8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
We can find examples in the scriptures where each of these activities took place in the lives of the righteous:
A Time To Love - Christ, His very doctrine promotes love, we learn from the scriptures that love is the bond of perfection Col 3:14 “And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness”. And those who love are like God because God is love 1 Jn 4:8-16 “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him”.
A Time To Hate – Yes, there is even a time to hate. David said he hated those who hated God; Ps. 139:21-22 “Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies”. Today we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers; our fight is with the unseen enemy, our hatred is directed at him. David hated the enemy with a perfect hatred. One of the true measures of sanctification is to love that which is righteous and to hate that which is evil. There is also a hating of the works of the flesh Jude 1:23 “And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh”. In fact there is a problem in the life of the believer when there is not a hatred for sin; one of the most righteous men who ever lived was Job and Gods testimony of this man was the he feared God and eschewed (hated, recoiled at the very sight of it) evil.
A Time Of War - David fought the battles of the Lord against the enemies of God. The enemies of the Lord are found in Deut 7:1-2 (natural enemies) “When the LORD thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou; And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them” and Prov 6:16-18 (spiritual counterparts) “These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren”. We must be engaged in the battles of the Lord, not necessarily external battles but a battle against the enemy within, even the Adamic nature. These seven things the Lord hates are not just in the enemies but they are in the church. Pride, lying, character assignation, wicked imaginations, mischief seekers, false witnesses, discord sowers. As a pastor I have seen everyone’s of these sins manifested in the church and we need to do battle with them.
A Time Of Peace - 1 Chron 22:9 “Behold, a son shall be born to thee, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies round about: for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quietness unto Israel in his days”. Solomon enjoyed peace during his reign because David dealt with the enemies. This a type of the millennial reign of Christ when the lion shall graze in the field with the calf (Isa 11:6-9) and Satan will be bound one thousand years (Rev 20:1-3).
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