lust is lust is lust.  These three (3) are enemies of the Christ-ian. Before we go into the definitions of these enemies, let me ask you a question.  Do you live as though you have enemies?  Do you know you have enemies….very formidable ones at that.  If you know not that you have enemies and if you do not live accordingly, you will fall, you will be hurt, you will be harmed.  Imagine if I did not ….err..Imagine if Batman did not provide for the Joker’s attacks. Batman would be destroyed.  What if Superman did not provide for Luthor’s attacks? Again he would be destroyed.

Let’s get back to the real world.  What if Christ did not prepare and provide for (s)atan’s attack and tempation’s and God’s testing in the wilderness?  We would have no hope as Christ would have failed!!!  BUT……….Isaiah prophesied, “[H]e faileth not.” The Resurrection demonstrates He failed not. Your salvation proves He fails not and failed not. Because of His past successes we have hope and confidence and Faith on His future return.

*Pride of life: Doth not this phrase define itself?  I have sat and listened to many persons speak about the greatness of their life. They speak about the great life they lived.  These persons are not arrogant and do not even sound prideful.  They can even sound humble. However, this life will not get them to Heaven. This great and good life will bring them down to Hell without a doubt. Puritans called them, “Civil Citizens.” The puritans would tell you, these civil citizens live a good life, work hard, harm no one, pay their bills, help their neighbors, live productive lives, they may even attend Church. BUT they will yet die in their sins and will spend eternity in Hell. Many will attend their funeral and many will weep and say, “What a good man, he was.”  This civil citizen will be missed and remembered well. Yet he will be in Hell.  Human goodness is not the standard God considers.  One must be in Christ, Christ is the Standard and no other.

*Lust of the eyes: Be careful what you look at, Reader. Be careful what you hear and listen to as well. The eyes lead and the eyes can mislead. Christ teaches us that if we look upon a woman and lust after her, both are guilty, if she is immodestly arrained. This is a principle, if you look on a man and imagine murdering him, you have done so in your heart.  BUT on the positive side……..I cannot be dogmatic on this but If you look upon a sick person or a handicapped person or a person in pain and think, “O’God, I would heal, help, assist that person if I could, please help that person.”  Should we not be laying up treasure in Heaven?

Lust of the flesh:  Giving into that which the lust of the eyes have tempted you with. These sins include:
*Adultery
*Fornication
*Uncleanness: Impurity.
*Lasciviousness: Excess, licentiousness.
*Idolatry
*Witchcraft
*Hatred
*Variance: Contention, strife, quarrel.
*Emulations: Zeal.
*Wrath
*Strife
*Seditions: A standing apart.
*Heresies
*Envying
*Murders
*Drunkeness
*Revellings, and such like.

 

The World, the flesh and the devil (Ephesians 2:1-3)
*The World: This is the subtle enemy to be sure. If one (1) dooes not know or understand this basic principle, one (1) is in great danger already.  This Principle is: The WORLD IS YOUR ENEMY.  The Scriptures are clear on this point. James tells us, we are God’s enemies if we find friendship with the world. Who are God’s other enemies? (s)atan and the fallen angels, and the unsaved man, the lost man, the natural man, the WORLDLY man. Do you fall in with any of these? I pray you do not….you should pray not.
The reason the world is so subtle is because it is where we live. The world is where we were born, it is where we commune with others, it is where we wake, where we eat, where we work, where we have fun and are entertained, it is where we wed, where we bring up children, where we go to church, and it is where we die.  It is so easy to be-friend this world.

Even so, we cannot be-friend this world and it’s systemic war against God. We must always be aware of the world’s tricks and treats. Television, movies, entertainments, books, foods, drinks, computers, politics, hobbies, etc. To be clear, all of the above are fine and good as long as you control them and not they you.

For example: When watching television, righteousness is portrayed as stiff and strict and therefore, the bad guy. Do you not find yourself, cheering for the bad and jeering the righteous?  I know its an old movie but “Footloose” The right and good was looked upon as bad.  “Dirty Dancing” the title says it all. “Ferris Bueller’s Day off” is about a sociopath victimizing another kid. Television tricks us or you all the time.  “Will they or won’t they,”  this draws persons in and they find themselves cheering for teen-age fornication and adultery.  Television watcher, keep your Christ-ian senses about you. I find horror movies to be the most honest of all the genres.

I am not telling you to stop watching television….I enjoy television, i use it for entertainment AND education and for news. What I am saying is Watch how you watch television and do not allow it to sway you to the dark side.

The Flesh: See Above

The (d)evil:  C.S. Lewis, in his writings, presupposed the question and I paraphrase: “Are you talking about the literal devil?”  Lewis would amswer in the affirmative.  If a person believes in God, that person must also believe in (s)atan, devils/demons, angels, and the hierarchy of both.
We are strongly warned by Peter in his first (1st) epistle, fifth (5th) chapter and the eighth (8th) verse:  Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.

The (d)evil, (s)atan, is about. This enemy is not in chains, this enemy is not in hell. This enemy “walketh about.” This, I believe, is to be taken in a very literal sense. This enemy walketh about and this enemy is your enemy…Reader, hear me, this enemy is your enemy.  This enemy is the joker to your Batman.  You have an Arch-enemy and his name is (s)atan. (s)atan, like God, has a plan for you. God’s plan is for your good. (s)atan’s plan is not for your good though it may seem like it is.

BUT God will not let (s)atan hurt me.  Really?  Have you not heard of Job?  Doth thee not remember Christ’s Words to Peter, “(s)atan hath desired to sift thee. But I have prayed for thee.” Christ told Peter (s)atan wanted to sift him and Christ was going to allow it.

Understand this, Christ-ian Reader, God loves you and (s)atan hates you…vehemently. as much as God loves you, that is how much (s)atan hates you. If God were to remove His (s)atan staying Hand, (s)atan would devour anyone and everyone, save the elect.

Enemies come in three’s (3’s)
Christ’s Earthly Enemies
*Pharisees
*Saducees
*Herodians

Nehemiah’s Enemies:
*Sanballat
*Tobiah
*Geshem.

Though we see that there are three (3) enemies, it always comes down to one (1) The World, for in the world there is it’s god, it’s pride, it’s lust, it’s life and it seeks to steal kill and destroy the human soul in a so subtle a manner.  Humanity is like a frog or a lobster in a slowly simmering pot.

Godspeed.