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In 2006, I preached a series of three messages on three main gardens of Scripture: Eden and the fall of man; Gethsemane and Jesus Christ going to the cross; the garden with the empty tomb and Christ's resurrection. I wrote up the first two messages, but somehow never got the third one written, then ended up losing the notes I had for it. A couple of years later, I preached these messages again. This year, as we are getting closer to Easter, where the thoughts of many Christians and the religious world turn towards the cross and Jesus' death, burial and resurrection, I wanted to cover these messages again. But this time, I was thinking of a fourth garden - Paradise (which means "garden"), referring to the third heaven, the dwelling place of God. Lord willing, this time I will get the third and (now) fourth studies written up. I plan on covering one per week until Easter (plus, a supplemental message from Days Of Praise devotionals: Make It As Sure As You Can ). The St...

Three Avenues Of Temptation 1 John 2:15-17 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. In this passage we see Satan's three main avenues of temptation: 1. The lust of the eyes - means forbidden longing or desire, covetousness, following after the sight of the eyes. 2. The lust of the flesh - means carnal desires, fulfilling the appetites of the flesh; fulfilling physical appetites outside of the will of God. 3. The pride of life - means selfishness, self-seeking; self-advancement. pride = (Strong's #213) boasting, bragging, (by implication) self-confidence. life = bios, physical life (as opposed to spiritual life, zoe). Contrast the pride of life w...