The Three Pillars Of Enmity With God

THE THREE PILLARS OF ENMITY WITH GOD
 

I mean not to make these three pillars to seem as a good thing, nor to stay they will stand against God, but rather that these three things are a constitution of all that can be wrong with a person, and that they will in fact be destroyed by God when Jesus comes to rule His millenial kingdom! These are positions taken by enemies of the cross, and so long as a person stand in these attitudes toward the world, they will be condemned, except they repent and be born again! First we must name these pillars and I would also like to give examples...
"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 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 2:15 - 17) The three are named in this passage from 1 John; (1) The lust of the flesh. (2) The lust of the eyes. (3) The pride of life.

"And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king's house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon. And David sent and enquired after the woman. And one said, 'Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?' And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in unto him, and he lay with her; for she was purified from her uncleanness: and she returned unto her house. And the woman conceived, and sent and told David, and said, 'I am with child.'" (2 Sam. 11:2 - 5) In four Bible verses, David was led from temptation to full-blown adultery! The first step to his lust of the flesh was in seeing and desiring in his mind; he looked off his house's roof, and below it he could see plainly this fabulously beautiful woman bathing as we all do, without clothes, and instead of turning away, he looked and lusted after her body. Don't think that women are invulnerable to the same type of incident in reverse roles, because they are! David was human, but he was supposed to look away and not pursue; however, he did. It then is written that he asked about this highly desireable physical specimen of a woman, and he is still not taking grasp of the presence of mind to remember it is sinful to lust after a woman who is married, let alone the fact she is not his wife, nor that he is married already! Finally, he cannot resist taking her to his bed, and he calls for her, and acts out the sin that initially was only in his mind. He gave way to temptation and sinned. This is lust of the flesh. It is bad enough to lust in the mind, and Jesus also pointed this out! "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." (Matt. 5:27 - 28) We can maybe count on our fingers on one hand how many reading this can say they haven't done this in their lifetime even in their mind! Thank God we sinners saved by His grace can come to Him for forgiveness when we confess our sins! "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9)

"And He spake a parable unto them, saying, 'The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, "What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?" And he said, "This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, 'Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.'" But God said unto him, "Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?" So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.'" (Luke 12:16 - 21) Peradventure a person has the opportunity to become wealthy, that person should consider it a test what they do with that wealth!  Do we use it selfishly, or unselfishly?

"And upon a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto them. And the people gave a shout, saying, 'It is the voice of a god, and not of a man.' And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost." (Acts 12:21 - 23) So great was his impiety, that God allowed him smitten with worms to his death. The unsaved act out their daily lives in enmity, don't they? We who have been born again were once that way, and God could have had us die in our sins, but we received grace in His sight, we lived before our conversion only because He longsuffered us, knowing we were His elect who would choose His Son as our Savior and accept His yoke upon us! "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." (2 Pet. 3:9)

So let us knowing these things, avoid enmity with God as much as our humanity will allow. We can be forgetful, we are human, and subject to temptation and sin, trials and tribulations beset us on this day and anothe, but may we always remember that He is faithful to forgive as we confess all sins in our remembrance, and praise Him for His Son's sacrifice for our sakes on that cross at Calvary!