Death's 3 Doors

Brothers and Sisters, your enemy roams around like a lion, seeking whom he may devour.  He is persistent, and he does not sleep.  Let's take a closer look at Satan's not so big bag of tricks. 

In 1 John 2:16, John writes:
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.

John is warning us of the 3 main doorways to sin.  We already have a sin nature, and these 3 doorways are in all of us because we are Adam's seed.  However, these doors exist only in the flesh, and we can resist the tempter if we walk according to the spirit. 

It would be too much to look at all 3 doors in one post, so let's examine one at a time. 

Door #1- The Lust of the Flesh
Satan successfully planted his seed in us when he caused Adam and Eve to eat the forbidden fruit.  That one act of defiance produced in every human being a sin nature and predisposition to sin.  When we say flesh we mean ones bodily desires- food, drink, sex, intoxicants, lewd music, lewd dancing, etc.  While food in itself is not sinful, when we eat too much, or eat without thanking God, we can enter into sin.  While the bible does not prohibit Christians from drinking alcohol, the abuse of alcohol is sinful.  While the bible condones sex within the boundaries of marriage (husband and wife marriage), our flesh wants us to be adulterers and fornicators.  Folks, our flesh wants us to go to hell, and when we walk according to the flesh, we are its accomplices. 

This is a wide door.  Think about the things the flesh wants-- drugs, alcohol, unmarried sex, pornography, fights, ungodly music, movies, and books.  It is but one door, but a host of temptations can enter through this door.  Our major health concerns in this nation are a result of the lust of the flesh.  Obesity and smoking related illnesses top the list of our national health concerns.  Both are results of the lust of the flesh. 

Satan knows the power of this door, and it is his first attack.  Let's take a look at him in action:

1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”


2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”



4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”



6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

You see!  The first thing Eve thought was that the fruit was good for food--the lust of the flesh!  It was Satan's first attack. 
 
When Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness, we this same patten. 
 
1 THEN was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.








2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.







3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.







4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.



Again, Satan's first attack was with the lust of the flesh.  Jesus was hungry, and Satan attempted to use that hunger to get Jesus to act of his own accord, rather than trust the Father.  We see here that our desires themselves may not be the evil thing, but attempting to fulfill our desires outside of the will of God can lead to sin.  Satan will often come to us and simply try to get us to give in to some natural urging.  The argument he uses is that it is natural to want to satisfy those urges---so do it.  Why would God give you that urge if he didn't want you to satisfy it?  The devil is a liar.  God didn't give us a sin nature--Satan did.  Any urge to sin does not come from God, but from the father of all lies. 
 
Brothers and Sisters, I hope this was edifying for you.  I found it to be revealing and useful as I continue to resist the devil.  After we have looked at all three doors, we will talk about how to 'bolt' the doors.