1 00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:06,940 You’re listening to a sermon from Pastor Colin Smith of Open the Bible. 2 00:00:06,940 –> 00:00:14,920 To contact us, call us at 1-877-open-365 or visit our website openthebible.org. 3 00:00:14,920 –> 00:00:17,780 Let’s get to the message. 4 00:00:17,780 –> 00:00:19,639 Here is Pastor Colin. 5 00:00:19,639 –> 00:00:24,959 I expect this morning’s title might raise a few eyebrows, at least I hope so if you 6 00:00:24,959 –> 00:00:27,100 are awake this morning. 7 00:00:27,139 –> 00:00:31,139 If someone asks you tomorrow what you did on Sunday, you can tell them that you went 8 00:00:31,139 –> 00:00:36,500 to church and you heard a sermon on learning how to hate. 9 00:00:36,500 –> 00:00:41,259 It will confirm all of their worst suspicions. 10 00:00:43,060 –> 00:00:51,459 Scripture is very, very clear about the obligation on Christian people to love their enemies. 11 00:00:51,740 –> 00:01:01,820 But I wonder if we have understood the obligation that also lies on Christian believers to hate 12 00:01:01,820 –> 00:01:03,599 their sins. 13 00:01:03,599 –> 00:01:13,739 I want to show you from the Bible this morning that the ability to hate, rightly directed, 14 00:01:13,739 –> 00:01:18,459 is actually critical to living a successful Christian life. 15 00:01:18,739 –> 00:01:24,620 In fact, one of the reasons why many people never make progress in their spiritual journey 16 00:01:24,620 –> 00:01:31,779 is that they have never learned the art of holy hatred. 17 00:01:31,779 –> 00:01:36,059 I want you to turn to one text in the New Testament building on the Scripture that has 18 00:01:36,059 –> 00:01:38,580 been read from the Old. 19 00:01:38,580 –> 00:01:44,660 Romans in chapter twelve and verse nine, and it’s our focal text this morning. 20 00:01:44,660 –> 00:01:51,180 Romans and chapter twelve and verse nine. 21 00:01:51,180 –> 00:01:55,500 The apostle Paul writes these words for us. 22 00:01:55,500 –> 00:01:59,820 Love, he says, must be sincere. 23 00:01:59,820 –> 00:02:02,860 Romans, twelve, nine. 24 00:02:02,860 –> 00:02:05,019 Well, we all agree with that, no doubt. 25 00:02:05,019 –> 00:02:11,720 But then he goes on to explain what it means for love to be sincere. 26 00:02:11,740 –> 00:02:16,300 Here’s what sincere love looks like, he’s saying. 27 00:02:16,300 –> 00:02:22,240 Hate what is evil and cling to what is good. 28 00:02:22,240 –> 00:02:28,139 Now, the apostle is announcing this powerful principle that hate is in fact always the 29 00:02:28,139 –> 00:02:31,679 flipside of love. 30 00:02:31,679 –> 00:02:36,479 If I love something, I will hate that which destroys it. 31 00:02:36,479 –> 00:02:45,759 If I love the countryside, I will hate billboards that desecrate it as I’m driving through it. 32 00:02:45,759 –> 00:02:53,179 If someone I love is suffering from an illness, I will hate that illness because of what it 33 00:02:53,179 –> 00:02:57,740 is doing to the person I love. 34 00:02:57,740 –> 00:03:03,880 If I am indifferent to it, then my love for that person is not sincere. 35 00:03:04,779 –> 00:03:09,539 In other words, the Bible is making clear to us that a love that knows nothing of hate 36 00:03:09,539 –> 00:03:12,279 has no substance. 37 00:03:12,279 –> 00:03:17,580 If you do not know what it is to hate that which is destroying the object of your love, 38 00:03:17,580 –> 00:03:21,720 you do not understand what it is to love. 39 00:03:21,720 –> 00:03:25,580 And of course, if you think of it in terms of the Bible story, that is precisely the 40 00:03:25,580 –> 00:03:27,820 point of the story of Judas. 41 00:03:27,820 –> 00:03:33,520 If you asked him, he would have told you that he loved Christ. 42 00:03:33,559 –> 00:03:38,580 But he did not hate what is evil, and so his love collapsed. 43 00:03:38,580 –> 00:03:41,520 It amounted to nothing substantial. 44 00:03:41,520 –> 00:03:48,880 There was no strength in it, so he betrayed the Son of Man, with all things, with a kiss. 45 00:03:48,880 –> 00:03:55,339 Now, says the Apostle, love can’t be like that. 46 00:03:55,339 –> 00:03:57,899 It must be sincere. 47 00:03:58,559 –> 00:04:04,940 And the evidence of a sincere love is that you hate what is evil. 48 00:04:04,940 –> 00:04:11,539 In other words, love takes sides, and if you want to avoid taking sides, then you need 49 00:04:11,539 –> 00:04:15,720 to restrain love and indeed avoid commitment. 50 00:04:15,720 –> 00:04:19,839 And there are more and more people in our culture who are moving in that direction. 51 00:04:19,839 –> 00:04:27,000 They have noticed that when you take sides you open yourself up to all kinds of inner 52 00:04:27,839 –> 00:04:28,880 struggles. 53 00:04:28,880 –> 00:04:35,880 Ask any bears fan, or any cubs fan, or any bulls fan. 54 00:04:36,739 –> 00:04:41,359 This is a miserable city these days, is it not? 55 00:04:41,359 –> 00:04:45,619 And there are those who observing the struggles of commitment say, you know, it is better 56 00:04:45,619 –> 00:04:48,160 to be dispassionate. 57 00:04:48,160 –> 00:04:53,760 It is better for me to be the neutral observer of life. 58 00:04:53,779 –> 00:04:58,279 It is better for me not to give my heart because when I give my heart, my heart will end up 59 00:04:58,279 –> 00:05:01,880 being hurt. 60 00:05:01,880 –> 00:05:07,019 Actually that is the heart of Buddhism, which is rising astronomically in a westernized 61 00:05:07,019 –> 00:05:09,959 form in its popularity in our culture. 62 00:05:09,959 –> 00:05:16,839 That the way to avoid suffering is not to give your heart. 63 00:05:16,839 –> 00:05:22,880 That the way to kill pain is to destroy relationships. 64 00:05:22,880 –> 00:05:27,839 To stand at a distance from them, to remain dispassionate. 65 00:05:27,839 –> 00:05:35,920 Now Christianity takes you precisely in the opposite direction. 66 00:05:35,920 –> 00:05:40,640 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind and all 67 00:05:40,640 –> 00:05:46,959 your strength . That means take sides with the Living God, who created you in an act 68 00:05:46,959 –> 00:05:51,359 of commitment that involves the whole of your soul. 69 00:05:51,399 –> 00:05:54,739 Understand love your neighbor as you love yourself. 70 00:05:54,739 –> 00:05:56,600 Take sides with your neighbor. 71 00:05:56,600 –> 00:06:00,920 That means that you’re going to feel instinctively against anything that would be destructive 72 00:06:00,920 –> 00:06:07,239 to your neighbor—destructive to his or her soul. 73 00:06:07,239 –> 00:06:09,200 God himself models this for us. 74 00:06:09,200 –> 00:06:15,640 He takes sides against all that would destroy us. 75 00:06:15,640 –> 00:06:17,079 That is what love is all about. 76 00:06:17,119 –> 00:06:22,100 This is why Jesus Christ has come into the world. 77 00:06:22,100 –> 00:06:27,000 And as we saw last week the scripture gives to us this very clear challenge—no one can 78 00:06:27,000 –> 00:06:28,880 serve two masters. 79 00:06:28,880 –> 00:06:35,160 At the end of the day, in this world in which God the Creator and a world in rebellion are 80 00:06:35,160 –> 00:06:44,100 in conflict together, you must sooner or later take sides. 81 00:06:44,220 –> 00:06:51,399 Now we are using the analogy of the soul, or your inner life, as being like a boardroom 82 00:06:51,399 –> 00:06:57,459 with six members—mind, heart, will, conscience, memory, and imagination. 83 00:06:57,459 –> 00:07:04,000 And we are seeing that in our inner lives what happens secretly but regularly is that 84 00:07:04,000 –> 00:07:11,619 these members of the inner board of our souls meet to debate the issues of our life. 85 00:07:11,619 –> 00:07:18,059 The decisions that they make will determine the future direction you take. 86 00:07:18,059 –> 00:07:24,079 Now I want you to imagine as we pursue this inner life of the soul and think about its 87 00:07:24,079 –> 00:07:34,500 struggle to take sides, I want you to imagine a man whose business takes him on the road. 88 00:07:34,500 –> 00:07:42,940 He checks into a hotel and at the end of a long and rather boring day he finds that his 89 00:07:42,940 –> 00:07:51,619 hotel has a channel that offers pornographic films. 90 00:07:51,619 –> 00:07:57,359 It’s been a long day and rather dull, and the same old predictable routine and there 91 00:07:57,359 –> 00:08:02,459 has hardly been anything in the whole day that has been of interest to his imagination 92 00:08:02,679 –> 00:08:07,980 And so imagination calls a meeting of the board. 93 00:08:07,980 –> 00:08:19,459 Look fellows, says imagination, to others, I’m tired, I’m lonely, I’m bored, and what’s 94 00:08:19,459 –> 00:08:20,959 more, I’m hungry! 95 00:08:20,959 –> 00:08:23,779 I’d enjoy watching a film! 96 00:08:23,779 –> 00:08:31,140 Oh, I can’t go along with that, says conscience, this is a Christian soul and I hope the rest 97 00:08:31,140 –> 00:08:37,099 of you members of the board are going to give me some support on this one! 98 00:08:37,099 –> 00:08:43,760 But mind is tired and frankly doesn’t want to attend yet another meeting at the end of 99 00:08:43,760 –> 00:08:44,760 a long day. 100 00:08:44,760 –> 00:08:46,299 Is this really an issue? 101 00:08:46,299 –> 00:08:49,859 He says that requires the attention of the whole board. 102 00:08:49,859 –> 00:08:56,739 I’m not sure it’s that big a deal, I think it is, says conscience. 103 00:08:56,739 –> 00:09:01,099 Well maybe you do, says mind, but frankly, I’m not that interested in talking about 104 00:09:01,219 –> 00:09:02,260 it right now. 105 00:09:02,260 –> 00:09:09,940 Well I am, says will, I find myself drawn in two directions and this is rather fascinating. 106 00:09:09,940 –> 00:09:15,479 I would actually like to hear the views of the other members of the board before I reach 107 00:09:15,479 –> 00:09:16,479 a decision. 108 00:09:16,479 –> 00:09:19,580 I’m in no hurry, we have some time, not much else to do, I think that it will make 109 00:09:19,580 –> 00:09:24,280 quite an interesting little debate. 110 00:09:24,280 –> 00:09:27,599 Memory is looking perplexed. 111 00:09:27,599 –> 00:09:33,080 He recalls a time when the same situation was faced before. 112 00:09:33,080 –> 00:09:39,000 And he remembers guilt, but he also remembers pleasure. 113 00:09:39,000 –> 00:09:44,280 So he finds it difficult to know which way to vote on this one. 114 00:09:44,280 –> 00:09:47,880 And it’s the same with heart, who is drawn to pleasure, which makes him want to vote 115 00:09:47,880 –> 00:09:52,599 with imagination, but at the same time he hates the thought of pain, which makes him 116 00:09:52,599 –> 00:09:57,500 inclined to vote with conscience, so he doesn’t know what to do either. 117 00:09:57,500 –> 00:10:05,700 So now you have a board with six members, one voting yes, one voting no, one who is 118 00:10:05,700 –> 00:10:11,099 not interested in the discussion and three who can’t decide which way to vote. 119 00:10:11,099 –> 00:10:17,739 So begins a great tussle within the soul. 120 00:10:17,739 –> 00:10:24,219 The problem is that it is extremely difficult for us to hate something which part of the 121 00:10:24,219 –> 00:10:27,179 soul find attractive. 122 00:10:27,179 –> 00:10:32,020 This is of course an inherent attraction in all sin. 123 00:10:32,020 –> 00:10:38,219 Now the issues of your temptation may be very, very different but the principles and the 124 00:10:38,219 –> 00:10:44,900 pattern of the struggle will usually be the same and here’s the principle. 125 00:10:44,900 –> 00:10:51,580 If you are going to prevail over temptation then mind and heart and will and memory and 126 00:10:51,719 –> 00:10:58,619 imagination must learn what it is to hate evil. 127 00:10:58,619 –> 00:11:04,080 And it may be that if you found yourself on any particular issue of temptation in a pattern 128 00:11:04,080 –> 00:11:11,080 of repeated failure, it may be that you have, despite being sorry, never learned to hate 129 00:11:15,119 –> 00:11:17,960 what is evil. 130 00:11:17,960 –> 00:11:24,960 You were sorry for what you had done, but the love of it lingered within your soul, 131 00:11:26,419 –> 00:11:29,719 and so before long the pattern was repeated. 132 00:11:29,719 –> 00:11:36,719 I remember some years ago, a very honest conversation with a man I knew well. He had on a business 133 00:11:37,380 –> 00:11:44,380 trip been lured into an affair, a one night stand as the world says. He had confessed 134 00:11:59,539 –> 00:12:06,539 and had sought the forgiveness of God. He said to me, Colin, you know what really worries 135 00:12:06,760 –> 00:12:13,760 me? I think if I was in the same position, I might do the same thing again. 136 00:12:18,979 –> 00:12:25,979 Now, what he was expressing was the difficulty of repentance. He had not yet reached the 137 00:12:30,159 –> 00:12:35,359 point where, despite some sorrow for what he had done, he had come to the point where 138 00:12:35,359 –> 00:12:41,539 he had really seen the hatefulness of it to such an extent that there was a defense within 139 00:12:41,539 –> 00:12:48,539 his soul, should temptation arise again. And I’m suggesting to you from the Scriptures 140 00:12:49,320 –> 00:12:56,320 that if we are to prevail in this inner struggle of the soul against the fierce power of temptation, 141 00:12:56,700 –> 00:13:03,700 we must learn the holy art of hating what is evil. Love must be sincere, says the apostle, 142 00:13:05,739 –> 00:13:12,739 and here’s what that means. It means that you hate what is evil and you cling to what 143 00:13:13,780 –> 00:13:20,780 is good. Now, where the members of the board of the soul are struggling to hate what is 144 00:13:21,780 –> 00:13:28,780 evil, there is only one way forward. Each of the members of the board must learn, individually 145 00:13:30,500 –> 00:13:37,500 as it were, to hate what they used to love. So, let’s talk for a few moments with the 146 00:13:40,979 –> 00:13:47,979 individual members of the board. Learn to hate what is evil. There is only one way forward. 147 00:13:51,099 –> 00:13:56,500 Vacate evil with your mind. With your mind. 148 00:13:56,500 –> 00:14:02,059 Now, in a postmodern world, that is one of the most difficult things for us to do, but 149 00:14:02,059 –> 00:14:08,919 it is also the most important. You may have seen from the newspapers that, back in England, 150 00:14:08,919 –> 00:14:15,919 Prince Harry is in trouble these days. Just a few days ago I watched an interview on Larry 151 00:14:16,119 –> 00:14:21,599 King, where he had a discussion on this issue with various royal watchers, both here and 152 00:14:21,599 –> 00:14:28,599 also back in Britain. The discussion was, thankfully, appropriately compassionate regarding 153 00:14:29,359 –> 00:14:36,359 the pressures that the young prince has faced in his life. But then one of the members 154 00:14:36,440 –> 00:14:42,080 of the panel took the discussion in a whole new direction. 155 00:14:42,080 –> 00:14:44,400 This is what he said. 156 00:14:44,400 –> 00:14:46,640 I actually think he said. 157 00:14:46,640 –> 00:14:53,640 That this is a good thing. I am encouraged to know that the prince is experimenting. 158 00:14:55,799 –> 00:14:57,559 That’s normal. 159 00:14:57,559 –> 00:15:03,940 I think that it will do the royal family a great deal of good because people will see 160 00:15:03,940 –> 00:15:06,880 that they’re the same as everybody else. 161 00:15:07,739 –> 00:15:11,219 Now, you see what he’s done? 162 00:15:11,219 –> 00:15:13,239 This has nothing to do with compassion. 163 00:15:13,239 –> 00:15:16,659 There was compassion coming from all of those who were commenting. 164 00:15:16,659 –> 00:15:20,539 In fact, this is the denial of compassion. 165 00:15:20,539 –> 00:15:27,539 What this is to do is to take what is evil and to call it good, to make a complete inversion 166 00:15:30,099 –> 00:15:33,640 of the values that God has given to us. 167 00:15:34,119 –> 00:15:38,479 It is one of the clearest signs of our society going bankrupt. 168 00:15:38,479 –> 00:15:44,599 And, of course, it is one of the oldest strategies that our enemy has. 169 00:15:44,599 –> 00:15:51,460 You remember that right back in the Garden of Eden he came to Eve, and she had been given 170 00:15:51,460 –> 00:15:54,359 a clear definition of good and evil. 171 00:15:54,359 –> 00:15:59,520 God had precisely defined where the boundaries lie and there was a tree that was not to be 172 00:15:59,520 –> 00:16:01,320 touched. 173 00:16:01,400 –> 00:16:06,039 What the evil one does is he appeals first to the mind to say, you know, what you’ve 174 00:16:06,039 –> 00:16:16,239 been told is evil could actually be quite interesting, and if he can subvert the mind 175 00:16:16,239 –> 00:16:21,760 to feel that what God has said is evil could actually be quite interesting, maybe even 176 00:16:21,760 –> 00:16:26,479 mind broadening, very enjoyable for you, you could be like God. 177 00:16:26,479 –> 00:16:33,580 If he can invert the value and call what is evil good, and persuade the mind, at least 178 00:16:33,580 –> 00:16:40,000 in some degree, to be open to this possibility that what God calls evil may actually be good, 179 00:16:40,000 –> 00:16:49,700 then he is well down the road to dragging the whole soul into succumbing to temptation. 180 00:16:49,719 –> 00:16:58,400 I was very interested, just this week, to see that back in England, a children’s author 181 00:16:58,400 –> 00:17:06,619 has been awarded a significant literature prize for a work in which the roles of God 182 00:17:06,619 –> 00:17:14,060 and Satan are inverted, reversed from the Garden of Eden onwards. 183 00:17:14,060 –> 00:17:20,520 So that the story begins with a man and a woman who are imprisoned by a great ogre, 184 00:17:20,520 –> 00:17:25,359 and then someone comes into the garden to set them free. 185 00:17:25,359 –> 00:17:34,060 You see, it’s taking good and calling it evil, and it’s taking evil and it’s calling 186 00:17:34,060 –> 00:17:36,859 it good. 187 00:17:36,859 –> 00:17:43,319 And that’s the first way in which the enemy seeks to lower the defenses of your soul. 188 00:17:43,339 –> 00:17:48,579 The world loves this kind of thing, it finds it endlessly fascinating, it awards it literature 189 00:17:48,579 –> 00:17:52,599 prizes. 190 00:17:52,599 –> 00:17:58,900 And when Eve yielded her mind to another definition of evil she found that a divided mind left 191 00:17:58,900 –> 00:18:03,560 her vulnerable to temptation. 192 00:18:03,560 –> 00:18:08,520 Now God has revealed a very simple definition of good and evil to us that is at the very 193 00:18:08,520 –> 00:18:11,380 core of Christian faith. 194 00:18:11,459 –> 00:18:13,959 What God says is good is good. 195 00:18:13,959 –> 00:18:17,199 What God says is evil is evil. 196 00:18:17,199 –> 00:18:22,079 That’s why we read from the book of Proverbs a few moments ago where we’re told quite specifically 197 00:18:22,079 –> 00:18:23,800 some things that God hates. 198 00:18:23,800 –> 00:18:25,619 This is of course why we’re given the ten commandments. 199 00:18:25,619 –> 00:18:32,339 God is telling us where the boundary lines actually lie so that our mind will know. 200 00:18:32,339 –> 00:18:36,160 There are six things that God hates, seven that are detestable to Him. 201 00:18:36,160 –> 00:18:38,900 That’s a way of saying, by the way, this is not an exhaustible list. 202 00:18:38,900 –> 00:18:41,060 You could add an 8th a 9th or a 10th. 203 00:18:41,060 –> 00:18:44,500 But here are some specific examples of what God hates. 204 00:18:44,500 –> 00:18:49,079 Haughty eyes, that’s a person who thinks of themselves something great. 205 00:18:49,079 –> 00:18:52,140 A lying tongue, think of that. 206 00:18:52,140 –> 00:18:55,400 God hates lies. 207 00:18:55,400 –> 00:18:59,660 Hands that shed innocent blood, here’s someone who uses their power to destroy someone else. 208 00:18:59,660 –> 00:19:04,780 A heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, that is 209 00:19:04,780 –> 00:19:09,979 the person who looks for an opportunity to push beyond the boundaries every time the 210 00:19:10,099 –> 00:19:12,859 boundaries of the will of God. 211 00:19:12,859 –> 00:19:17,739 A false witness who pours out lies, someone who seeks to destroy others. 212 00:19:17,739 –> 00:19:22,339 And a man who stirs up dissension among brothers. 213 00:19:22,339 –> 00:19:26,859 The reason God hates these things is that in their very nature, they are destructive 214 00:19:26,859 –> 00:19:29,319 to those he loves. 215 00:19:29,319 –> 00:19:37,739 And God models for us that kind of love that is expressed in a hatred of that which destroys 216 00:19:37,839 –> 00:19:40,400 the objects of His love. 217 00:19:40,400 –> 00:19:45,699 Now, transformation and victory over temptation begins in the mind. 218 00:19:45,699 –> 00:19:52,699 Be transformed, the Bible says, by the renewing of your mind, for as a man thinks, that is 219 00:19:53,660 –> 00:19:57,099 how he actually is. 220 00:19:57,099 –> 00:20:04,099 So, when some proposal comes to the boardroom of my soul, the Spirit of God has a question 221 00:20:04,099 –> 00:20:09,040 for me, for you. 222 00:20:09,040 –> 00:20:14,380 Does God according to the Bible love this? 223 00:20:14,380 –> 00:20:20,660 Or does God according to the Bible hate this? 224 00:20:20,660 –> 00:20:27,660 And if I choose to love what God hates, then I am taking sides against Him. 225 00:20:30,180 –> 00:20:32,099 That’s what James says in his letter. 226 00:20:32,099 –> 00:20:37,300 What James says in his letter, if you choose friendship with the world, you are expressing 227 00:20:37,300 –> 00:20:42,520 hatred towards God. 228 00:20:42,520 –> 00:20:49,520 If I express love towards God, it will be reflected in hatred towards what He says is 229 00:20:51,040 –> 00:20:53,060 evil. 230 00:20:53,060 –> 00:20:55,859 That begins in the mind. 231 00:20:55,859 –> 00:21:02,859 But you know God only has one word to speak to those who call evil good and good evil, 232 00:21:03,380 –> 00:21:08,180 and that word is woe. 233 00:21:08,180 –> 00:21:09,959 Woe. 234 00:21:09,959 –> 00:21:16,959 You find it in Isaiah 520, woe to those who call evil good and good evil. 235 00:21:17,599 –> 00:21:22,319 That is a word to our culture today, is it not? 236 00:21:22,339 –> 00:21:26,359 Woes to those who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet 237 00:21:26,359 –> 00:21:32,920 and sweet for bitter, for when you do that, you take sides against God and when you take 238 00:21:32,920 –> 00:21:39,920 sides against God, you are heading down a path that leads to destruction. 239 00:21:40,979 –> 00:21:46,719 Learn to hate what God hates in your mind. 240 00:21:46,859 –> 00:21:53,239 Secondly, learn to hate what God hates in your heart. 241 00:21:53,239 –> 00:21:56,160 Now, you say, oh, well, that’s my struggle. 242 00:21:56,160 –> 00:21:59,479 How can I hate evil from my heart? 243 00:21:59,479 –> 00:22:04,520 I may be able to get to the point where, in submission to the Word of God, I recognize 244 00:22:04,520 –> 00:22:07,040 His truth and submit my mind to it. 245 00:22:07,040 –> 00:22:12,900 I can see that, but, oh, it’s such a struggle to really hate what is evil from my heart. 246 00:22:13,400 –> 00:22:15,859 Well, here’s a key. 247 00:22:15,859 –> 00:22:23,060 There is a love that drives every hatred. 248 00:22:23,060 –> 00:22:29,020 In fact, one of the best ways to tell what a man loves is to ask what he hates. 249 00:22:29,020 –> 00:22:34,780 And you can be confident that he loves the opposite of what he hates. 250 00:22:34,780 –> 00:22:38,319 Jesus spoke about this, you remember, in John’s gospel in chapter 3. 251 00:22:38,479 –> 00:22:44,099 Everyone who does evil hates the light, Jesus said. 252 00:22:44,099 –> 00:22:47,599 Now, what would drive a person to hate the light? 253 00:22:47,599 –> 00:22:49,739 Well, Jesus expresses it very clearly. 254 00:22:49,739 –> 00:22:54,959 Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness because their deeds were evil. 255 00:22:54,959 –> 00:22:57,579 That’s why they hate the light. 256 00:22:57,579 –> 00:23:02,880 In other words, the driving force behind the hatred of light is the love of darkness. 257 00:23:02,880 –> 00:23:07,800 There is always a love that drives every hatred. 258 00:23:07,800 –> 00:23:09,619 Satan hated God. 259 00:23:09,619 –> 00:23:10,959 Why? 260 00:23:10,959 –> 00:23:15,040 Because he loved himself and wanted to usurp the throne of God. 261 00:23:15,040 –> 00:23:24,239 Now, what then will ignite, what love will ignite a hatred for evil? 262 00:23:24,239 –> 00:23:29,760 The answer to that is very simple, a love for Christ. 263 00:23:29,760 –> 00:23:35,079 There’s a Scottish preacher over 100 years ago who coined a brilliant phrase that’s worth 264 00:23:35,079 –> 00:23:36,800 recalling. 265 00:23:36,800 –> 00:23:43,380 When he talked about the expulsive power of a new affection, think about that. 266 00:23:43,380 –> 00:23:48,800 The expulsive power of a new affection. 267 00:23:48,800 –> 00:23:55,119 You watch a guy who’s busy and then falls in love, you’ll be amazed at how much time 268 00:23:55,119 –> 00:23:56,119 he’s got. 269 00:23:56,119 –> 00:23:57,459 It’s incredible. 270 00:23:57,459 –> 00:23:59,520 Priorities change. 271 00:23:59,520 –> 00:24:02,760 New energy is discovered, even bad habits begin to change. 272 00:24:02,760 –> 00:24:03,760 Why? 273 00:24:03,880 –> 00:24:07,599 Whereas a new affection and it has an expulsive power. 274 00:24:07,599 –> 00:24:14,300 It pushes away things that formerly occupied the space. 275 00:24:14,300 –> 00:24:18,400 Now how is hatred for what is evil to be generated within the heart. 276 00:24:18,400 –> 00:24:25,719 The answer is, it is generated and driven out of the love for Jesus Christ. 277 00:24:25,719 –> 00:24:31,560 When the love of Christ takes root within your heart, it increasingly begins to expel 278 00:24:31,560 –> 00:24:32,560 other loves. 279 00:24:32,880 –> 00:24:38,180 That is the whole point of Jesus’ conversation with Peter when he is being restored from 280 00:24:38,180 –> 00:24:41,680 his terrible failure when he denied Christ. 281 00:24:41,680 –> 00:24:45,800 And Jesus asks him one question, do you love me? 282 00:24:45,800 –> 00:24:49,060 Do you love me? 283 00:24:49,060 –> 00:24:52,160 Do you love me? 284 00:24:52,160 –> 00:24:57,140 Yes, Lord. 285 00:24:57,140 –> 00:25:00,520 You know that I love you. 286 00:25:01,040 –> 00:25:04,160 I’ll go and feed my sheep then. 287 00:25:04,160 –> 00:25:07,359 Going to be all right. 288 00:25:07,359 –> 00:25:15,560 Not going to go down that track again because the love for Christ will drive the hatred 289 00:25:15,560 –> 00:25:18,479 of evil. 290 00:25:18,479 –> 00:25:24,400 And when you find that which is wrong beginning to consume your heart, ask this question. 291 00:25:24,400 –> 00:25:26,640 How’s your love for Christ? 292 00:25:27,400 –> 00:25:34,280 Take time to cultivate that love, for as you feed the mind and inform it from God’s truth, 293 00:25:34,280 –> 00:25:40,920 so you warm the heart with the cultivation of the love and the worship of Jesus and it 294 00:25:40,920 –> 00:25:49,920 strengthens the soul in the battle against the pervasive powers of temptation. 295 00:25:49,920 –> 00:25:56,140 Thirdly, learn to hate evil in your will. 296 00:25:56,140 –> 00:26:01,359 Now, if you remember from our scenario a few moments ago, the will was very happy to have 297 00:26:01,359 –> 00:26:11,780 a long conversation going on in the soul, and be very careful about that. 298 00:26:11,780 –> 00:26:21,140 Temptation builds its power over time, and the longer the soul debates its response to 299 00:26:21,140 –> 00:26:25,180 temptation, the more likely it is that the soul will concede. 300 00:26:25,180 –> 00:26:29,699 Temptation’s rather like a battery charger. 301 00:26:29,699 –> 00:26:34,180 The longer that it’s left connected, the longer that it’s running, the greater the current 302 00:26:34,180 –> 00:26:35,180 that it generates. 303 00:26:35,180 –> 00:26:40,260 Or to change the analogy, it’s rather like a spring, the more you wind the spring up 304 00:26:40,500 –> 00:26:44,420 the greater the energy that it can discharge. 305 00:26:44,420 –> 00:26:47,619 Temptation gains power over time. 306 00:26:47,619 –> 00:26:54,020 Now, if you want to turn to one other cross-reference this morning, you’ll find it in James 1, verse 307 00:26:54,020 –> 00:26:55,020 14. 308 00:26:55,020 –> 00:27:01,819 A very, very fascinating scripture about the process by which temptation gains power over 309 00:27:01,819 –> 00:27:03,660 many people. 310 00:27:03,660 –> 00:27:07,219 James 1 in verse 14. 311 00:27:07,300 –> 00:27:16,500 Each one, says James, is tempted when by his own evil desire he is dragged away and enticed. 312 00:27:16,500 –> 00:27:19,900 So, there’s this thing he’s saying called, Desire in all of us. 313 00:27:19,900 –> 00:27:20,900 You can’t avoid that. 314 00:27:20,900 –> 00:27:22,640 It pulls you in different directions. 315 00:27:22,640 –> 00:27:25,800 That’s the very stuff of temptation itself. 316 00:27:25,800 –> 00:27:30,760 It can pull you in the direction of pride, or cowardice, or lust, or greed, or any one 317 00:27:30,760 –> 00:27:33,359 of a number of other directions. 318 00:27:33,359 –> 00:27:36,619 So here is this thing called desire, and it’s pulling around. 319 00:27:36,619 –> 00:27:38,540 It’s operating. 320 00:27:38,540 –> 00:27:40,000 But then notice what James says. 321 00:27:40,000 –> 00:27:51,020 Verse 15 – After desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin. 322 00:27:51,020 –> 00:27:58,420 In other words, in all this activity of desire, there may come a moment, he says, where desire 323 00:27:58,420 –> 00:28:00,800 conceives. 324 00:28:00,800 –> 00:28:03,079 Think about that picture. 325 00:28:03,079 –> 00:28:08,719 A moment where the soul brings life to desire. 326 00:28:08,719 –> 00:28:15,380 A moment where the members of the board, as it were, cast their vote when the soul responds 327 00:28:15,380 –> 00:28:20,859 to desire that its members have been debating. 328 00:28:20,859 –> 00:28:27,400 And when desire has conceived, there is no stopping it. 329 00:28:27,439 –> 00:28:34,119 But comes a moment where the soul acquiesces in it, and its momentum pushes you over the 330 00:28:34,119 –> 00:28:36,699 edge. 331 00:28:36,699 –> 00:28:43,199 And the longer you allow the soul to debate with sin, the more likely it is that you will 332 00:28:43,199 –> 00:28:47,540 reach that point and that you will capitulate to it. 333 00:28:47,540 –> 00:28:52,619 I guess we’ve all been in board meetings when a discussion’s gone on way too long. 334 00:28:52,619 –> 00:28:56,300 Anyone not been in such a meeting? 335 00:28:56,300 –> 00:29:00,140 And eventually someone says, oh call the question. 336 00:29:00,140 –> 00:29:05,060 We’ve gathered information? 337 00:29:05,060 –> 00:29:09,180 Consider the feelings of the heart. 338 00:29:09,180 –> 00:29:16,699 Now when you face temptation, the sooner you call the question, the better. 339 00:29:16,699 –> 00:29:22,180 The longer you allow the issue to go unresolved within the soul, the more you are setting 340 00:29:22,180 –> 00:29:23,260 yourself up for disaster. 341 00:29:23,640 –> 00:29:31,640 There are probably folks here who have unresolved debates going on in the soul right now. 342 00:29:31,640 –> 00:29:37,500 And the longer you leave it running, the weaker your position against that temptation that’s 343 00:29:37,500 –> 00:29:39,579 working within you. 344 00:29:39,579 –> 00:29:45,420 The nearer you’re getting to the point where desire will conceive and then it will give 345 00:29:45,420 –> 00:29:46,420 birth to sin. 346 00:29:46,420 –> 00:29:48,500 The time to act is now. 347 00:29:48,500 –> 00:29:50,099 Call the question. 348 00:29:51,079 –> 00:29:54,420 That’s what will has to do. 349 00:29:54,420 –> 00:29:57,199 That’s his role within the soul. 350 00:29:57,199 –> 00:30:04,020 There’s a very powerful picture of temptation recorded for us in Proverbs in chapter 7. 351 00:30:04,020 –> 00:30:08,260 Solomon was writing the book of Proverbs when he looked out of his window. 352 00:30:08,260 –> 00:30:12,079 “‘And he saw a youth who lacked judgment,’ he says. 353 00:30:12,079 –> 00:30:16,380 He saw how this man was confronted by temptation in the form of a particular woman who came 354 00:30:16,380 –> 00:30:18,199 out to meet him.’ 355 00:30:18,199 –> 00:30:26,000 The conversation, as Solomon observed it, develops, and a plan is discussed.’ 356 00:30:26,000 –> 00:30:28,020 This goes on for some time. 357 00:30:28,020 –> 00:30:33,939 And then in Proverbs chapter 7 and verse 22, Solomon observed something very significant. 358 00:30:33,939 –> 00:30:40,660 “‘All at once,’ Solomon says, he followed her.” 359 00:30:40,660 –> 00:30:44,319 “‘All at once,’ he followed her.” 360 00:30:44,319 –> 00:30:47,180 Do you see what’s happening here? 361 00:30:47,180 –> 00:30:52,560 Here is this man and he’s in this situation, and he’s drawn and he’s attracted, and he 362 00:30:52,560 –> 00:30:57,540 stays there, and he allows the debate to continue. 363 00:30:57,540 –> 00:31:02,920 And the more the debate continues, the stronger the pull to his soul. 364 00:31:02,920 –> 00:31:08,560 At first he thinks, ah, just talk a little. 365 00:31:08,560 –> 00:31:13,660 But eventually, it reaches a point whereby, staying there so long, he has weakened his 366 00:31:14,219 –> 00:31:18,859 The power of temptation has increased to such a point that, like a pack of cards collapsing, 367 00:31:18,859 –> 00:31:25,859 suddenly, there’s this collapse of the soul all at once. 368 00:31:25,859 –> 00:31:28,180 And it was done. 369 00:31:28,180 –> 00:31:35,199 Desire conceived and gave birth to sin. 370 00:31:35,199 –> 00:31:41,760 Don’t let the power of temptation build within your soul. 371 00:31:41,900 –> 00:31:46,800 Heaven’s early response, call the question. 372 00:31:46,800 –> 00:31:55,520 The longer you leave the debate to continue, the more difficult it will be for you to resist 373 00:31:55,520 –> 00:31:58,079 sin’s proposal. 374 00:31:58,079 –> 00:32:01,319 Learn to hate what God hates in your mind. 375 00:32:01,319 –> 00:32:04,959 Learn to hate what God hates in your heart. 376 00:32:04,959 –> 00:32:07,439 Learn to hate what God hates in your will. 377 00:32:07,739 –> 00:32:16,560 Fourthly and finally, learn to hate what God hates in your memory and in your imagination. 378 00:32:16,560 –> 00:32:21,439 There is a subtle power by which past sins can hold their own attraction even in the 379 00:32:21,439 –> 00:32:23,280 memory. 380 00:32:23,280 –> 00:32:26,319 Sin can be pleasurable to the memory. 381 00:32:26,319 –> 00:32:33,420 I shouldn’t really have said what I did, but boy I stuck it to him, you know? 382 00:32:34,040 –> 00:32:40,479 Well when memory looks back and feels good about what God said was bad, you know you’re 383 00:32:40,500 –> 00:32:44,619 in danger of making the same choice again. 384 00:32:44,619 –> 00:32:50,900 How can you therefore hate what is evil, in the memory and in the imagination? 385 00:32:50,900 –> 00:32:56,699 By the way please notice that imagination is a much more powerful member of the board 386 00:32:56,699 –> 00:32:59,339 than most people realize. 387 00:32:59,339 –> 00:33:04,160 Most of our highest achievements and many of our greatest disasters begin there, imagination 388 00:33:04,160 –> 00:33:09,719 has an enormous capacity for good or for ill. 389 00:33:09,719 –> 00:33:18,319 How can I begin to hate what is wrong in the memory and in the imagination? 390 00:33:18,319 –> 00:33:25,000 Remember what it did to Jesus. 391 00:33:25,000 –> 00:33:33,560 Use the power of imagination to connect the temptation with which you’re confronted to 392 00:33:33,560 –> 00:33:40,959 the suffering of Jesus for sin on the cross. 393 00:33:40,959 –> 00:33:49,319 Think about Christ crucified, think about him nailed to the cross. 394 00:33:49,920 –> 00:33:56,119 That’s what pride did. 395 00:33:56,140 –> 00:33:59,199 Think about his head crowned with thorns. 396 00:33:59,199 –> 00:34:05,319 That’s what lust did. 397 00:34:05,319 –> 00:34:08,139 Think about the spear driven into his side. 398 00:34:08,139 –> 00:34:11,939 That’s what greed did. 399 00:34:11,939 –> 00:34:18,239 See, when we say Jesus died for sin, we mean that he had to go to the cross because of 400 00:34:18,280 –> 00:34:22,520 specific things that God hates that are the very things that you’re going to tussle with 401 00:34:22,520 –> 00:34:25,179 this week. 402 00:34:25,179 –> 00:34:26,659 The connection is that real. 403 00:34:26,659 –> 00:34:27,760 It is that strong. 404 00:34:27,760 –> 00:34:34,219 It was for these things that he suffered and that he died. 405 00:34:34,219 –> 00:34:39,360 Do you believe that? 406 00:34:39,360 –> 00:34:41,919 Come and weep. 407 00:34:41,919 –> 00:34:50,600 Come and mourn for your sins that pierced him there. 408 00:34:50,600 –> 00:34:57,280 Your sins that were much deeper than the wounds of a thorn or a nail. 409 00:34:57,280 –> 00:35:05,219 All our pride, all our greed, all our fallenness, and all our shame, and the Lord has laid the 410 00:35:05,219 –> 00:35:09,040 punishment on him. 411 00:35:09,040 –> 00:35:14,060 We worship at your feet where love and mercy meet, and a guilty world is washed of love’s 412 00:35:14,060 –> 00:35:16,179 pure stream. 413 00:35:16,179 –> 00:35:22,780 For us He was made sin, oh help me take it in, deep wounds of love, cry out father forgive. 414 00:35:22,780 –> 00:35:29,939 I worship the lamb who was slain. 415 00:35:29,939 –> 00:35:31,459 Love must be sincere. 416 00:35:31,459 –> 00:35:34,600 And here’s what sincere love for Christ looks like. 417 00:35:35,560 –> 00:35:39,520 Learn to hate what is evil. 418 00:35:41,760 –> 00:35:45,939 In our analogy we’ve pictured six members of the board sitting around a polished oak 419 00:35:45,939 –> 00:35:52,580 table, and one vacant chair reserved for the spirit of God who may come to the soul of 420 00:35:52,580 –> 00:35:53,979 a man or a woman. 421 00:35:53,979 –> 00:36:00,580 That’s what conversion is all about when God himself begins to take up direction within 422 00:36:00,580 –> 00:36:02,419 your own soul. 423 00:36:03,360 –> 00:36:10,639 I want you to imagine that after the discussion about imagination’s suggestion, the board 424 00:36:10,639 –> 00:36:15,139 adjourned for a while, and during the adjournment the Spirit of God has been talking with the 425 00:36:15,139 –> 00:36:16,780 members of the board. 426 00:36:16,780 –> 00:36:24,979 Now the board meets again, and the Spirit of God is in the chair. 427 00:36:24,979 –> 00:36:27,620 There was some business left over from the last meeting. 428 00:36:27,620 –> 00:36:29,659 A suggestion that was made. 429 00:36:30,040 –> 00:36:33,260 Members have the board of a time to consider the matter at hand. 430 00:36:33,260 –> 00:36:36,159 Let’s hear your conclusions. 431 00:36:37,280 –> 00:36:45,159 I find myself pulled in many directions, says Hart, but as I have pondered, one pull is 432 00:36:45,159 –> 00:36:48,699 stronger than all the others. 433 00:36:48,699 –> 00:36:59,379 I love Christ, and I cannot do what will grieve Him. 434 00:36:59,540 –> 00:37:07,260 Yes, says mind, I cannot support what God hates. 435 00:37:08,300 –> 00:37:14,899 I made my original suggestion, says imagination, but I have been talking with memory, and He 436 00:37:14,899 –> 00:37:21,280 has reminded me of what this kind of thing did to Christ. 437 00:37:21,280 –> 00:37:24,979 I’ve been picturing what that was like. 438 00:37:24,979 –> 00:37:31,179 I can’t enjoy what did that to Him. 439 00:37:31,179 –> 00:37:35,280 We’ve been discussing this long enough, said conscience. 440 00:37:35,280 –> 00:37:41,600 I move that we refuse the suggestion and that we note the decision as the commitment of 441 00:37:41,600 –> 00:37:48,419 the whole soul for future reference for any times in which such an issue may arise again. 442 00:37:48,459 –> 00:37:52,159 All the questions, says Will. 443 00:37:52,159 –> 00:37:54,639 The motion was carried unanimously. 444 00:37:54,639 –> 00:38:01,139 Let’s pray together. 445 00:38:01,139 –> 00:38:05,060 Some of us in your presence want to confess right now that though we’ve been sorry for 446 00:38:05,060 –> 00:38:12,899 many things we’ve done, we’ve not really known too much of what your word calls repentance. 447 00:38:13,139 –> 00:38:21,899 You’ve not really learned to hate what is evil, we’ve just talked about loving you. 448 00:38:21,899 –> 00:38:28,419 And yet your spirit has planted a love for Christ within our hearts and we want that 449 00:38:28,419 –> 00:38:34,080 that love should be sincere. 450 00:38:34,080 –> 00:38:39,379 Make this mind captive to your Word. 451 00:38:39,379 –> 00:38:45,239 That in a post-modern culture where people decide good and evil for themselves, this 452 00:38:45,239 –> 00:38:57,760 mind will be captivated by your Word, and call what you declare good to be good 453 00:38:57,760 –> 00:39:05,239 and call what you declare to be evil to be evil. 454 00:39:05,239 –> 00:39:13,360 Light the flame of love within this heart, O God, the flame of love for Christ, a stronger 455 00:39:13,360 –> 00:39:21,139 passion for the saviour than any other pool that operates upon the well springs of the 456 00:39:21,139 –> 00:39:22,360 soul. 457 00:39:22,419 –> 00:39:31,040 Grant a readiness of this will to take action, to call the question, to respond quickly to 458 00:39:31,040 –> 00:39:35,959 the suggestions of desire that would conceive. 459 00:39:35,959 –> 00:39:45,939 Grant that before that time decisively our soul may take its stand. 460 00:39:45,939 –> 00:39:50,560 And for some who may have come here even this morning with an unresolved tussle still going 461 00:39:50,560 –> 00:39:55,399 on in the soul and with a mind, a heart, and a will open to the possibility of what you 462 00:39:55,399 –> 00:40:04,300 call evil, may that be resolved in this moment, oh God. 463 00:40:04,300 –> 00:40:16,840 Most of all we ask that, because we know what sin meant for Jesus as He died on the cross. 464 00:40:16,939 –> 00:40:26,000 And when we contemplate that everlasting love that took its stand with us, we want to take 465 00:40:26,000 –> 00:40:34,739 with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, our stand with our savior, to hate what is 466 00:40:34,739 –> 00:40:43,840 evil, to cling to what is good, and so with all that is within us. 467 00:40:43,840 –> 00:40:52,419 To live for your glory and your honor through Jesus Christ our Lord. 468 00:40:52,419 –> 00:40:55,979 Amen. 469 00:40:55,979 –> 00:40:59,600 You’ve been listening to a sermon with Pastor Colin Smith of Open The Bible. 470 00:40:59,600 –> 00:41:04,780 To contact us, call us at 1-877-OPEN-365 471 00:41:04,780 –> 00:41:07,399 or visit our website, openthebible.org.