The Journey That Has Culminated In The Following Chapters Began

Preface The journey that has culminated in the following chapters began in1992 and it was then that the first document, relating to this topic, was created. Since that time the principle of enmity has been fomenting and formulating in my heart and mind, growing more and more real each day, fostering an urgency to record the understanding that I have been given. Each chapter is yet another understanding with which I have been blessed during my times alone with an all-wise God. These studies are viewed by the author as answers to anguished prayer for an understanding of the world in which I live – a World of ever-increasing evil. This coupled with a realization that my desire to study Scripture was also a gift from God and yet another answer to prayer. There was a time (prior to 1979), as it is for many, that I had no desire, whatsoever, to even give ear or eye to anything of a godly nature. It is my hope, by sharing this principle with fellow believers, that they might realize the importance of completely surrendering their lives and committing the surety of their salvation to the One who is able to keep them from falling. (Jude 1:24) While enmity is not always expressed in outright hatred for God and those who choose to follow Him, antagonism, to some degree exists as an evidence of the enmity that Christ placed between the offspring of Satan and the Seed of the woman, Christ, Himself. From the time of the fall of mankind's first parents and up to this day this enmity has existed. Consequently, the “feelings” that were made evident at the time of Christ's crucifixion, are now being manifested against His followers. Without going into all the particulars of my conversion experience (which is recorded in an autobiography titled, “The Lost Book”), I must share a few facts regarding past understandings, so that it may become evident that a change of direction was wholly a work of a loving, caring God. When I married Debbie April 16, 1977, I was a survivalist in all aspects of the term and we continued to grow in that direction for another one and one-half years. We considered food buried in fiber-glassed, watertight containers, arms and abundant ammunition and isolationism to be our only hope of “survival” and it was there that a great amount of effort was expended. Skepticism ruled in our lives and pessimism was often the result. In short, although we thought we had a handle on our current situation, yet, we realized that our future was insecure. The Lord had began working in our lives - in advance of our wedding - in that Debbie had been bestowed with a childhood realization of the existence of God and a fondness for Jesus, and upon meeting her, God’s love and patience was revealed to a very self-centered man. It was actually then, that the Lord began working in my life, through my loving wife. While she did not share her spirituality with me openly (because she knew that I had little interest in that area), nonetheless, it was her idea that we write our own vows in the form of a prayer to God. At the time, I believed that there was a God, but I had no real knowledge of our Heavenly Father, the Holy Spirit or Jesus. Even though I would not think of “surrendering” to Him, I thought that writing our vows in the form of a prayer might be a good idea ant that it would impress others. During the process of writing our vows, we committed much of our time together with a spirit inclined toward God and in that we are assured, His purpose in our lives was being fulfilled. The final plea, uttered in our “prayer” to God, was “Lord, we know that in our lives together, we will change, and we pray that in those changes, we will help us change together.” After twenty-nine years, we can say with full assurance, that he has answered that prayer in every way. God is good. He is good at loving us, He is good at saving us and He is good at all He does for us and in us. We have found Him to be the only entity in the world upon which we can depend. Things did not always go smoothly for us, mainly because of my lack of knowledge regarding how to love my dear wife, although her love for me held firm. After about two years of turmoil, our i

marriage was “on the rocks” so to speak. I was spending more time with her brothers (4 of them) than I was spending at home with her. Lovingly, yet firmly, she issued an ultimatum, stating, “You married me, not my brothers and you must choose who you are going to spend the rest of your life with.” I countered with, “I’m just trying to be a part of your family.” I knew, however, that this was not true. The truth of the matter was that she had began spending a lot of time reading the Bible and I didn’t want to have a part in THAT, so I opted to spend more and more time away from home. I later realized that it was my way of running from God. I had always been an avid reader and student of history. I was also alert to and alarmed by the steady degradation of societal norms and moral principles. Knowing this, Debbie began to share historical facts that she derived from her reading of Scripture and I began to see that the Bible was often more accurate than some of the “Historical” material I was accustom to reading. I began reading Scripture, not for the purpose that God intended, however, but for my own purposes – to gain a wider knowledge of history. I also began to be affected by the way God seemed to know “everything,” not only about what had occurred throughout history, but about things that were going on at present and that he had great “insight” into what was coming upon the Earth. A view of the enmity that exists between good and evil was given me, while I was reading a book titled The Great Controversy1, in which there is a chapter titled “Enmity Between Man and Satan.” The very title of the book, finding its central issue in “controversy,” emits and evokes the essence of this series of studies, although the idea of writing even one paper (let alone a whole series of studies on the topic) didn’t emerge for another 10-plus years. I began to realize that the principle of enmity pervaded every action of man and God – in particular God’s love for man and man’s hatred toward God. The first sentence on page 506, paragraph 1, illuminated to my mind what seemed to be a principle issue in the Plan of Salvation, namely, “Satan’s hatred against the human race is kindled because, through Christ, they are the objects of God’s love and mercy.” But then, in the first sentence of the next paragraph, is stated, “It is the grace that Christ implants in the soul which creates in man enmity against Satan.”2 In reading Hebrews 1:9, though the word enmity is not there, we find demonstrated, in Christ, this enmity. It states, quoted, by Paul from Psalm 45:7, “Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity.” Then, in reading Genesis 3:15, it was brought to mind that the enmity that Christ “put” between the serpent’s seed and the Seed of the woman was expressed in each of us, whether we are born again Christians or those who deny God the Father and Christ whom He sent. The world’s hatred for Christ is easily detected, but the enmity that resides in the heart of a professed follower of Christ is much harder to discern. Then, reading on in the same paragraph, I is given the answer to the enmity problem, when it is stated, “Without this converting grace and renewing power, man would continue the captive of Satan and a servant ever ready to do his bidding.” This, I saw as a promise, which included, in itself, a remedy. Over the years, I have witnessed the biblical principle of enmity expressed in many ways and present in almost every aspect in life. At the time I discovered this principle in The Great Controversy, I was compiling a study on reconciliation which included the text and with this beginning knowledge, the Lord has led me to study. Through a deeper understanding of enmity, the Lord has blessed me with a better understanding of the righteousness to which He is calling us. He is calling His people to truly worship Him, not only in word, but also in deed. I have discovered that evil enmity keeps the lost sheep of Israel from fully submitting to God and, therefore, renders them unable to receive the even greater blessings that the Father would love to pour from His hand. God’s children have been ungrateful for the many blessings 1 2

The Great Controversy, Copyright, 1888 by Mrs. E.G. White - renewed 1950, by Pacific Press Publishing Association The Great Controversy, page 506, paragraph 2.

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that are bestowed upon them daily and many of His blessings have made of no effect the Testimony of Jesus, in denying the call to complete surrender. I come to understand that “all things are of God.” (2Corinthians 5:18) We do not get to choose which of the things in the world are God’s and which are “someone else’s.” To whom else would they belong, when God is the Creator of all things? The things that God has created are good – very good. Many things of the world have been perverted and defaced and no longer resemble that which God created in the beginning. Death and destruction abound, but God, steadily and confidently moves forward with His wonderful plan of mercy, knowing that love is the answer to the Sin problem. Jesus, the Christ, has always been the answer, God’s Remedy and Surety of victory. To share the wonderful blessing God has bestowed upon me, I humbly offer the pages that follow, for the edification of God's people and all who might desire to know more of His plan for the lives of those He lovingly created and mercifully sustains.

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