THINGS WE MUST HATE- W.F. BELL

"Hate evil, you who love the LORD" (Psalm 97:10). "Therefore I hate every false way" (Psalm 119:104).

Christians are truly thankful people! The glory of Christ has been revealed to us; we understand and know the majestic sovereignty of our holy God over all things, including evil. Romans 8:28, Ephesians 5:20, and I Thessalonians 5:18 are all precious Scriptures which we are "thankful" for. Yet, the Word of God is balanced, where we also read, "And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess" (Ephesians 5:18), and "See that none render evil for evil unto any man" (I Thessalonians 5:15). Even our Lord Jesus Christ (in righteous indignation) "made a scourge of small cords," driving out the money changers from theTemple, and overturning their tables. Yet, though physical violence, this caused no riots or political uproars in Jerusalem. The disciples quoted Christ's actions as fulfilling Psalm 69:9, "Zeal for Your house has consumed Me" (John 2:13-17).

We are commanded to be joyful Christians, ever giving thanks and singing to the LORD in all circumstances of life (Psalm 97:12; Psalm 98:1), yet the same Bible tells us we are to "hate evil" if we love Jehovah. "Every false way" is not something to be thankful for abstractly and passively, but actually hated, and never tolerated. Remember, if this passive attitude toward sin was according to the holiness of God, there would have never been the agonies of the cross. Sin was certainly not tolerated at Calvary.

We are absolutely eaten up with "toleration of evil" in America, and nobody wants to be guilty of being accused of bigotry or being narrow-minded. (In our day the words "toleration" and "intolerant" have taken on new meanings.) But, note carefully this great slogan someone has put on a T-shirt: "Truth Is Hate To Those Who Hate Truth." Clearly, it is NOT wrong to hate! We must never hate people, but indeed we MUST hate all evil. Even the wicked "hate truth," so we as God-fearers must "hate evil."

Here are ten things I am not thankful for, and for which we must continually strive against, hating with all our power (the list is purposely short):

* ABORTION.

* ADULTERY.

* BROKEN HOMES.

* EVOLUTION.

* GAMBLING.

* HOMOSEXUALITY.

* POLITICAL CORRECTNESS.

* PORNOGRAPHY.

* RACISM.

* WAR.

"Exalt the LORD our God, and worship at His holy hill; for the LORD our God is holy" (Psalm 99:9).