Christian Living

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Hates Not Evil

Psalm 97:9-12 for thou Lord art high above the earth; thou art exalted far above all gods. Ye that love the Lord, hate evil; he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked. Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart. Rejoice in the Lord, ye righteous; and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.

Romans 1:28-32 and even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient; being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful; who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

In the time we live in people love sin; sin is evil. To not hate evil means we love it and hate God. Either we will hate the one and love the other but not both. A man’s allegiance to one will cause them to not submit to the other. We cannot serve two masters not naturally or spiritually. We must be absolute in our feelings toward God in our hearts otherwise we are not true. The wicked hates God and will not in their heart does any good towards Him; nor accept that they are evil. Hatred is one of the evils that put Jesus on the Cross. It’s not that Jesus was not good but the people used his goodness against him to get the job done because they hated Him. Jesus often told them of their wrong because they used the law for their own purposes to have control. He told them about their ugliness and the sin conceived in their hearts. They did evil and loved it. They killed and persecuted the Saints that followed Jesus.

We can see the evil of their way in the instance of the Pharisee and Publican in Luke 18:10-13. The Pharisee was high minded as he had been taught but the Publican was humble and repented. The Pharisee didn’t realize that he was evil but the Publican saw the evil of his way in prayer and refused to be like him. How much more we? We are to shun evil, the very presence of it. The difference in the Pharisee and Publican too is the fact that the Publican was not saved. The Publican no doubt was not rich or had much but he had wisdom enough to know evil when he saw it.

The people of the different sects had put Jesus put on the Cross and loved the evil which they did. They rewarded him evil for the spoiling of his soul. They rewarded him hatred for his love. The light came to them to correct the error of their way but they rejected the light because they loved the error of their way as an excuse to continue in their way. The walked in darkness behind the cloak of the law while they dwelled in the land of the shadow of death and Jesus the Light of the World shines upon them. They weren’t blind to the Word, just didn’t except it when it was revealed to them. Their eye was single and their body was full of sin and they loved it. These people eyes were evil towards Jesus although he had come from his Father in Heaven. We have many that claim to be in the light; in the know of the Word but will only except the parts of it that they want which is pleasing to them. Many because of sin and the fact that they love it will not totally submit to every word of God.

To hate means we have a strong dislike or ill will for, loathe, or despise. When we hate we wish to avoid whatever it is and shrink from it. It means we detest, or have malice for the thing we hate. Detest implies vehement dislike or antipathy for. Despise suggests a looking down with great contempt upon the person or thing one hates. To abhor implies a feeling of great repugnance or disgust. Loathe implies utter abhorrence for. If we don’t hate evil, we love sin. Sin to the believer should cause great annoyance or discomfort by the very presence of it. Evil and Sin is distasteful to the believer as it was to Jesus. It’s offensive and we should offer strong resistance to it being acceptable. Even in the laws of the land that condone sin it should still be obnoxious to us.

The sinner hates not evil, nor consider or realize that evil is present with them. No man can serve two masters; either we will love one and hate the other. When we try we become two-headed and malformed. We can’t listen to two people talking at the same time and get an understanding of what they are saying. Sin causes a separation between man and God and calls our love and devotion to God into question. The hatred of the wicked toward God and the good is absolute in their doings. They will tell you “I am doing me” and “it’s not your business”. They possess a spirit of pride in what they do. Whatever is evil is what they seek to do.

As the people that put Jesus on the Cross were prideful so are men today. We sin and put Jesus on the Cross over and over again. Each time we sin we put nails in his hands over and over again.

Hatred stirs up strife as was done to Jesus. They lied on Jesus because they hated him so. People will lie on us, slander our names but God calls them fools Proverbs 10:12. He that hates dissembles with his lips and lays up deceit within them self and we can’t believe anything they say. Their wickedness as was with the people of Jesus’ day will be shown before the whole of humanity. If we don’t love our neighbor it will show. If we hate our brother it will be made known. Because we hate one another and love sin pretty soon the evil will take control and we find ourselves doing things that are not convenient. If we hate let it be sin.

Just as Jesus was hated we too will be hated for the Gospel sake. Matthew 10:22 and ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake; but he that endures to the end shall be saved. Don’t worry about men hating you; be more concerned with Christ loving you! Hatred is a work of the flesh and flesh is evil when not submitted to God. It is full of bitterness, wrath, clamour, evil speaking and anger. We are to put away from us all works of the flesh Galatians 5:19-20. How can we do this? Hate evil, walk in the Spirit, don’t fulfill the lusts that rest in the body, don’t bite and devour one another and take heed that we be not consumed with one another. Don’t take the liberty that Christ has given us as an occasion to the flesh to sin. The flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit is our help out of the mess we are in. He is the perfect guide to the Father.

Don’t hate God or one another but do hate sin. Psalm 97:10 ye that love the Lord hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked. The wicked should see our good works and love for God and be affected by it. Revelation 2:6 lets us know that we must hate what God hates. God hate sin; so should we. God loves the sinner; so should we. Men love to blaspheme God which they will never be forgiven for according to Jesus in Matthew 12:31-32. Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men; but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of Man; it shall be forgiven him; but whosever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come. Men’s hatred of God and love of evil causes them to be irreverent, wicked, and use defamatory language directed against God. Blasphemy was punished by stoning (Leviticus 24:16) under the Mosaic Law. When the people saw God move, heard of his doings (Numbers 24:16-17) and yet denied Him it is the same today that they blasphemed against Him.

People today deny Christ and attributes his work to blasphemy. The revilers of Jesus when he was crucified said his work was of Satanic power and not the Holy Ghost Matthew 12:22-28. They spoke evil against him yet the evil was really in their hearts because they had no power to do that which was done at the hands of Jesus by the power of the Holy Ghost. In Matthew 27:40 they mocked him saying “if” thou be the Son of God come down from the Cross. They built him up for this evil and loved doing it because of jealousy, envy, strife, hatred, covetousness, boastings, and pride. Jesus had to die but these seven evils put him on the Cross.

That’s why we must hate evil because it will overtake us and keep us from walking in the way of good men and keep the paths of the righteous. We are exhorted today to choose good over evil, hate evil. There is some conflict in the world today rather we choose right over wrong. It’s always right to choose right; we don’t want to be a party to sin for we must and will give an account to God for all the deeds done in these bodies men possess. Don’t go up and down as a talebearer among people, be more ready to hear then speak. What we hear can curse us Ecclesiastes 7:21. Don’t be rash with our mouth to speak and let not our heart be hasty to utter anything before God; our words must count for God, they must be seasoned. Hate evil that we don’t speak evil one of another.

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