Mike Davenport's sermon, 'Real Men Hate,' explores Proverbs 8:13, emphasizing the call to hate evil as a reflection of fearing God. He identifies Jesus Christ as the embodiment of wisdom and a model for real men, who should strive to hate evil in their hearts, conduct, and speech. Davenport highlights pride and arrogance as common sins, urging young men to recognize and battle these traits within themselves. He challenges listeners to reflect on their environment and choices, advocating for a life that rejects evil paths and perverse speech. The sermon concludes by encouraging men to emulate Christ in their hatred of evil, exercising control over their thoughts, actions, and words to truly fear the Lord.

If you would turn to Proverbs chapter 8, Proverbs chapter 8. In Proverbs 8, we have a chapter about wisdom, about wisdom. I'd like for your eyes to follow upon verse 13, Proverbs 8-13. The fear of the Lord is to hate evil. Pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverse mouth, I hate." Now, to understand this context, we would have to go back to the opening verses of this chapter where Solomon here by divine inspiration is giving us a look at wisdom.

And here in verse 13 we actually have the voice of wisdom. Now time does not permit me to provide the proofs necessary, but this picture here of wisdom is a picture of the one who was to come, even Jesus Christ. And What we find in this passage is what Christ demonstrates a real man is to be, what a real man is to strive for. Now, he begins here in this verse with merely a statement, just a declaration of truth. The fear of the Lord is to hate evil.

My dear friend, we do not fear God by nature. It's not with the kind of reverential fear. There may be a fear of what this God will do in wrath, but it's not a reverential fear of God that desires by nature. Mankind and their lost estate are described by David in Psalm 36.1. There is no fear of God before their eyes.

My friend, that's you by nature. That is me by nature. And it is a sin not to fear God. Now our text tells us that to fear Him rightly is to hate evil. Fearing God is first and foremost a disposition of the heart.

And then this heart that is so disposed, evil becomes a hated thing. My friend, what is the state, the attitude of your heart toward evil? Your answer to that question will reveal a lot about the state of your heart. Now, the question is not, do you find yourself doing evil? I already know that answer because I know the nature of man.

I know what I deal with. You find yourself doing evil. The question has to do with your attitude towards it. And that attitude towards it will demonstrate a warfare against it. Because even the converted man, as we read in Romans 7, the Apostle Paul says, for what I will to do that I do not practice, but what I hate that I do.

But note his disposition. What I hate. Do you know anything of that hatred? Do you know anything of that inner warfare? That's what differentiates a true man of God from a man of this world.

Now, what does it mean to hate evil? What does that entail? Well, if, as I propose to you, these are indeed the words of Christ, we should ask ourselves, what did it look like in Christ? Having declared the truth that the fear of the Lord is to hate evil, Jesus Christ, the personification of wisdom, declares how it is that He demonstrated this hatred of evil. His hatred of evil was evident in three areas.

First, his hatred of evil was evident in his heart, in what he was. Second, this hatred of evil was evident in his conduct, in what he did. And thirdly, we'll see in this text that Christ's hatred of evil was evident in his speech in what he Said let's take a look at these one at a time first This hatred of evil was evident in his heart, in what he was. We read here, pride and arrogance, I hate. Now there is probably nothing more common among you young men than pride.

And you fathers here, if we are honest, we can testify that pride is not something that is simply outgrown. It just does, It's not a process of maturation that brings an end to pride. It is something that we must go to battle against. But young men, you're not going to go to battle against something that you don't hate. It's not going to happen.

So the question is, do you hate pride? Do you hate it? Do you hate arrogance? Not in someone else. Oh, we all hate pride in someone else.

Do you hate the pride in your heart? The thing about pride is it's able to disguise itself in so many ways. Pride is there as you stand in front of the mirror. Pride is there as you seek to be noticed by your peers. Pride is there when you compare what you've accomplished in comparison to your siblings or your co-workers or your peers.

Pride is there as you receive recognition or as you receive compliment. Pride is there when you make that outstanding play on that volleyball court. My dear friend, pride can be there when you pray a moving prayer on a Wednesday night. And for those of us as pastors, pride can be there as we step down from our pulpit from a well-received message. Henry Smith, a Puritan, rightly declared, when the devil cannot keep us from a good work, then he labors by all means to make us proud of it.

But consider Christ. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery, did not consider it a thing to be held on to, to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation. Taking the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness of mere men and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. Young man, Just who do you think you are that you should have any amount of pride or arrogance?

In the words of Puritan William Jenkins, your father was Adam, Your grandfather was dirt, and your great grandfather was nothing. Thus says the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, Let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches, but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord, exercising loving kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight, says the Lord." Jeremiah 9, 23 to 24. Do you hate the sins of pride and arrogance? The heinous nature of pride is in the fact that by it man sets himself against God, makes himself as though equal with God, and exalts him above God.

Can you say as Jesus Christ, pride and arrogance I hate? Real men, Real men who fear the Lord hate pride and arrogance. Secondly, this hatred of evil was evident in Christ's conduct. It was evident in his conduct in what he did. Proverbs 16, 6 says something similar.

It says, by the fear of the Lord one departs from evil. This departure is born out of a hatred for it. This phrase, evil way, the evil way I hate, literally means a road or a path. It means, figuratively, a course of life, a mode of action. Therefore, hating evil includes hating an evil course of life or an evil mode of action.

Now, young men, you find yourself today, most all of you find yourself in the homes of your dad. Growing up in your present environment, it puts bounds upon the course of your life. By God's grace, He has put you in to a place where the earliest inclinations of your heart towards sin are not tolerated. Outright sin and rebellion are not allowed. But here's a question I have for you.

Do you hate even the thought of an evil course of life? Do you? Or are you eager for that day when you will be free from these bounds that you are kept in by your father and your mother. When the reins of your lust can be set free and all those pent-up appetites can be granted to run free like a wild stallion. But I want to drill down even deeper than that because I have a fear that you know the Word of God too well.

You know what God's righteous requirements are And you may try to keep some semblance of an outward conformity because of this environment that God has put you in. But the psalmist declares another level of hatred for evil. In Psalm 101, verses three and four, it says, I will set no wicked thing before my eyes. I hate the work of those who fall away. It shall not cling to me.

A perverse heart shall depart from me. I will not know wickedness." Young men, fathers, What company do you keep? And I'm not limiting that to just the interactions you have with real living people. Let's talk about your entertainment. Let's talk about your tablet, your phone, your computer, your TV screen.

Do your listening and watching habits demonstrate, do they demonstrate that you hate the evil way? Do your listening and watching habits demonstrate that you hate the work of those who turn away from God? Are you refusing to set wicked things before your eyes, before your ears? Are you demonstrating and determining to be ignorant of wickedness? A real man of God declares, these things shall not cling to me.

A perverse heart shall depart from me. Consider Christ. Jesus could testify, the Father has not left me alone, for I always, always do those things that please him. Peter quoting from Isaiah 53 declared Christ to be one who committed no sin. In 1st Corinthians 521 the apostle Paul declares that Christ knew no sin.

Sin was utterly foreign to him. No trace of sin could be found in him. Isaiah 53, 11 says, and this is the words of God the Father in declaring this of his Son, by his knowledge my righteous servant shall justify many, for he the sinless one shall bear their iniquities. The blessed man, the man, the manly man, the true man is the one who swims against the current of this world, who refuses to be conformed to this world, but rather is transformed by the renewing of his mind. The blessed man, the manly man, the true man is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful.

You see, real men who fear the Lord hate the evil course of life. Third, this hatred of evil was evident in Christ's speech in what he said. It says here in our text, the perverse mouth, I hate. Now, when someone hears the perverse speech, the first thought is of curse words, and those certainly are part of it. But it is much more than that.

The apostle Paul in Ephesians 5 verses 3 and 4 sets before us several items belonging to a perverse mouth. He starts out by saying, but fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not be named among you as is fitting for saints, neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. And then just a few verses before this, back in chapter four, Paul declares, let no corrupt word proceed from your mouth, But what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers, let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice. Young men, do you talk differently when you are among your peers? I'm not talking about when mom and dad are close by, but when you're talking to your peers, I have to wonder sometimes as I see young men standing together and one may be talking and the whole time he's talking rather than looking at his friends he seems to be looking at all possible approaches from parents.

I've seen it. It makes me wonder what things are being discussed. Have you bought into the world's expectations of how a so-called man speaks? Or do you actually hate the perverse mouth? Are you guarding your speech?

Not only are you refraining from such worldly speech, but are you using your tongues to do what Paul said, to give thanks and to impart grace, speaking only things that are necessary for the building up of your friends? But we would be missing out on what is being said here if we think the hatred of a perverse mouth is directed solely on what we say. No, my friend, to hate the perverse mouth includes the things that we hear others say. So I must ask, do you hate the perverse mouth of those who fill the TV screens, of those whose voice fills the airwaves of radio, your phone, your iPods. Do you hate it?

1 Corinthians 15 33 is true. Do not be deceived. Evil company corrupts good habits. Are you deceived, my friend? Do you think you can hear the speech of perverse mouths and not be affected?

Consider Christ. In 1 Peter 2, 22 to 23, Peter, writing about Christ, says, "'Nor was any deceit found in his mouth, who when he was reviled, he did not revile in return. When he suffered, he did not threaten. The prophetic words of Christ were penned by Isaiah in Isaiah 50 verse 4. The Lord has given me the tongue of the learned that I should know how to speak a word in season to him who was weary.

It was the testimony of Christ's enemies who said no man ever spoke like this man. Maybe you young boys have heard that saying, anybody can fight, but it's a man who walks away from a fight. Well I set before you a challenge. It's this. Any man, any person can speak with a filthy and perverse mouth, But only a real man, only a real man can control his tongue.

I urge you to go and study James 3. A real man is not one that necessarily is bulging with muscles. That's not the identity of a true real man. Anyone who gives themselves diligently to working out can build muscle. Real men learn how to control this little muscle that hides behind the teeth.

Do this, my friend, and you will be a real man. Real men who fear the Lord hate the mouth full of perverse speech. Do you hate evil? Do you? Let's pray.

Oh Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for the example that we have in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Oh God make us to be real men who hate these things, who will not tolerate these things in ourselves first and foremost. But Lord may we hate them by guarding our eyes and our tongues as well as our mouths. Give us grace to be those who fear you as you should be feared.

In Christ's name we pray, Amen.