Sermon
E16: Psalm 119: Living Life in the Light of God's Word - Learning to Hate Biblically
Publisher transcript
Transcript
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You're listening to Key Life Fellowship's pulpit ministry
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podcast. We thank you for tuning in as we
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learn from God's Word together. If you would like more
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information regarding Key Life or to speak with one of our
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pastors, please visit us at keylifefellow-ship.com.
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Amen. Aren't you thankful for the
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great faithfulness of the Lord? I know that you are.
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If you're in Christ, you have seen his faithfulness and the
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magnitude of his faithfulness in your life over and over and over
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again. What an honor it is to be able
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to approach his throne and just to sing praise to Him and to
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thank Him for that faithfulness this morning if.
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You have your Bibles if you would turn to the 119th Psalm.
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Can you imagine that as we can continue our study entitled
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Living life and in the light of God's word and I pray that that
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is exactly what you find yourself doing all the more as
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we walk through the 119th Psalm this morning.
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I want to take the 119th Psalm and I want to talk to you about
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hate. In fact, not only do I want to
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talk to you about hate. I actually want to teach you how
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to hate. Now I know what immediately
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happens. Hate in church.
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Yes, hate in church. And my prayer is just that.
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Maybe we could actually learn to practice hate and biblical hate
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in our lives. The reason that we come to this
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topic and the reason that we address this topic and the
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reason that we teach on this topic is because hate in the
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right context is very acceptable and very biblical.
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How many of you would agree that love is a great motivator?
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Love is a great motivator. In fact, we've heard story after
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story about dangerous situations where children will fall into
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some kind of dangerous time. Perhaps that's a wild beast, or
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perhaps they fall down a mountain that no one would
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normally be able to retrieve them from.
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But yet moms, because of their love for their children, will
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will fight off wild animals and climb mountains.
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And, and we've even heard stories of, of moms lifting cars
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off of children that the car has collapsed on them because they
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were motivated by love. We know that it's a great
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motivator, but oftentimes in the church, because we are so afraid
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of the world hate. And I get it, the word hate.
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I get that we're so afraid of it because our grandmothers taught
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us that we're not to hate anyone or any anything for any reason
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whatsoever. And that has been inundated into
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our minds. We've been inundated with that
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and indoctrinated that for so long that it's part of who we
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are. But I think as we explore the
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word of God this morning, we're going to find out that hate can
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be a great motivator if hate is biblical.
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In fact, many of you are familiar with an NBA basketball
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star by the name of Larry Bird. If you know him, you know
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exactly what I'm I'm talking about.
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And you know the length of his shorts.
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Rather embarrassing. Larry Bird was a winner.
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Here's what Larry Bird said. He said I hate losing.
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I mean, I really hate it. I can't stand it.
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I hate losing more than I love winning.
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You know this. In the life of Larry Bird, his
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hatred for losing was a great motivator.
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He wasn't motivated by his love for winning.
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He said I do love winning, but even more than loving to win, I
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hate losing. We know this and we're if we're
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talking about athletic events, sporting events, competing, we
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can teach a person to hate losing.
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We'll see a, a, a winner rise to the surface.
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Larry Bird understood that and he was quoted in saying that.
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But in our Christian lives, hate can also do the same thing.
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It can motivate us in areas that we've never been motivated in
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before. In fact, hate can be a great
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motivator, motivating us toward godliness, motivating us toward
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repentance, motivating us toward holiness, motivating us toward
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sharing the gospel with the lost.
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It can be a great motivator. Jonathan Edwards said this.
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He said true grace is marked by a hatred of sin that is as
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strong as our love for Christ. Men, what would happen if the
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church returned to a place because in days gone by, the
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church hated wickedness. They stood against wickedness.
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They stood against anything that opposed God and His Holiness and
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His Word. But what would happen if we as
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believers learn to biblically hate the things that God hates
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as much as we love Christ? Hate can be a great motivator.
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If it's biblical and if it's proper.
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I know. Wait a minute, My grandmother
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said I shouldn't. Hate your grandmother?
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Is wrong in this facet my grandmother was wrong as well I
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do not speak I'll against the dead but what I do say is the
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word of God Trump's everyone and everything else and so we're
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going to see today that we must have biblical hatred in our
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lives as professing. Believers and we have to ask is
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that wrong? Because for so many of us, even
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the use of that word bothers us. How many of you feel icky right
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now even thinking about it? If we open the Word of God and
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we consult the Word of God, we'll find our answer to the
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question, is this wrong to biblically hate?
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Psalm 97, verse 10 says this. Let those who love the Lord hate
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evil. You love the Lord and the Word
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of God just commanded you to hate evil.
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Now I'd love to soften it up for you and tell you that in the
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Hebrew that word hate means something else.
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No, it means hate. He said let those who love the
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word hate evil for he he guards the lives of his faithful ones
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and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
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He says hate evil. Romans 12 verse 9, it says love
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must be sincere. Paul says hate what is evil,
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cling to what is good. Oh, I would to God that the
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church would get back to hating what is evil and clinging to
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what is good. Amos chapter 5 verse 15.
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And what if the Lord says hate evil, love good, maintain
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justice in the courts, hate evil, love good?
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Psalm 5 verse 4 says this. You're not a God who takes
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pleasure and evil with you. The wicked cannot dwell.
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The arrogant cannot stand in your presence.
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You hate all who do wrong. You destroy those who tell lies.
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Bloodthirsty and deceitful men, the Lord of horrors again.
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I wish I could clean that up for you so that would fit your
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cultural understanding that God is all love and never any
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indignation or never any hatred toward wickedness.
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But that's just not the case. That's not biblical.
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When God hates, He hates with the holy hatred.
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And we can do the same as we learn to hate biblically.
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And learning to hate biblically will be a great motivator in our
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Christian lives. Proverbs chapter 6.
Proverbs 6 chapter mention
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We read it a moment ago. A moment ago.
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There are 6 things the Lord hates 7 that are detestable to
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him. He uses that #7 to show us that
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His hate is as perfect as His love.
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He says He hates haughty eyes, lying tongue, hands that shed
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innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet
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that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours
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out lies, and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.
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He says I hate the wickedness of man and I hate those who do
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these things. He he takes a person who stirs
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up dissension in the church and puts him in the same category as
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a murderer. He says I hate it.
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These things are detestable to the Lord.
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Well, many people would say, well, Kirk, you quoted a lot
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from the Old Testament. In our understanding, in the Old
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Testament, God was full of indignation and full of hate.
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But in the New Testament, he's the kinder, gentler God.
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That's not true. He's the same God and the same
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hatred that he's had for wickedness in eternity past,
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that he will have an eternity future.
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He still contains and still has today.
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And Revelation says this. In case you thought it was just
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the Old Testament and I was just cherry picking texts from the
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Old Testament to try to prove a point there.
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As he's speaking to the seven churches of Asia Minor.
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He says this in chapter 2, verse six.
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He says, but you have this in your favor.
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Church of Ephesus. He said you hate the practices
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of the Nicolaitans, which I also.
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Hate, he said. It behooves you that you hate
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the Nicolaitans because I hate their practices as well.
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You hate their teachings and there's all kind of debate.
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What was the teaching of the Nicolaitans?
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We have to come down to the fact that it was probably some type
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of antinomianism, meaning this. They had taught about cheap
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grace, where we can get this cheap grace and then live any
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way that we want to live, profess Christ and then deny
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with our lifestyles. God says I hate that and I
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commend you that you hate that as well.
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And did you ever think that you would read a commendation from
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God to a church that says you hate their practices?
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And I'm thankful that you hate their practices because I agree
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with you. I hate them as well.
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Well what a commendation to a church teaching us the churches.
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Those groups made-up a body of believers have to learn how to
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biblically hate and when we learn how to biblically hate God
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himself commends it because we are hating the things he hates.
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We're loving the things that he loves.
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So now that we have. Established that there is a such
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thing as biblical hatred contrary again to your grandma
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and your grandpa's teaching your southern upbringing.
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We've established that the word of God is very clear and these
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are just a few of the instances in Scripture that we see
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biblical hatred that is acceptable to God.
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We have established that I feel at this point, and because we
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have, I think it's time that we learn how to hate biblically
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according to Psalm 119. So if you're there, let's look
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together. Psalm 119.
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We find our text today in verse 113 under.
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The Hebrew letter SEMEC and it says this in verse 113.
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I hate double minded men, but I love your law.
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You are my refuge and my shield. I have put my hope in your word
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away from me, you evil doers, that I may keep the commands of
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my God. Sustain me according to your
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promise and I will live. Do not let my hopes be dashed.
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Uphold me and I will be delivered.
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I will always have regard for your decrees.
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You reject all who stray from your decrees, for their
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deceitfulness is in vain. All the wicked of the earth you
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discard like dross. Therefore I love your statues.
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My flesh trembles in fear of you.
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I stand in awe. Of your laws, let's pray
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together. Father, in the name of Jesus, we
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come to you right now, thanking you for your word.
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And Lord, we ask in our time and in our day, that You would teach
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us something that is not being. Taught, but is found so clearly
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in your word, We ask that you would teach us how to hate
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biblically, how to hate with the right heart, and that we would
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use that hatred for the things that you hate.
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To motivate us in our love for the things that you love.
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To motivate us in our obedience and following your commands.
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God, I pray for the lost soul who's here today.
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Lord, I pray that you would be merciful to them even this hour.
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That you would call them out of darkness and into your marvelous
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light, rebirthing them through the power of your spirit.
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That they would believe and repent of their sin and turn to
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Christ as Lord and Savior quickened, awakened from
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spiritual death, brought into eternal life to the sacrifice of
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Jesus Christ that he made upon the cross.
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Lord, have mercy on them. God, as we look at Your word,
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teach us, shape us, conform us into the image of Christ, and we
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pray these things in the mighty name of Jesus, Amen.
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And so we see that biblical hatred is a thing, and it's not
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something to shy away from. It's something that we must
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learn and we must embrace. And the Psalmist here starts off
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just like this. He says in verse 113, I hate
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double minded men, but I love your law.
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You are my refuge and my shield. I have put my hope in your word.
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Biblical hatred will be hatred for the inclinations of the
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wicked. See where the psalmist starts
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here? He's saying I hate the
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inclinations of the wicked, their thoughts, their thought
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process, where their mind is. In fact, he refers to them as
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being double minded men. So regarding the inclinations of
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the wicked, the psalmist here is despising double mindedness.
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Now he's not only despising double mindedness in the lives
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of those who he is. Observing outside of himself.
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But first, he must learn to hate the double mindedness that lives
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within him. And how many of you understand
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that you have flesh, and that flesh can cause you to waver?
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And the psalmist, you're saying I hate that I hate that about
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me, I hate that about others. I hate double minded men, myself
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included. He's despising this double
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mindedness. In fact in James in his epistle
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chapter one verse 8, he says Speaking of a double minded man.
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He says he is double minded and unstable in all he does.
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The psalmist knew that a double minded man is unstable in
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everything that he does. He's unstable in his life.
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He's unstable in his family, he's unstable in the church
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body. He is an unstable man or an
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unstable woman. James 4/8 he speaks of double
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mindedness again. He says come near to God and he
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will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners,
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and purify your hearts, you double minded.
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What James is saying is, is that the mind of a double minded man
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is is impure and his heart is impure.
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So he's despising this double mindedness.
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And why does he despise it? Because these people are
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inconsistent in their thoughts. They're inconsistent in their
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thoughts. They are like those that we see
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in First Kings chapter 18 verse 21.
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We see Elijah and he's addressing the double minded
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people of his day. And here's how he addresses
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those people right there. They're wavering back and forth
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from between the one true God and bail and worshipping bail
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and idol and worshipping the one true God.
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And then we've got the prophets bail seeming to be winning.
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And here we have Elijah and he says this in chapter 18 of first
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Kings verse 21. It says Elijah went before the
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people and he said, how long will you waver between two
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opinions? If the Lord God, if the Lord is
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God, follow him, but if Baal is God, follow him.
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But the people said nothing. What did he do?
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He called them out in their double mindedness and they had
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nothing to say. That's for all of you who can't
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make up your mind. Are you really serving Christ?
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Are you really following Christ? You can't make up your mind.
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Who you really are, You said, well, how do you know that about
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me? Because I see things like this
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guy do pay attention. I see that today after the
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church service, you might post something from this worship
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service on your social media and you might say how good God is.
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But then other days during the week, you might post pictures of
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yourself out in some club drunk and partying with all your
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friends. You say, well, Kirk, who do you
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think you are to meddle in my life?
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I'm not meddling in your life. You're putting it out there for
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all to see. And I say to this, you present
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yourself as double minded. At one moment you're
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participating in the things of God and in the other moment
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you're participating in the things of the world.
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That is the definition of double minded.
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And just as Elijah said to the people in his day, he said make
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up your mind who you are. He didn't tell them one way or
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the other. He said if you want to follow
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bail, a false God, follow him. Give him your all.
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I say this to you. You look one quick Christian in
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the room. Give the world your all, or give
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your all to God, but give your all to something.
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This is exactly what we see here.
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The psalmist despising double mindedness again.
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He looks at. Himself first.
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We can all be double minded if we're not careful, can't we?
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To say one thing and to do the other.
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That's why we must be careful. And he's going to show us how to
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be careful. He's despising double
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mindedness, inconsistent thoughts.
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And inconsistent thoughts always lead to inconsistent living,
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don't they? In fact, Matthew chapter 6 verse
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24, Jesus said this. He said no one can serve 2
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masters. Either he will hate the one and
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love the other, or He will be devoted to the one and despise
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the other. What was Jesus teaching us here?
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He's teaching against double mindedness.
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Who's your master? Are you still mastered by sin in
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this world and Satan? Or is Jesus really your master?
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Is he really Lord of your life? In fact, in James chapter 2,
James 2 chapter mention
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James says this. He says in the same way faith by
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itself is not accompanied by action is dead.
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James is saying if you say one thing and your life shows us
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something opposite of that thing, that's what a double
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minded person's life looks like. He says your faith is dead.
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It's not real. It's not authentic faith at all.
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You deny what comes out of your mouth by what comes out of your
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life, Jesus. Said it a little more sternly
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than that, he said in Luke 646. Why do you call me Lord, Lord
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and do not do what I say? Why are you double minded?
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The psalmist here declaring that I hate double minded men.
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I despise this double mindedness, this inconsistent
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thought process, this inconsistent living.
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He hates it because God hates it and does not tolerate it.
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The psalmist despising double mindedness but desiring
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protection from God through His word.
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Watch what he does. About his own double mindedness,
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he says I hate double minded men, but I love your law.
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You know what he's doing? He's learning to hate himself.
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I'll say it so that you all can understand this.
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I know what modern culture tells you.
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Love yourself. That is a lie.
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Hat straight from the pits of hell.
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Learn to hate your fleshly self. Learn to hate your old life.
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Learn to hate it so much that when you look back at it, you
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don't want to ever look back at it again.
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You want to go in the opposite direction all the days of your
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life. In fact, the Lord himself
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teaching this, no man is fit for the Kingdom of heaven who puts
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his hand to the pile and looks back.
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Don't look back. Don't go back.
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Hate your own life that you have been rescued from Well, much of
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the problems that we see in the American church stem from the
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fact. That men are afraid to hate the
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inclinations of the wicked, even their own inclinations, because
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if you hate them you'll die to them, and if you don't die to
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them, that proves you don't hate them.
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So the psalmist here desiring protection from God through his
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word, he says, I love your law. You are my refuge and my shield.
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I have put my hope in your word, he said.
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The only hope for? Anyone who has been double
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minded, which would be all of us, he said The only hope for
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any of us is to put our trust in the Word of God.
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He knowing that himself here susceptible to double
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mindedness. He seeks help from the
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Scriptures. Lord, teach me to walk
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consistently. Lord, teach me to walk in a
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manner that brings glory to Your name.
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Teach me to walk in practical righteousness every day of my
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life. Where do I learn that?
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The word of God. What example do I have?
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Christ. The Psalmist here hating the
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inclinations of the wicked, despising double mindedness,
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desiring protection from God through His Word in regard to
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double mindedness, trusting single mindedly in the
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Scriptures as a sole guide and shield and resource.
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I would to God that he would raise up a Church of single
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minded people who say, you know what, it doesn't matter what we
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think or what we want or what our flesh wants.
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What matters is what God says in his word.
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Lord, protect us from double mindedness by being our refuge
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and our shield as we put. Our hope in your word.
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That's exactly what the psalmist is saying, and he's motivated to
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this attitude because he has a true hatred.
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For the inclinations of the wicked, he can't tolerate and
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accept these double minded inconsistencies any longer, not
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from his life or the life of others who profess to know God.
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If you were one of. Those you know full well
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already, as conviction is setting in that this is God's
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Word speaking to you. Hear it, hear it and examine
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your life. Ask yourself that question.
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Why don't I have hatred for my own double mindedness?
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Why is it easy for me to blend in with the world Monday through
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Friday and then on the weekends start thinking about God so that
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I can go to church on Sunday and feel OK about it?
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And ask God to teach you the truth through His Word, so you
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can have real hope. Biblical hatred will be hatred
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for the inclinations of the wicked.
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Secondly, biblical hatred will be hatred for the influence of
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the wicked. What he says in verse 115.
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He says away from me, you evil doers, that I may keep the
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commands of my God away from me, you evil doers, that I may keep
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the commands of my God. What does the psalmist doing
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here? The psalmist here is giving us
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an example of what hating the influence of wickedness looks
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like. He sees the influence, he sees
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the wickedness in others who are leading people away from God,
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and he hates it. And he says away from me, get
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out of here. I am.
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I am removing you from the equation, you evildoer.
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Why? That I may keep the commands of
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God. He understood that he had to get
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out of the way of this influence.
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Many people forget this. Even in the church today, I see
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young people do it right. There's this really cute guy,
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and he is not a believer. In fact, he's a total immoral
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Pagan, but he's cute. And the young lady who's a
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believer thinks like this. She says, you know what, Perhaps
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I can be a missionary on the mission field and I can date him
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and possibly lead him to Christ. Can I tell you what the word of
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God says very plainly? Very clearly, First Corinthians
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chapter 15 verse 33, it says do not be misled.
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Now let me help you. Anytime you see something in
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Scripture that causes you to listen up, do not be misled.
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You know what that's saying? Hey, we can quickly be misled.
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Pay attention to this. Do not be misled.
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Bad company corrupts. Good character doesn't work the
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other way around. It is not your job, young lady,
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to save that man. It is your job to walk a holy
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life, to walk a righteous life, to remain pure and not let that
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young man influence you. In order to do that, you have to
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hate the influence of the wicked to see it for what it is.
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Psalmist teaching us, here's what we need to do when we are
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influenced by wickedness. We need to remove ourselves from
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that situation First. We have to discern it.
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Here's what it is. It's evil.
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It's wickedness. It's sin, it's sinful, it's
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worldly. Define it for what it is.
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Call it what it is. Don't you wish the church or get
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back to calling things what they really are?
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Worldly, sinful, wicked, evil, all those things that we're
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afraid to say because people are going to get mad at us.
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And accuse us of hating. We are hating, but we can't
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claim to love God and not hate the things that God hates.
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The Psalm is hating the influence of the wicked.
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And he knows that he has to remove himself from the presence
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of the wicked so that the wicked don't drag him down.
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Are you listening? He's distancing himself from
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evil, just like a Joseph and Potiphar's wife.
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He had to go, didn't he? I don't think for a second that
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Potiphar's wife was not beautiful and that there was not
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a temptation there. That's why he ran.
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Smart man. And he got out of there.
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What? Away from me, evil doer.
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Away from me, evildoer, that I may keep the commands of my God.
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He got out of the danger zone. Why?
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So that he can obey the word of God.
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He distanced himself from evil. Isn't it a sad day when the
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church has forgotten that we're to distance ourselves from evil?
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We're to distance ourselves from the wickedness of this world,
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the sin of this world. We are to be different. 2nd
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Corinthians chapter 6 verse 14 Paul teaches on this.
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He says do not be yoked together with unbelievers.
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For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common?
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Watch how common sense this is. What do righteousness and
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wickedness have in common? Nothing.
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You claim to be righteous. You claim to be in Christ.
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Therefore you claim that righteousness has been imputed
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to you. You no longer have anything in
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common with wickedness. You're a new creation.
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Amen, He goes. On he says or what fellowship
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can light have with darkness? None.
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What's these rhetorical questions?
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None. But you don't understand, Kirk.
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I go. I went to high school with those
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boys and sometimes we get together and we just relive the
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old days and get drunk together and party and none.
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Did you hear? Me.
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What fellowship can light have with Dortons?
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None. What harmony is there between
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Christ and Belial? Christ and an idol?
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No harmony at all. They don't.
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John, what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?
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Remember, these have been rhetorical all this whole time.
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Still rhetorical. What does a believer have in
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common with an unbeliever? Watch nothing, he said.
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Well, Kirk, wait a minute. I have lots in common with my
-
old lost friends. You have a problem.
-
You have a problem if you have something in common with your
-
old friends, because you notice the world's interests are
-
different, the world's thinking different, and your thinking
-
ought to be opposite of theirs. Watch what Paul continues to
-
teach. What agreement is there between
-
the temple of God and idols? We know nothing.
-
Now watch him turn it on us. For we are the temple of the
-
living God. Oh, how far too often we forget
-
that. Dragging the temple of God into
-
the tents of the wicked. Well, often we forget who we are
-
in Christ. Or maybe, perhaps we don't know
-
who we are in Christ, or if we're in Christ at all.
-
He says, as God said, I will live with them and walk among
-
them, and they and we will be their God and they will be my
-
people. Watch because of this.
-
Therefore, because of everything that I told you, that that you
-
have nothing in common with the world any longer.
-
In fact, you want to be hating the wicked influence of the
-
world. He says therefore come out from
-
them and be. Separate, says the Lord.
-
Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.
-
He's calling us here to distance ourselves from evil.
-
In fact, James speaks in a little stronger terms in this.
-
Watch what he says in James 4/4. He says you adulterous people.
-
Now what? What he's not talking about is
-
someone who's sleeping with another man's wife or or another
-
man, a woman sleeping with another man's husband.
-
He's not saying that. He's using that metaphorically
-
here to talk about spiritual adultery, he said.
-
You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the
-
world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a
-
friend of the world becomes an enemy.
-
Of God. What is He telling us?
-
He's telling us to distance ourselves from evil, to distance
-
ourselves from the evil influence of this world.
-
And if you hate the influence of wickedness?
-
That won't be a difficult thing for you to do, will it?
-
But if you still love the influence of the world, you're
-
going to have a hard time departing, aren't you?
-
Because deep down, you don't hate.
-
The influence of the wicked. Deep down you still love the
-
things of the world. That's why you're clinging to
-
them. That's why you're holding on to
-
them. That's why you're still
-
participating in them. That's why you have not come out
-
and made yourself separate from the world as the word of God
-
declares that we are to do. He says away from me, you evil
-
doers, that I may keep the commands of my God.
-
He says keeping the commands of God are more important to me
-
than fitting in with the wicked. So the psalmist said.
-
He said I would rather. Be a doorkeeper in the House of
-
the Lord than to dwell in the tents of the wicked.
-
But it's interesting in today's church culture, we think as.
-
Believers that we should come to church on Sunday and then dwell
-
in the tents of the wicked anytime that we want because
-
really, deep down, we still love wickedness.
-
And we have no hatred for the influence that wickedness has
-
upon us and upon others. So the psalmist here removing
-
himself from the presence of the wicked.
-
Away from me, you evil. Doers that I may keep the
-
commands of my God, and then he says in 116, sustain me
-
according to your promise, and I will live.
-
Do not let my hopes be dashed. What is he doing here?
-
He's not only removing himself from the presence of the wicked,
-
He's relying on God's Word in the midst of this.
-
He's relying on the Word of God for strength.
-
For life, for hope. We see all those in verse 116,
-
trusting in God's Word as an anchor for his entire life.
-
Yes, maybe I have no more friends, but according to the
-
Word of God, I have a friend who sticks closer than a brother,
-
and I will rest in that. And he asked the Lord to sustain
-
me according to your promise. You've promised you'll never
-
leave me, you'll never forsake me.
-
That you are that friend that sticks closer than a brother.
-
And I will value you more than I value the influence of the
-
wicked and what it once had upon my life.
-
Relying on God's Word, trusting in His Word as that anchor,
-
refusing to be influenced by the opinions of the world, but
-
instead influenced by the truth of God's Word.
-
We have said that the church has found itself in a condition and
-
in a state where we're so concerned with the opinions of
-
the world. The opinions of the world do not
-
matter to the true Christian. What matters is what does God
-
say in His Word? Because in what He says in His
-
Word, he reveals to us His thoughts.
-
He reveals to us who He is, His characteristics and His
-
attributes. We can truly know Him.
-
We can truly know. The truth.
-
In him. So many times instead of relying
-
on God's word, we rely on our feelings and we just want to be
-
accepted by everyone. What a sad state the church is
-
in because they want to make this a place of acceptance and
-
forget that we ought to be a people who hate the influence of
-
the wicked. He says away from me, you evil
-
doers, that I may keep your commands.
-
I don't want you influencing me and causing me to be a
-
disobedient to the things of God, dragging me into your mess.
-
Then he defers to the Lord in his help.
-
He says sustain me according to your promise and I live.
-
Don't let my hopes be dashed. I know that I can trust in you
-
because I've tried trusting in the world.
-
When I trust in the world and all their influence, I know what
-
that leaves me. Biblical hatred.
-
Will despise the influence of the wicked upon their lives and
-
upon the lives of others, and this hatred will motivate us
-
toward being influenced by God's Word instead of the influence of
-
the wicked world. Thirdly, we see this.
-
Not only does biblical hatred confirm for us that there ought
-
to be a hatred for the inclinations of the wicked and
-
the influence of the wicked. Biblical hatred will be hatred
-
for the indoctrination of the wicked.
-
Look what happens next, he says, uphold me and I will be
-
delivered. I will always have regard for
-
your decrees. You reject all who stray from
-
your decrees, for their deceitfulness is in vain.
-
Here we can contextually come to the conclusion that now the
-
psalmist is addressing the fact that the wicked are straying
-
from the word of God and they are now indoctrinating through
-
their deceitful practices, their lies.
-
They're now indoctrinating others.
-
And he starts out with Lord, uphold me and I'll be delivered.
-
Delivered from what? The indoctrination of the
-
wicked. And don't we know that the
-
wicked is constantly trying to indoctrinate everyone?
-
We see it in our elementary schools.
-
We see it in our junior highs, we see it in our high schools,
-
we see it in our colleges. Unfortunately, sad to say, we
-
see it in our Christian colleges and Christian universities today
-
where Wiccan. This is indoctrinating people.
-
The Psalmist, you're saying I have a biblical holy hatred for
-
the indoctrination of the wicked, how they come in with
-
their lives and they come in with their deceit and they try
-
to sidetrack people, he says. All in vain, Psalmist.
-
Teaches us about hating this type of indoctrination.
-
Knowing full well those who reject the scriptures that they
-
will indoctrinate others to do exactly the same.
-
Isn't that true? When you meet an atheist, you
-
know what he wants to do. He wants to try to make you an
-
atheist. He wants to give you 57,000
-
reasons why you shouldn't believe in God.
-
Too bad I'm already his. He's already purchased me by his
-
blood. He's revealed himself to me in
-
such a way that you can't talk me out of it.
-
When you meet someone who's been a victim of false religion,
-
false teaching, I don't care if that's Buddhism or the
-
charismatic teachings that we see in the church today.
-
What are they always trying to do?
-
Indoctrinate you to their teachings, trying to show you
-
how they're right. You know what they always do?
-
They go to their feelings, they go to their opinions.
-
They never go to the word of God.
-
The psalmist here is saying is I'm going to the word of God and
-
I need the word of God to protect me and to uphold me.
-
There's all these wicked influences are trying to
-
indoctrinate me. Oh, he hates the influence of
-
the wicked. He hates the indoctrination of
-
the wicked because, you know, it's the danger that it comes.
-
So this hatred for the indoctrination of the wicked, it
-
ought to be a great motivator in our life, shouldn't it?
-
It ought to motivate us to safeguard ourselves and our
-
families. Let me say that again, to
-
safeguard ourselves and our families and as shepherds of
-
this flock, this church, to safeguard US against wicked
-
doctrines, wicked indoctrination.
-
How do we do that? Well, just as the psalmist does
-
here by regarding God's Word highly.
-
He says uphold me and I will be delivered.
-
I will always have regard for your decrees.
-
He is regarding the word of God highly.
-
You have high regard for Scriptures.
-
At the end of the day, do you make every decision that you
-
make based on what the Word of God teaches us?
-
I pray that you would. I pray that you would consider
-
that before something comes out of your mouth, before something
-
comes out of your life. What does the Word of God say
-
about this? Particular issue or this
-
particular thing? So that you will safeguard
-
yourself, so that you will be that.
-
Person who regards the Word of God as the final answer, as the
-
last word, refusing to compromise on that truth.
-
But don't we live in an age of compromise?
-
That's why so many people are being indoctrinated.
-
We don't want to tell someone when they have false doctrine
-
that that's false. We don't want to use the W.
-
Word right. This is the worst word anybody
-
can hear. You're wrong.
-
Well, who do you think you are telling me I'm wrong?
-
I don't think I'm anybody, but I'm telling you right now God's
-
Word says you're wrong, therefore you are wrong and
-
you're deceived, and I'm going to stop your deception from
-
spreading everywhere like some kind of cancerous disease.
-
The only way to cancel out false teaching is true teaching.
-
The only way to cancel out false doctrine is true doctrine,
-
biblical doctrine, sound teaching.
-
And I know what many people say, right?
-
Is that really that important? Yes, your spiritual life is on
-
the line. Doctrine is essential.
-
It is important. The fool says things like this,
-
and I've heard these things. I don't want all that doctrine
-
in theology. I just want Jesus.
-
You can't have Jesus without good doctrine and theology.
-
You'll have the wrong Jesus. And unfortunately, the American
-
church has bought into the wrong Jesus because they've been
-
indoctrinated to things about Jesus that are not biblical.
-
And so we have to hold the Scriptures in high regard if
-
we're going to safeguard against the wicked doctrines and the
-
wicked indoctrination that comes against us and comes against our
-
families and our children. Refusing to compromise on the
-
truth. First Timothy chapter 4 verse
-
16. It says watch your life and
-
doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if
-
you do, you will save both yourself.
-
And your hearers, that's not just for the preachers, though
-
it is for the preachers. That's for all of us.
-
Did you know this? Every man in this room, are you
-
looking at me? Are you listening?
-
Every man who has a family raise your hand.
-
You are the prophet, priest, and king of your home.
-
You are influencing people toward the word of God, or you
-
are influencing them toward wickedness.
-
You have one or two options. So I pray that you would be men
-
of God who lead your family in sound doctrine, watching your
-
life and your doctrine closely, persevering in them.
-
Because if you. Do you'll save not only you, but
-
everyone who hears your teaching?
-
Dad? That's why it's important that
-
you are your child's primary Bible teacher, because you can
-
bet on this. There are voices after voices
-
after voices that are trying to indoctrinate your children right
-
now to things that are utterly godless, that are completely
-
wicked. You send them to a place for 8
-
or 9 hours a day where they are being indoctrinated.
-
To wickedness. You must teach them the truth.
-
You must adhere to sound doctrine, saving yourself and
-
those who hear you. It's important.
-
Refuse to compromise on the truth.
-
That's why Paul told Titus as well.
-
You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine.
-
Why? Because there's unsound doctrine
-
that is trying to indoctrinate people.
-
Constantly, the psalmist said. I hate the indoctrination of the
-
wicked and so I safeguard against that.
-
He says uphold me and I'll be delivered.
-
I will always have regard for your decrees.
-
This is how how do I find safety against all this indoctrination?
-
How do I teach others to find that same safety in the word of
-
God, in the word of God and the word of God of alone.
-
He says in verse 118 you reject all who stray from your decrees
-
for their deceitfulness is in vain.
-
You know you need to do. When your hatred toward the
-
indoctrination of the wicked, other than safeguarding against
-
wicked doctrines, you know what you need to do.
-
See their teachings as wicked. Don't call them anything else,
-
right? Don't call them anything else.
-
When you learn that your third grader is being indoctrinated
-
with the fact that women have rights and it's OK to somehow
-
murder a baby #1 snatch them out of that school immediately.
-
Do not apologize. Do not let them make you feel
-
bad. You teach your child about the
-
sanctity of life. You teach them that every human
-
being was created in the image of God.
-
Every human being is valuable. Every life is important.
-
When you as women have the wicked liberal women of this
-
world trying to constantly indoctrinate you to not
-
submitting to your husband as the leader of your home and not
-
being a godly wife in your home and a godly mother telling you
-
that you have rights and all the other nonsense that they say.
-
Telling us that because we adhere to the biblical model
-
that that that we're just bigots and we're holding you back.
-
We're close minded, but you have enough wherewithal to know the
-
word of God and call those teachings wicked and evil
-
because they are teachings. Let's shame a mother out of her
-
role being what God intended her to be, a godly woman who
-
produces godly children because of a godly influence as she
-
walks. The word of.
-
God out before their very eyes. Don't let someone cheat you out
-
of that. What a grace that God has given
-
you. I remember when my children were
-
young, my wife would say silly things like I don't feel like I
-
do anything important. Moms, you ever feel like that?
-
I want you to listen to me. If you're a mother here in this
-
room, I want you to raise your hand.
-
I want you to look at me eye to eye.
-
Right now you have one of the most important jobs in the
-
world. The next generation is depending
-
upon you to teach them what godliness really looks like, to
-
teach them what a woman of God. Who loves a man of God in the
-
home really looks like you. Don't let this wicked world
-
indoctrinate you to thinking that you don't have a purpose
-
and that you don't have an important role in the Kingdom of
-
God. You have one of the most
-
important roles in the Kingdom of God.
-
So see it for what it is. And call their teachings wicked
-
because that is what they are. They're wicked and they're
-
unbiblical. So that's kind of mean.
-
No, I kind of still believe the Scripture.
-
I believe all of it, not just some of it, not just what I
-
like. First Timothy chapter 4, verse
-
6, it says if you point these things out to the brothers, you
-
will be a good minister of Christ Jesus brought up in the
-
truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have
-
followed. What is he talking about?
-
False teaching. If you point out true teaching
-
in the midst of false teaching, in the midst of all their
-
indoctrination that the world wants to give to us, to give to
-
our children. If you point out the truth.
-
The Word of God commends you here for doing so.
-
See the teachings of the world as wicked, because that's what
-
they are. Hate them.
-
Call them exactly what they are. You.
-
Remember when Christians used to call a spade a spade, they would
-
call sin sin, wickedness, wickedness, worldliness,
-
worldliness. Things that were satanic, we
-
called them satanic and we get back to not being afraid to hate
-
those things and to call them exactly what the word of God
-
calls them. First Timothy chapter 4 gives us
1 Timothy 4 chapter mention
-
this warning. Verse one.
-
The Spirit clearly says that in latter times some will abandoned
-
the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by
-
demons. Such teachings come through
-
hypocritical liars whose conscience consciences have been
-
seared as with a hot iron. What's Paul doing here?
-
He's he's calling them what they are, these people who are
-
indoctrinating you and your children through all of the
-
influence that we have in this world.
-
And boy, don't we have it. Everybody's an influencer now,
-
aren't they? And you all walk around with a
-
little device that has all the idolatrous influencers popping
-
out at you, constantly influencing you and
-
indoctrinating you. Parents just tossing a kid a
-
phone and saying here, entertain, entertain yourself
-
for hours. Now you ought to hate the fact
-
that they're being indoctrinated by wickedness and take that
-
thing away from them. It's real simple.
-
You need to make a call here. Dial the number for them.
-
Put it on speaker. When you make a text here, I'll
-
type it for you, tell me what you want it to say, then I'll
-
get the answer and tell you what the other person says.
-
But no, what we do is we are just careless, allowing
-
indoctrination of the wicked to just pour into the lives of our
-
family, not keeping tabs and sound teaching.
-
It's important in our lives. So see the teachings of the
-
wicked as wicked, and hate them. You say, well, pastor, that
-
seems kind of harsh. No, that's biblical hatred.
-
How can I say that I love God and His Holiness and then not
-
turn around and hate wickedness? That's contrary, isn't it?
-
I'm contradicting myself because of God, who is holy, hates
-
wickedness, and he has all the right to do so.
-
And I'm commanded in Scripture to hate that which is evil and
-
to cling to that which is good. Learn.
-
They hate the indoctrination of the wicked.
-
Why? So that you're not indoctrinated
-
by the wicked? So that your children, your
-
wives are not indoctrinated by wickedness.
-
So biblical hatred will not be able to tolerate any kind of
-
wickedness. Right, Because we live in a day
-
of what tolerance, Christian? We can't be tolerant.
-
Any longer we have to hate any influence and indoctrination
-
from. The wicked see that there is a
-
biblical mandate for that #4 because I know you're all in a
-
big hurry to get on your phones and leave and to tell someone
-
that your preacher taught you how to hate today.
-
Biblical hatred will be hatred for the inheritance of the
-
wicked. This is great motivation.
-
I want you to pay attention to what he says.
-
All the wicked of the earth you discard like dross.
-
He's saying it's like a refiner's fire.
-
And what they do is they heat it up to such a degree that all the
-
bad things come to the surface and then they skim it off the
-
surface and they throw it away because it's useless.
-
He says this. Is what's going to happen to all
-
the wicked, all the unbelieving, all the unrepentant sinners?
-
This is what's going to happen. God is going to discard them
-
like draws. We know that he's going to do
-
this in hell for all eternity. He says Therefore, I love your
-
statues. He said.
-
I know what's going to happen to the wicked.
-
That's why I love your statues. Oh, you think that's not
-
motivation? Church, pay attention to this.
-
My flesh trembles in fear of you.
-
I stand in awe of your laws. What's the psalmist doing here?
-
He's seeing the eternal inheritance of the wicked, and
-
he hates the future faith that awaits all unbelieving,
-
unrepentant sinners. And we should hate the future
-
judgment of those sinners as well we should hate.
-
That there will be some who for all eternity receive the
-
inheritance of the wicked. And for those of you in who are
-
in Christ here today, let me let me just grab you for a second.
-
How can you love the eternal life that you have received
-
freely in Christ because of His mercy based on His sacrifice?
-
How can you love that? And at the same time not hate
-
the fact that there are some who won't repent who will spend an
-
eternity facing the second death under the wrath of God in the
-
lake of fire according to the word of God.
-
I told you that hate is a great motivator.
-
We see the psalmist here now being motivated by his hate that
-
involves the inheritance of the wicked.
-
He knows that he. In and of.
-
Himself is what wicked for all of sin to come short of the
-
glory of God. He understands this.
-
All the wicked of the earth you discard like dross, he said.
-
Therefore, I love your statutes. I'm not going to be discarded
-
like dross. I'm going to obey what you've
-
told me to obey in your word. I'm going to follow you.
-
I'm going to surrender to you. I'm going to to to follow every
-
command and every law that you have.
-
These things are now important to me.
-
He's motivated and watch this, he's motivated by coming
-
judgment. I know we live in a church
-
culture where we can't use coming judgement as motivation
-
anymore, right? Because if you start talking
-
about the coming judgement when you're putting people in an
-
awkward position, Pastor, don't you think that you might be
-
scaring them? Don't you think that you might
-
be causing them to be? Afraid of what lies ahead?
-
Yes, I am. I want you to be very afraid.
-
It is a scary thing to know that you're going to pass from this
-
life and you will not live for eternity like the believer, but
-
you will die for all eternity in hell.
-
That is a very scary thing that make no apologies about that.
-
I pray that the coming judgement would motivate you.
-
It motivates me just like it motivated Christian in the
-
pilgrims progress. When they said flee from the
-
coming judgement, what did he do?
-
He left his family, He left everybody who didn't want to go
-
and he was going to the Celestial City.
-
Why? Because the preacher told him
-
that's what God's Word said that he needed.
-
To do the psalmist here doing the exact same thing, knowing.
-
That the wicked will be discarded like dross.
-
That there will be a judgement knowing what the word of God
-
teaches us. Hebrews 927 Just as man is
-
destined to die once, and after that to face judgement, you will
-
face the judgement of God. Let me make this very clear to
-
all of you. You will stand.
-
Before God clothed in your unbelief and your sin.
-
And all the wicked indoctrination that you received
-
in your life, and all of the wicked and evil things that you
-
have participated in in your life, you will stand before God,
-
clothed in that, or you will stand before God clothed in the
-
imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ.
-
Now watch this. One is going to hear this.
-
The first one clothed in their own sin and their unbelief will
-
hear. Depart from me, you worker of
-
iniquity, for I never knew you. And those who are clothed in the
-
righteousness of Jesus Christ be welcomed into the Kingdom of
-
heaven for all eternity, not based on anything that they have
-
done, but based on what Christ has done for them at the cross.
-
And they will hear because of Christ well done by good and
-
faithful servant, you may enter in to the Kingdom that has been
-
reserved for you. Now I want you to think about
-
that for. Just a moment because you don't
-
have 1/3 option. Judgment is coming and we must
-
have a hatred for the fact that there are some who will inherit
-
what is coming to the wicked. What is that?
-
The wrath of God, The indignation of God for all
-
eternity. That is your inheritance, and I
-
hate to think that I stand before you as a man who has been
-
cleansed through the precious blood of Jesus Christ, who has
-
received mercy from Him and to not.
-
Offer you the hope. That is available in Christ
-
according to the word of God. The psalmist here being
-
motivated by coming judgement, the judgement that is non
-
negotiable, that will not be delayed that that will come at
-
the appointed time. In fact, Acts chapter 17 verse
-
31. It says this for he.
-
Has set a day and he will judge the world with justice by the
-
man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to
-
all men by raising him from the dead.
-
He said there will be a day that Jesus judges the sinners, all of
-
us, and He will judge you for the deeds that you have done in
-
your wickedness, or He will reward you for the righteous
-
works that are found in those who are in Christ.
-
Which side of this judgment do you want to experience?
-
Oh, the fact that there is judgment ought to motivate us.
-
Shouldn't it ought to motivate us to adhere to God's Word.
-
And what does God's Word say about the coming judgment?
-
That unless you flee from your sin and you turn to Christ as
-
Lord and Savior, you will face the wrath of God for all
-
eternity in hell. Scripture is ultimately clear on
-
that. And I can't make it say anything
-
else. Even when all the liberals want
-
me to tone it down just a little bit, I can't tone it down.
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It is what it is and it says what it says, and it ought to
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motivate us, that hatred for the fact that there will be people
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who spend eternity in hell because they refuse to repent
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and they do not turn to Jesus. Christ as Lord and Savior.
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That ought to motivate 1. To adhere to God's Word, loving
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and living the truth of His Word as found in Scripture.
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Motivated to avoid the inheritance of the wicked at all
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costs. And how do we do that?
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How does a person avoid the inheritance of the wicked?
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By surrendering an obedience to Christ.
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Completely surrendering to obedience in Christ.
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Follow His decrees. To do what his word says fact
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Ephesians chapter 5 verse one says be imitators of God
Ephesians 5 chapter mention
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therefore is dearly loved children.
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If you're in Christ, pay attention to this and live a
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life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for
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us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God, He's.
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Going to tell us how to live. He's going to tell us that our
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life should be opposite of that of the wicked, he says.
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But among you, there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality
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that includes pornography. Men, you think that I don't know
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that it's a problem? I know the statistics.
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I deal with the aftermath. Don't act all shocked.
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You know it's a problem, he says.
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Any hint of it or any kind of impurity or of greed, even the
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American dream that we have justified because these are
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improper for God's holy people. Nor should there be obscenity,
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foolish talk or coarse joking. And there goes your dirty jokes,
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there goes your foul language, he says.
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Which are out of place, but rather Thanksgiving, for of this
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you can be sure. Are you listening?
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No immoral and pure or greedy person, such a man as an
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idolater, has any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and of
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God. His inheritance is the
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inheritance of the wicked. And then he says this.
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Pay attention to it. Let no one deceive you with
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empty words. Don't let somebody tell you.
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And because you prayed this little prayer, maybe you walked
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an aisle, you filled out a card. But your life has never changed.
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Let someone tell you everything's OK.
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Let no one deceive you with empty words.
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For because of such things, God's wrath comes on those who
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are disobedient. There's a coming judgement for
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the wicked, and it ought to motivate.
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Us and what it what should it motivate us toward?
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The only hope that we have that hopes Christ.
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That are motivated toward that hope, not only should it
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motivate us toward that hope so that we can avoid the
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inheritance of the wicked, because the only way that you're
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going to get out of any of the judgement upon the wicked and
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the unbelieving is the trust in Jesus.
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Christ as your Lord and Savior, but also hatred for the
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inheritance of the wicked ought to also motivate us in another
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area of our life that we don't often talk about, and that's
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this. How about hatred for the
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inheritance of the wicked? The fact that people are going
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to spend an eternity in hell if they don't repent and turn to
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Christ? How about that hatred actually
-
motivating? Us to share the hope that we
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have with others, you know, actually caring is that you have
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a loved one or a family member or a friend or a stranger in
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Walmart who is still in their sin.
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Still facing the judgement of God, lest God intervene with His
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mercy in Christ. And we know how it works.
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They can't believe unless someone tells them.
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How can they know lest they preach or tell them?
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Did you know this? I'm not the only preacher in the
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room. All of you who claim to be in
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Christ ought to be preaching the gospel.
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Why? It's the power of God unto
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salvation for all who believe. You want to be going out and you
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ought to be sharing the gospel with these people.
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You ought to see that person who's on their way to hell.
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And you ought not to have the attitude, Oh, who cares?
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I'm on my way to heaven. I ought to motivate you to get
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on your face and to pray for their soul, and then to ask that
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God would give you the exact words to share with them
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regarding the gospel through His holy Scriptures.
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And you ought to take those scriptures, and you ought to
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approach that person with love in your heart and fire and your
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voice, and you want to tell them the truth about the only hope
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that sinners have, and that is the hope of Jesus Christ.
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The fact that there is a coming inheritance for the wicked ought
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to motivate you to share the gospel you ought to hate.
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The fact that some of your loved ones are going to spend an
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eternity in hell, you ought to hate that enough that you share
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with them the only message that can be heard that gives man
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hope. It gives man hope, forgiveness,
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and eternal life. It gives man hope instead of
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eternal damnation. You ought to be motivated by
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that hatred, that hatred for the inheritance of the wicked,
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motivated enough to really share the gospel with them.
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And I believe this to be true. If we really hate the thought of
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anyone inheriting hell for all eternity, we will be motivated
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to tell everyone about the Christ who rescues sinners from
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hell. Fair enough.
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Sad to think how many Christians set back on their way to eternal
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bliss while others are on their way to eternal damnation.
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We have the only message that can save them, and we keep it to
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ourselves. You don't quite hate the
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inheritance of the wicked. Yet the psalmist here hating the
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inheritance of the wicked, motivated by the coming
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judgement that he knows is upon us.
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And secondly, we see that he's moved to fear and reverence
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because of this. Look, in 1/20 he says, my flesh
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trembles in fear of you. I stand in all of your laws.
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You know, Proverbs 910 still says what it's always said.
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The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
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Knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
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Here we see the psalmist has wisdom and understanding from
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God. How do we know that?
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We see his fear of the Lord. We see him honoring God's power
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here as sovereign judge, he says.
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All the wicked of the earth you discard like dross.
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You're the sovereign judge, he says.
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Therefore I love your statutes because you are that sovereign
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judge, he says. My flesh trembles in fear of
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you. I stand in awe of your laws.
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He's honoring God, his sovereign judge, but he's also honoring
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God's position here, not only his power, but his position.
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He honors his position, recognizing Him as supreme
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authority. He is the lawgiver.
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He set these laws in motion. He has some authority.
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Do you notice the law of gravity?
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You know who set that in motion? God, you know, said who?
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You know who said his word in motion, His law that his Word
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contains God himself. The psalmist here is properly
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revering God. He's honoring God's power, a
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sovereign judge, and he's honoring God's position as
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supreme authority, and he's doing this why?
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Out of surrender to who he is, He hates the inheritance of the
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wicked. And So what does he do?
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He bows his knee to the one true God, showing him honor and
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reverence, surrendering to him as he should.
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My flesh trembles in fear of you.
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I stand in all of your laws, he says.
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I know that you are the coming judge.
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We will throw the unbeliever out, discard them like dross,
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and put them in hell for all eternity because of your
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indignation towards sin and wickedness.
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And he says, Therefore I love your statutes, because in your
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statutes I find mercy and I find forgiveness, and I bow before
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you trembling in fear of you. I believe no one or not many
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people find themselves trembling in the presence of God because
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they don't have any real. Biblical hatred for wickedness.
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Why is the psalmist trembling in the presence of God?
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Because he knows this. He knows rightfully.
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He ought to be judged as well and cast out with the dross.
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But God has exercised mercy on him.
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And because He has exercised mercy, the proper response is to
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bow and submission and worship in holy fear of who He is,
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honoring Him, honoring His power, and his position as
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sovereign judge and supreme authority.
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So biblical hatred includes a hatred for the fact that all
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unbelieving sinners apart from Christ will be discarded and
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cast into the lake of fire, which is the second death.
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This should motivate us. It should motivate us to
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holiness. It should motivate us to
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evangelism. It should motivate us to worship
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and to be in awe of God and who he is.
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This hatred should motivate us. And so we've seen biblical
-
hatred and the life of the psalmist here today teaching us
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some things, teaching us that biblical hatred will be hatred
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for the inclinations of the wicked.
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Biblical hatred will be hatred toward the influences of wicked.
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Biblical hatred will be hatred for the indoctrination of the
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wicked. All the things that they are
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constantly pumping out, pumping into our homes, we won't
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tolerate that any longer. Biblical hatred will be hatred
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for the inheritance of the wicked, hating the fact that
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many will spend an eternity in hell and often times we walk
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past them in the shopping malls, in the workplace, in the grocery
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store with not a second thought about what's going to happen to
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their wicked soul lest they repent and turn to Christ.
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So Christian, I ask you this, do you hate biblically?
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Do you do you hate biblically? Do you hate what God hates?
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And do you love what God loves, as His Word has revealed to us?
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Because there's a huge problem in the church.
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You know what the problem is? We openly love things that God
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says He hates in His Word and shouldn't be.
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So I pray that the Spirit would convict you and that you would
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repent of any of those things this very day to the unbeliever.
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Your sin, your love for the world, your love for wickedness,
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it proves that you don't love Christ.
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This is not a game. The proof is in the pudding.
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It proves that you don't love Christ.
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In fact, John chapter 3 verse 19 says this is the verdict.
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Light is coming to the world, that men love darkness instead
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of light because their deeds were evil.
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Everyone who does evil hates the light.
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And we're not coming to the light for fear that his deeds
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will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth
-
comes into the light so that it may be seen plainly that what he
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has done has been done through God.
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I pray today that though maybe your entire life you have lived
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it in darkness. I pray today that God would have
-
mercy on you, that he would bring you into the light.
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That he's even doing that now, showing you your need for Jesus
-
Christ as your Lord and Savior. That you truly would repent of
-
your sin and turn to Christ today as the one who came to die
-
on a cross, who was buried, and who rose again victoriously so
-
that you can receive new life and forgiveness of sin this very
-
day. My prayer that God in His mercy
-
would turn your heart to Christ, that you would believe and you
-
would confess him as Lord. This morning.
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Let's pray together. Father, in the name of Jesus, we
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come to you. Thanking you so much for your
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word. But I know the.
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Topic that we have addressed today is not a very popular one,
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but I pray that we have seen that it is a very biblical 1
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Lord, that we would live our lives hating the things that you
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hate and clinging to what is good.
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Loving the things that you love. God, I pray that we would hate
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every single inclination and abiding sin in our life.
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First and foremost. That we would run to Your word
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for truth in those areas, dying to ourselves, repenting of our
-
sin. God, I pray for the lost soul
-
who's here today who doesn't know you.
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Lord, they are so dependent upon Your mercy right now, they don't
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even know it. Lord, I ask that in your
-
kindness You would lead them to repentance this morning,
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showering them with mercy and love and grace and forgiveness
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in Christ. We pray all these things in the
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mighty name of Jesus, Amen. You've been listening to Key
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Life Fellowship's Pulpit Ministry podcast.
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Join us each week for more teaching from God's Word.