Empowered by the Holy Spirit, A Love of God's Truth

This is my 20th consecutive Pentecost here in Oklahoma City, except for two times. One was at Pinecrest. For some reason, they had to schedule a camp during Pentecost, which none of us really liked. But I was gone one Pentecost to camp. And then the other time was in Jerusalem. We were in Jerusalem. In fact, it was very, very exciting for me because I was given a sermon to give in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. And it was my 25th anniversary in God's ministry because I was ordained on the day of Pentecost. So that was very special. Plus, I had to speak in front of a bunch of ministers, too, because it was a tour to Jerusalem, to the Holy Land.

It was a ministerial tour with about 40 ministers and their wives. But it was really very inspiring to be there. The day of Pentecost certainly means a lot to me. As I said, I was ordained on the day of Pentecost. I was in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. I've been with you most of those days for the last 20 years on Pentecost. So what has seen me personally through 40 years in God's Church and 29 years in the ministry of Jesus Christ?

What is it that has seen me through all these years? And I know there are people in here that have been here longer than I am. And I would well imagine it's the same exact thing that has kept me in God's Church for so long. I believe it is primarily a love of God's truth. It's a love of God's truth that has seen me through all these years. It's God's Holy Spirit that has given me a genuine love of God's truth. Brethren, we all need to be empowered by God's Holy Spirit.

We all need to have a genuine love of God's truth. It is a love of God's truth that has made all the difference in my life. And it is a love of the truth that will see you and me through the years, the difficult years ahead of us, into God's kingdom and into eternity. It's essential that we have a genuine love of the truth of God. So what is a genuine love of God's truth? And how may we all be empowered by God's Holy Spirit to love God's truth? That is the topic of today's sermon. If you like titles, you can call this, Empowered by the Holy Spirit and a Love of the Truth.

Empowered by the Holy Spirit and a Love of God's Truth. Let's go to 2 Thessalonians 2, where we will read about the love of the truth. It shows very carefully that in the days ahead, perilous times to come, we are going to need to love God's truth. 2 Thessalonians 2. I'm sure some of you recognize this chapter. For what it is, it's a very interesting chapter. I don't have time to read it all. We could easily read it all in context.

I would encourage you to do that later on, perhaps even today, on the day of Pentecost, if you have an opportunity. But in 2 Timothy 2, it speaks of a great apostasy that will come. It speaks of one who will oppose God and exalt himself above God, claiming even to be God. It speaks of a mystery of lawlessness that is already at work, and this was 2,000 years ago. Babylon Mystery Religion, a mystery of lawlessness that was taking place.

At that time, verse 9, it talks about a lawless one who will be revealed, whom God will consume with the breath of his mouth at his coming. Notice verse 9. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan. There will be such a being that will come upon the scene. There will be the beast power. There will be the false prophet. They will be working together. It says, the coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, with signs, and with lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth.

If you want to survive the days of ahead, brethren, you need to have a genuine love of God's truth that you may be saved. Notice the end of this verse. Because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. If you want to be saved, you need to have God's Holy Spirit empowering you with a genuine love of God's truth.

It goes on to say that those who do not have this love of the truth will believe a lie. God will send them into strong delusion. They will believe a lie. So we need to stand fast, as this chapter goes on to say. We need to stand fast. Notice verse 13.

Judgment has begun upon the house of God, and you are a part of this house. He chose you for salvation through sanctification. In other words, by setting apart by the Holy Spirit and belief in the truth. So, brethren, it was a love of the truth that became the guiding force in my life. I was only 18 years old. I was quite young. That God began to open my mind through the power of His Holy Spirit. And He gave me a love of His truth. It became the guiding force in my life. It has been a love of the truth that has seen me through all the trials and all the temptations in life. And it has been the Holy Spirit of God that has given me this love of God's truth. That, indeed, is a marvelous gift. The gift of the Holy Spirit that was poured out on the day of Pentecost. Brethren, what is truth? Pilate asked that question. What is truth? Brethren, truth is real. Truth is reality. The God of the Bible is true. And He is real. Jesus Christ is true. And Jesus Christ is real. The words of the Father and Son are that they are truth and life. They are real. They are true. We can count on them. God is Creator. He is also Lawmaker. Notice John 17, verse 17, where it speaks of God's Word, the Word, the Holy Word of God, John, chapter 17. We read this every Passover evening.

It's very important that we understand what God is saying here. He says, in speaking about taking His people out of the world, He says, they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Verse 17, Sanctify them or set them apart by your truth. Your Word, this Word, this written Word of God, is truth. This is where you'll find truth. You need to base everything that you do on this Word. God's Word is true. You can count on the Word of God. It's a book that you can study your entire life. And still, you will not have mined all of the nuggets, the golden nuggets that are there, the silver, the gold. You've got to read it and study it. You have to put it into your heart and your mind and write it in your hearts and in your minds. If you are to have a genuine love of God's truth, because you are to be sanctified by the truth, you are to be set apart by the truth, we are all set apart by God's truth. For example, when we keep the laws of God, we are set apart. We were set apart just a while ago when we chose not to eat certain things.

Even the food laws of God will set us apart to a degree. We need to make choices. We don't just go and help ourselves to everything that's offered. We have to make choices. We are to become holy even as God is holy. And God has set apart certain things for our use. Certain foods, others we are not to eat. God's truth sanctifies us and sets us apart. We are set apart by being here on the day of Pentecost. I couldn't help but notice various others in this building. They were oblivious as to what we were doing here. I'm sure it was rather surprising. Probably thought we were good Sunday keepers.

We're not really very good Sunday keepers, are we? But we are here on the day of Pentecost once a year, because God has set us apart by His truth. God's Holy Days, the Sabbath, their test commandments, they set us apart. We are sanctified by the truth. Every word of God sanctifies us and sets us apart.

Notice John chapter 15. Let's go there. John chapter 15. Again, we read this on the evening of the Passover. God wants us to remember these words that we read every year at the memorial of Christ's death. His sacrifice for us. John chapter 15 verse 26. But when the Helper comes, and of course it's speaking of the Pericletos, or the Comforter, it's speaking of God's Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit is indeed the power of God. It says, Divine Power, that He grants and shares with us, is not a third being in a Trinity. It is the Divine Power of God. When the Helper comes, I shall send to you from the Father the Spirit of Truth that proceeds from the Father. The Father is Spirit. Christ is Spirit. It's because they're composed of Holy Spirit.

It's their essence. It's their Divine Power and their essence. The Spirit will testify of me, Christ says. And you also will bear witness because you have been with me from the beginning, speaking to His disciples, who came to know that He was truly the Son of God.

The Spirit of Truth. Notice that the Spirit of God is the Spirit of Truth. And the Spirit of God will lead you into all truth. In John 16, again we read this on Passover. Verse 12, I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He... Now, I don't really like to refer to the Holy Spirit as a He. The Holy Spirit is, again, the Power of God. It's His essence. It's not a being. It's not a third person in a Trinity. So when the Spirit of Truth has come, the Holy Spirit of God has come, it will guide you into all truth. For it will not speak on its own authority, but whatever it hears, it will speak. It will tell you things to come. The Spirit of God can speak to you. Not normally audibly, but normally in a still, small voice. Within your heart and within your mind. It will tell you things to come. It will glorify Me, for it will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine, therefore I said that it will take of Mine and declare it to you.

The Holy Spirit will, again, bring you into all truth. It will guide you. It will show you the way. Again, it is a love of the truth that will save us. In the final analysis, we must learn to love God's truth. Now, back in 1995, many of us were challenged in regard to God's truth. Did we love it? Or would we so easily give it up? Thankfully, we did not give it up. We stood firm and we stood faithful. We must continue to stand firm and stand faithful in whatever temptation Satan brings our way. We don't know that we'll be tested in the same way again. But I do know we'll be tested. Perhaps some of us will certainly be tested in that way, especially if we didn't come for the right reasons. We followed a man, perhaps. We followed our minister. Maybe we didn't truly prove it ourselves. But that was a huge test back in 1995 for those who would stand up and be counted and not compromise with God's word and God's truth.

Being empowered by the Spirit of God and having a deep, abiding love for the truth, you know, they're not independent of each other. They are inseparable. You can't have one without the other. They feed off of each other. The Spirit of God is the Spirit of truth. The Holy Spirit of God is the Spirit of truth. The Spirit of God empowers us.

And it gives us the Spirit of love, this love of the truth of God. So how do you know you love the truth? I'd like to share with you seven principles by which you can analyze yourself. And ask yourself if you have this love. The first one is, you love the truth when you have a burning desire to please the author of truth and righteousness. You love the truth when you have a burning desire to please the author of truth and righteousness. It is the Holy Spirit that will empower you with a burning desire to please God. How do you get that burning desire? How do you get that zeal? Again, it's the Spirit of God that empowers us with truth and with power. God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. So we have a part to play, don't we? We have to do our part. We have to diligently seek God if we are to have His blessing. Notice Hebrews 11, verse 6. Hebrews 11, verse 6. Hebrews 11, verse 6. But without faith, it is impossible to please Him. So we have to have faith, don't we? We have to believe in God. We have to trust in Him. We have to have faith. For He who comes to God must believe that He is. We must believe that God exists, that God is real, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Rather than let us seek God's truth more faithfully in the days ahead, diligently seek and you will develop a burning desire. But you have to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, or you will not have that love of the truth that you need to have. You have to put God first in your life. You have to be priority number one. Pleasing the Father and the Son needs to be your main priority in life. Point number one is you love the truth when you have a burning desire to please the author of truth and righteousness. Principle number two, you love the truth when you are truly thankful for God's gift of the Holy Spirit. Are you truly thankful for the gift of the Spirit? How often do you think? How often do you think about the gift of God's Spirit? And how often do you thank God for the gift of His Spirit? We need to continually thank God for this wonderful gift, this powerful gift that He gives to us. It makes all the difference in the world.

There was a lot of grumbling and complaining in the wilderness from the children of Israel. Was there not a lot of grumbling and complaining? Israelites were referred to as stiff-necked, rebellious. We all find that human nature is like that. O wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. That's how we will be delivered. So grumbling and complaining in the wilderness, it should not be so among you. Because you have God's Spirit. You know, they didn't have the Spirit of God back in those days. When they were doing all the grumbling and the complaining, the Spirit of God was not dwelling with them.

It was not in them. Sure, the Spirit of God was there, and a few tapped into that Spirit, and God was calling a few. Certainly Joshua and Caleb and Moses. The Spirit of God dwelled in them. And they were different. They weren't grumblers. They weren't complainers. They were faithful. So we need to put away all grumbling and complaining among us. It is the Holy Spirit that will engender within you a true thankfulness. How can you be thankful when you're grumbling and complaining all the time? That shows that you're really not thankful.

If you're a complainer and a grumbler, then you're not really being very thankful. Look at all that God has given you. What are you complaining about? Dwell on those things that are right and good and pure and lovely. In the Biggest Loser series of sermons that I gave here in the Oklahoma area, we talked about, I think, the seven principles then.

Those are important principles that I hope you'll refer to from time to time. Because they're important, and we need to put those things into practice in our lives, if we want to lose the sin that so easily besets us. That's what the Day of Unleavened Bread was all about, coming out of sin. Now we're here on the Day of Pentecost. God has given us His Spirit, a Spirit of power and of love, a Spirit of sound mind. God wants us to use that Spirit.

So the second principle, again, is that if you have a love of the truth, then you will be truly thankful. So, brethren, spend a lot of time on your knees thanking God, the Spirit of God, for what He has done in your life. As was said earlier, we must yield to God's Spirit. We must surrender to the Spirit of God. It is a marvelous gift. It will bring us into all truth. Principle number three. You love the truth when nothing will deter you or derail you from the course that leads to God's Kingdom and eternal life.

You love the truth when nothing, absolutely nothing, is going to deter you or derail you from that course, from that path that leads to God's Kingdom. It is the Holy Spirit that will grant you persistence and perseverance through all of life's trials. God didn't say it would be easy, but He did say, I will never leave you and I will never forsake you. So trust that God is always there, no matter what your trial is, and know that God will deliver you, because God is the God who delivers.

Do you remember that sermon? I gave a sermon about God is the God who delivers. God will deliver you and you can count on Him. Those who love the truth are focused on the Kingdom of God, and they stay focused, and they are persistent in trials. They will not get sidetracked by Satan the Devil or the ways of this world. And if they are momentarily sidetracked, they will quickly repent and come back to God's truth.

For they love the truth. And nothing, nothing will deter them from the Kingdom of God. What a precious, wonderful blessing to know the truth about God's Kingdom. What else is there in this life, brethren, that compares to an eternity in God's Kingdom? It's not a new home. There is nothing.

It's not a new car. It's not a new wife. It's not a new husband. It is the Kingdom of God that will see you through eternity. So, brethren, stay the course because you have a deep love of the truth. And the strength to stay the course comes from being empowered by the Spirit, that earnest, that down payment that now dwells in you.

The very power of God Himself! What a precious gift that you have the Spirit of God dwelling in you. Or, if you're not yet baptized, you have the Spirit of God working with you. And one day you will come to repentance, and God's Spirit will live in you. 2 Timothy 4, verse 7 and 8. Let's go there. Paul talks about the good fight. It is a fight, brethren.

It is a fight. This life is a fight. It is a battle. War must be waged. Spiritual warfare. Satan is a roaring lion. He is seeking whom he may devour, and he will devour you if you will allow it. Of course, God is at your side, and if you rely on Him, you have nothing to fear.

2 Timothy 4, verse 7. 2 Timothy 4, verse 7 and 8. Paul says, I have fought the good fight. Paul knew that the day of reckoning was coming for him. Paul was to be martyred. Paul was to lay his life down for the truth of God and for a love of God's truth, because he would not deny God or His truth.

I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that day, the day of his appearing, the return of Christ. Christ is coming back. You can count on it. Believe in it. On the day of his appearing, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that day, and not to me only, but also to all.

He's talking about you. All who have loved his appearing. Those who pray fervently, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Christ is at the right hand of the Father, just waiting for the Father to send him back here. That day is rapidly approaching. Christ is coming back. So, point number three. You love the truth when nothing will deter you or derail you from the course that leads to the kingdom of God.

You have that total commitment that we talked about in the Biggest Loser series. You have that commitment, that conviction that we'll see you through. Principle number four. You love the truth when you are motivated by the right reasons to obey God's word and truth, no matter what the cost.

That you will obey God's word and truth, no matter what the cost. That's how you know you love the truth when you're motivated by the right reasons to keep God's word and truth, no matter what happens. When people love the truth, they will follow it with deep conviction, even to their death at times. Certainly to their own hurt, where when they might think they would be happier if they did something else contrary to God's law. For example, some have shown they don't have a real love for the truth because they decided that they had to work on the Sabbath.

They lost faith. They didn't trust in God. They didn't believe that God would deliver them. They didn't have faith in the God who never lies. They compromised. They didn't have a love of the truth because one who has the love of the truth will follow the truth. They'll keep God's commandments, and God will grant His Spirit to those who obey His commandments. Staying in a less than ideal marriage is another thing. Sometimes people bolt on their marriages prematurely, frankly. There are times when a marriage may need to be dissolved because of adultery, because of unfaithfulness, because of abuse.

But too often, in this day and age, people split. They're not faithful. It seems easier for them, instead of honoring the commitment that they made to their marriage, they find excuses. They don't stay faithful to one another. You love the truth when you're motivated by the right reasons to obey God's word and truth, no matter what the cost. Mr. Cleaver said in his sermon that the Holy Spirit gives us the will to obey.

It gives us the sticking power. Let's go to 1 John 2, verse 1. My little children, these things I write to you so that you may not sin. God doesn't want us to sin. God wants us to say no to sin. He wants us to be faithful to Him and keep His commandments, keep His laws, His statutes, so that you may not sin. And if anyone does sin, we do have an advocate, which is very, very comforting because we have all sinned. We all fall short of God's glory. We're not perfect. We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous, who is at the right hand of God, who makes intercession for you because He loves you and He knows what you're going through.

He is the perfect sacrifice. He knows exactly what you're going through. And He Himself is the propitiation. He is the mercy seat for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the entire world. God loves all these people who aren't in this room, that are going about their business on this day and will, on many Sabbaths to come. They don't understand. They don't realize that God loves them nevertheless. He hasn't called them right now. The majority of them are not being called. One day He will open their minds by the power of His Spirit, and they will be held accountable at that time.

Now, by this we know that we know Him. We know God if we keep His commandments. That's how you know if someone really knows God, they're keeping His commandments. Otherwise, they really don't know Him. He who says, I know Him and does not keep His commandments is a liar. The truth is not in Him. But whoever keeps His Word, truly the love of God is perfected. Notice that. The love of God is perfected in those who keep His Word, and by this we know that we are in Him. By keeping His Word, by keeping His commandments, it sets us apart.

It sanctifies us. God's Word does it. We have to keep it. We have to obey it. That's how we serve God. He who says, He abides in Him ought Himself also to walk, just as Jesus Christ walked. Brother, we need to follow Christ. See His example and follow it, observe it, keep it. 1 John 3, verse 24. The last verse in chapter 3. Now He who keeps His commandments abides in Him, in Christ. And He in Him, and by this we know that He abides in us.

By the Spirit that He has given us. It's the Spirit of Christ. It's that down payment that Mr. Hopper talked about. It's in us. It's changing us. We're becoming new creations. We're in the process of a metamorphosis. It's another sermon I gave some time ago. A metamorphosis, we're becoming beautiful. Just like a monarch butterfly goes through stages, God is with us. God loves you. God will never give up on you. You must never give up on Him. Beloved, chapter 4, verse 1. Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits whether they are of God. The Holy Spirit is of God. But there are demonic spirits out there.

There are evil spirits. Anything that's contrary to the Word of God is motivated by another spirit. Turn from that spirit. Don't be deceived by those spirits. You have to learn to live by every word of God.

Let's drop down. Well, let's read a little bit further here. Let's go to verse 6. Verse 6. We are of God. He who knows God hears us. He who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. God is the one that opens up people's minds when I go out and counsel with someone. If God is opening up their mind, they are getting it. But if their mate is sitting right beside them, and they are not getting it, I can tell.

You know, it's God's spirit. God's spirit has to open one's mind. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. They will listen. They will get it. It will make sense to them. Same chapter, verse 20. If someone says, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar. For he who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? You know, it starts with this room. You've got to love your brother. You've got to love your sister. All breaches, all problems need to be healed in this room. If there are any, I don't know. If you are not getting along with someone, work it out. Follow Matthew 18. Go to your brother. Humble yourself. All of you, if everyone will humble themselves, there will be no problems. We'll all work it out. You know, I'm really, in a way, amazed how well we've gotten along all these years. Really, I'm amazed. You've made my job easy here. I'm praying that Dallas will be the same. It's been a pleasure being your pastor. Chapter 5. Verse 1.

I'm thinking that this group of people don't believe in God's commandments. We're here for the long haul. Now, I know things can happen, but right now, what I see, I agree with, I think, Mr. Redline talked about the United Church of God. We're in a good place right now. Let's stay there. Let's grow. Let's be pleasing to God. Let's do what's right in His sight. God will be a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. So, let's all seek Him diligently. Verse 3. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome. God's commandments are not burdensome. God's commandments are lovely. This is a delight to be here today, to keep His commandments, to keep His holy days as Sabbath. Call Him a delight, the honorable of the Lord. Honor Him on these days. Notice James chapter 1. It talks about sin. It talks about how we can be enticed by sin. God says we need to keep His commandments and stop making excuses for breaking His laws. James chapter 1. James chapter 1 verse 12. Blessed is a man who endures temptation, who endures testing. For when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life that Paul talked about. This is James. You know, it's a consistent message throughout the Bible. This crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. If you love God's truth, you'll love God, because God's Word is truth, Christ is truth, God is truth. You'll love God, you'll love His truth. Let no one say, when he is tempted, I am tempted by God, for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. Satan is the tempter, not God. God will test us, but he won't tempt us to do evil. It is Satan who will tempt you. And it says that God cannot be tempted, for God cannot be tempted by evil. Christ was not tempted by evil. Do you understand that? Christ was not tempted by evil. He was tested, and He was found faithful. But He was not...we are tempted by our evil desires. Christ was pure. Christ was pure. That's the way we are to become.

He set that perfect example for us. Verse 14, but each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and is enticed. Christ didn't have evil desire. Christ was pure. Then when desire is conceived, it gives birth to sin. In sin, when it is full grown, it brings death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Brethren, I don't want you to be deceived today. I want you to know the truth. Because one day you'll be tested. You won't be able to hide from God. Anyone who might be hiding from God now, it won't work. God will not be mocked. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Sin will bring forth death. Sin needs to be repented of. We need to come out of sin. To He who overcomes sin will I grant to sit with me on my throne. We ought to become a church without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, without blemish. We need to take it seriously, putting sin out of our lives and becoming pure. So, principle number four. You love this when you are motivated by the right reasons to obey God's Word. And truth, no matter what the cost, that you are totally committed, that you will lay your life down for God's truth. Principle number five. You love the truth if you have a repentant heart and mind that leads to real change and overcoming sin in your life. Real change. Not just something to talk about, like some have talked about change. But real change. Your conscience should grieve you with a genuinely godly sorrow for your sins. Because sin is the transgression of God's holy and righteous law. A godly spirit is grieved over sin and this leads to a total 180-degree turnaround. That's what overcoming is about. It's putting sin away. Notice 2 Corinthians chapter 7. Speaking of repentance here. Very important verses. 2 Corinthians chapter 7. Now he rejoiced, not that you were made sorry, Paul says, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. For godly sorrow produces repentance, leading to salvation. Not to be regretted, but the sorrow of the world produces death. To observe this very thing that you sorrowed in a godly manner, what diligence, what carefulness it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication. In all things, you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter. This was about a sin that they were allowing to go on within their congregation. And it applies to all types of sins. We need to repent in this way. The word that's translated sorrow here, or sorry, made sorry, is the word that means to distress, to be sad. When we sin, we ought to be sad. We ought to be in distress. It should move us. It should cause grief. We should grieve. We should be heavy. We should be in sorrow.

Diligence, carefulness in the King James Version, talks about diligence and carefulness in this verse. It's actually a word that means speed, or speedily, or quickly.

Eagerness, earnestness, we need to have this diligence with great speed. We need to be on fire. We need to be motivated. We need to be hasty in that sense, to repent quickly when we sin. A clearing of yourselves. This is from a word Apologia. It speaks of a clearing of oneself. We need to go forward and speedily repent of our sins.

We need to approach God's throne humbly, brethren, and truly clear ourselves. Just lay it out there for God. God, I've sinned. I've done evil in your sight like David did. When he finally came to grips with his sin with Bathsheba and with Uriah the Hittite, you need to come clean. You need to come clean. What zeal is talking about? Heat, zeal, ardor. It even speaks of the kind of jealousy that someone would have like a husband. Or God who's jealous in the right sense. Because he loves us. A husband loves his wife. So he's jealous in the right sense. Protective. God is that way. Let us all be zealous. Fervent in mind. Full of zeal. Vindication or retribution or punishment. Be sure your sins will find you out. Repent of your sins. God will be merciful, but you must repent. So that's Principle number five. Principle number five again. You love the truth if you have a repentant heart and mind that leads to real change. That leads to real overcoming and putting sin out of your life.

In Amos chapter... Well, let's first of all talk about Principle number six, and then we'll go to Amos chapter five. Principle number six is you love the truth more fully when you learn to hate all forms of sin. You have to learn to hate sin. I'm afraid that we're not all there yet.

There are certain aspects and things of sin that seem to be pleasurable for us. We're enticed by our evil desires. Christ was not enticed by evil desire. Christ was pure. You love the truth more fully when you learn to hate. Christ hated all forms of sin. He really did. And we must come to hate all forms of sin. If God says it's sin, if it's contrary to His law, if it's a transgression of His law, then we have to come to hate that. Amos chapter five verse five.

And there are a number of scriptures that we could go to on this point. But let's go to Amos chapter five. Amos Obadiah. There we go. Amos chapter five verse five. But do not seek Bethel nor enter Gilgal. Is that right? I told my wife it was Amos 5-5 without looking it up. I think I was wrong. It talks about basically hating sin and pouring sin.

I think it's somewhere in the book of Amos. But there's a number of places that you could go to to show that God hates sin, God of poor sin, and that we should also of poor sin. Well, look at verse 15. That's it. Amos 5 verse 15. Hate, evil, and love good. Hate, evil, and love good.

I should fix that on my notes, lest I make that same mistake another time. Amos 5 verse 15. Hate, evil, and love good. Establish justice in the gate. It may be that the Lord God of hosts will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph. We are the remnant of Joseph. Hate, evil, and love good. Learn to hate evil, brethren. You love the truth when you become tender and sensitive to sin. All aspects of sin.

So if you find that you have an evil desire, you need to start meditating on why that is. You need to learn to hate sin because sin is destructive. All aspects of sin are destructive.

They're not healthy for a human body. Even though you may think they are, they're really not. Even if they're pleasurable for a moment, they will reap the whirlwind. They will create havoc in your life. So you have to learn to hate those things like Christ hated those things. In Principle 7, the last principle, 6 was, you love the truth more fully because you learn to hate all forms of sin. In Principle 7, you know you love the truth when you learn to stir up the Spirit of God.

When you learn to stir it up daily and you don't resist it. Joe Cleaver talked about a verse. He didn't know exactly where it was. Well, I do. It's Acts 7, verse 51. Let's go there for a moment. Acts 7, verse 51. It was in Stephen's discourse before he was killed, before he was martyred. I think this was the verse that Mr. Cleaver was referring to.

Acts 7, verse 51. Stephen says, you stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ear. He's speaking to the leaders in Israel, the religious leaders of the day. You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears. No doubt Saul was there. He was consenting to Stephen's death. He was one who was stiff-necked at this time. He was persecuting God's people. But the power of God is truly powerful because Paul repented of that sin. And Peter repented of that sin.

Peter denied Christ three times, but when the Spirit came, he repented of all of that. He turned, and he was faithful even to the death. You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears. You always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so did you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the just one. Speaking of Christ, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers.

These are faithful men that are not afraid to speak out. Persecution will come upon this church because we're not afraid to speak out. We are speaking out, and we will continue to speak out because we must be faithful to God and His truth. We must love the truth and be willing to die for the truth. Point number 7, Principle 7. You love the truth when you learn to stir up God's Spirit and don't resist it.

And the Spirit of God becomes powerful in you. That's when we're going to see a change in the United Church of God. When we all repent, and we all become more pleasing to God around this globe. It has to start with you, though, doesn't it? It has to start with me. Sermons like this are being preached all around God's globe. God's church is going to change. We are going to become without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing.

Let's do our part, brethren. You do your part. God's truth is all important, and it has been at the center of my life for over 40 years. Loving God and His truth is essential if we are to endure the temptations of Satan the Devil and to survive the trials of a difficult life. God is truly gracious. God is forgiving. And He and His Son will be your partners for life. They will never leave you or forsake you. Always acknowledge God and put Him and His way first in your life. He will direct your steps. He will bless you along the way. Brethren, learn to love God's truth and way of life with all of your heart, with all of your mind, with all of your soul. Do it with all your mind.