7 Things God Hates
Notes
Transcript
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Welcome everyone!
Anyone memorize a Proverb this week?
MINE: “There are six things which the Lord hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that run rapidly to evil, A false witness who utters lies, And one who spreads strife among brothers.”
OPENING PRAYER
Lord, would you help us today to see the greatness of Your wisdom? Would you help us to put our worldly ways of thinking away and replace them with your ways. And would You help us to come to Your Word today as a life giving substance that is worthy of our complete devotion. We ask that you would not only give us understanding, but help us to apply these truths directly to our lives and be faithful to this Word today. Amen.
Sermon Introduction
This morning we will look at a part of Proverbs that deals with another aspect of wise living: Avoiding things that God hates.
Proverbs provides a list (to my knowledge the only one in the Bible) of 7 things that God Hates. Some people refer to this list as “seven deadly sins”. Rightfully so since they are things which detest God and must have no part of our lives.
Do you remember what the beginning of wisdom is? It is the Fear of the Lord. And one great example of what a fear of God looks like in the life of a believer is to know what God hates, avoid what God hates, hate what God hates, and love what God loves.
These are verses that should cause fear and trembling among the people of God. It is a passage that we must not try to apply to people around us, but hold each one up as a mirror to reveal our own hearts.
There are six things which the Lord hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that run rapidly to evil, A false witness who utters lies, And one who spreads strife among brothers.
I want us to first notice the language that is used to introduce this list.
Six things the Lord hates, yes seven are an abomination to Him
Hate is a very strong word. It means to have a passionate or intense dislike of something. When the Bible says that God hates, it is saying God is intensely against that thing.
By adding the word abomination, the language intensifies even more. Hate is strong, but abomination says not only does God hate it, but it literally makes Him sick to His stomach.
The list is graphic because it is designed by God to be one we do not forget. Just a basic understanding of deity knows that the Almighty God who spoke this world into existence can destroy a human life in a nano second
What is the beginning of wisdom? It is the fear of God. Wise people fear God and part of fearing God is avoiding the things that God hates!
Here they are:
Haughty eyes: Pride
Lying tongue: liar
hands that shed innocent blood: murder
heart that devises wicked plans: One who plans evil
Feet that run rapidly to evil: zest for sin
A false witness who utters lies
One who spreads discord among brothers
We are going to do is discuss each of these things in detail and then think of some practical ways these are practiced today:
1) God hates pride
1) God hates pride
(v 6) “Haughty Eyes”
“Haughty” just means “lifted up eyes”. It describes a person who has a disposition which looks down upon other people because they think they are better than others
“Haughty eyes” is just an outward sign of a proud that is nestled deep within the heart
It is true that some people’s pride and arrogance is so great that it can be seen worn on their faces
Here are a few common ways pride is exhibited in our lives:
Self righteousness
This is the belief that one is more righteous than everyone around them
This is especially common in new believers because they have just made a major life change away from sin
When I first came to Jesus, I immediately thought I was so righteous and so godly. I even prayed one time (I’ll never forget it) that “IF” I had any sin in my life that God would show me. I thought my prayer was godly but it was really rooted in pride. God immediately brought so many things in my life to mind that I quickly realized what a sinner I still was.
I never prayed that prayer again.
⇒ PRIDE blinds us to the sin in our own lives which
results in self-righteousness
We think that we have risen far above everyone else in terms of holiness and no longer feel the need to look within to be sanctified
It is a snare that will keep you immature and struggling in your faith
Pride also often leads one to magnify themselves rather than the forgiveness and holiness given by Jesus
Luke 18:10–14 ““Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. “The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. ‘I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ “But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ “I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.””
The Pharisee was self-righteous
The tax collector knew he was a sinner
Be like the tax collector
⇒ Pride is simply think more of oneself than he ought to
⇒ One who is prideful thinks they have all the answers
⇒ One who is prideful thinks serving is beneath him
⇒ One who is prideful will not receive wise counsel because they think
Why does God hate pride?
Because Pride is what caused the very fall of Satan.
“How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, You who have weakened the nations! “But you said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly In the recesses of the north. ‘I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’ “Nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol, To the recesses of the pit.
And Pride is what causes the fall of many people who start out on the right path
Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.
Pride is very dangerous because it is the most subtle sin
Most prideful do not even realize they are prideful
If you have pride in your heart, then humility is what you need
Take an honest assessment of yourself, and know that you are hopeless apart from Jesus Christ
2) God hates lies
2) God hates lies
The reason God hates Lies is because lying is in direct opposition of who God is
Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life”
God is truth and God loves truth tellers
Jesus said to the Pharisees, John 8:44 ““You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”
God hates lies, not only because they stand in direct contrast of His truth, but because it is the very nature of the devil to lie
We are called to be people of truth regardless of the cost!
And there are more ways to tell lies than just simply saying things that aren’t true!
lies of fabrication
This is simply saying that which is not true
to fabricate something means to put together a bunch of bologna and pass it off as the truth
lies of distortion
this is when we manipulate the truth to some degree
there may be some truth to what we are saying, but we have minimized or distorted it to make it not sound so bad
this is the chief lie of the enemy
Did God really say you must not eat of the tree in the midst of the garden”
lies of exaggeration
This is adding to or taking away from our stories or words to make them fit a certain agenda
lies of manipulation
flattering others to get what we want
Prov. 29:5 “A man who flatters his neighbor Is spreading a net for his steps.”
One Who tells lies for any reason takes on the very nature of Satan
That’s what Jesus said about the Pharisees
But one who commits himself to telling truth, aligns Himself with the Son of God
We must be people of truth no matter what the cost
3) God hates murder
3) God hates murder
“Hands that shed innocent blood”
The Scripture says, “shedding innocent blood” which refers to taking a life that does not deserve to die.
The reason God words it that way is because sometimes there is a call for bloodshed.
“Whoever sheds man’s blood, By man his blood shall be shed, For in the image of God He made man.
I believe in the just war Theory. That is sometimes war is necessary for the ultimate good and future of mankind. Without war, people like Hitler would decimate the entire world unless war happens.
I believe in caption punishment. Primarily because that is exactly what God is commanding in that verse from Genesis.
But to take innocent life is wickedness.
This certainly happens today In its most understandable sense as it has happened all the ay back to Cain and Abel.
But one of the most common ways this happens today is through abortion.
They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons, And shed innocent blood, The blood of their sons and their daughters, Whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; And the land was polluted with the blood.
And if you have had an abortion, this is not a word of condemnation against you. I do hope you know there is forgiveness and grace toward any of these 7 sins.
But moving forward we must certainly know it is something that God hates.
When an innocent life is taken FOR ANY REASON it falls under this category
And no child of God should ever support the taking of innocent lives for any reason!
The reason God hates this is because every person is made in the image of God and are very valuable to Him
And when people take haphazardly take innocent human lives for whatever reason, they take the value away God has declared over every person
I want to say this, if you are here today, you are just as valuable to God as Billy Graham or Jonathan Edward’s, or Abraham Lincoln Or Charles Spurgeon.
4) God hates planned evil
4) God hates planned evil
“A heart that devises wicked plans”
The word devise is an interesting word, it means “to plow” (as in preparation)
It is like a man who is getting ready to plant his fields
And in his preparation, he plows the fields, turns over the dirt, breaks up the soil so that he can sow the seed that will grow.
In the same way this one plows the ground for iniquity, turning over the soil to loosen it up in preparation for his plans
The word “plans” means: “creative calculations” which essentially means to calculate, to compute as well as to plan, conceive or invent.
This i not simply the desire to do evil but the actual calculations that bring those ideas and desires to pass
Now we all think a godly person would never do any sort of thing like that
But that is exactly what King David did with his friend Uriah the Hittite.
David took his wife, and to cover it up he told Joan to put Uriah in the heat of the battle so that he would be killed and David’a sin would not be found out.
It was planned wickedness
Why is this sin in God’s list of things He hates?
Because there is a great difference in being tempted to sin and sinning AND making plans to sin
Planning to do something takes time. It’s not just a “heat of the moment” response
It takes contemplation
It takes thinking
It takes scheming out something that will bring negative consequences on the other person
And if we remember Paul’s warning about Satan: Eph 6:11
Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.
See this is the gameplay of Satan himself
And this is why it is in God’s list of things he hates
Satan plans, plots, sows to do evil
5) God hates feet that run rapidly to evil
5) God hates feet that run rapidly to evil
“feet that run rapidly to evil”
What is evil?
Evil also translated “wrong doing” by the NLT is simply doing what God does not want us to do.
It does not have to be something heinous or detestable. It is any sin against God
This is a person who runs to evil
He indulges in anything his flesh craves without any reservation
There is no thinking it over, or fighting the temptations, or taking necessary measures to protect himself from temptation
He runs to it
And not only does he run to it, he runs swiftly to it
It describes one who has a zest for sin
The very thought of worldliness gets him excited without even considering that his actions are a sin against God
Do you know difference between a saved person and lost person?
A lost runs to sin, a saved person runs from sin
One of the marks of someone who has been born again is that they no longer run to sin as they used to do.
It has become their life ambition to NOT sin against God
And if that means losing friends, popularity, upsetting people then so be it.
6) God hates a false witness
6) God hates a false witness
“a false witness who utters lies”
A witness is one who testifies of truth to other people
Jesus told His disciples they were to witnesses of Him before He ascended into heaven
They were to testify of the truth of Jesus as the Messiah
A false witness then testifies what is false, against the truth.
Most frequently thought of in a court room
One who raises his right hand to swear to tell the whole truth, and instead would tell a lie
But this also happens in a more subtle way by lying about someone else
Sometimes this is done by way of slander
Sometimes this is done through gossip
Sometimes this is done by not having all the information and making accusations against someone without the facts
God hates a false witness because it aligns us with the enemy
“You shall not bear a false report; do not join your hand with a wicked man to be a malicious witness.
What one is doing when he does this is joining hands with Satan, and working against God
This is what happened when with David in Psalm 27:12 “For false witnesses have risen against me, And such as breathe out violence.”
That is what happened to Stephen when they stoned him Acts 6:13 “They put forward false witnesses who said, “This man incessantly speaks against this holy place and the Law;”
That is what happened with Jesus Mark 14:56 “For many were giving false testimony against Him, but their testimony was not consistent.”
7) God hates a person who sows discord
7) God hates a person who sows discord
“one who spreads strife among brothers”
Discord: means controversy. Things used to divide a group of people
“among brothers” does not restrict this sin to blood relatives. It can mean blood relatives, the community which one belongs to, or people who have a close association such as a church
“Sowing discord” brings us back to the 4th sin in this list “a heart that devises wicked plans”
Devising wicked plans is plowing the field, then the the seed sown there is discord or division
One of the most common ways this is done is by gossip and slander
What is gossip?
Gossip does not prohibit ever saying anything about another person. Sometimes it is necessary to say something
If someone needs counsel about another person in their life and shares it with trusted people it is not gossip
If you need to warn someone about another person who may be a threat to them it is not gossip
David warned Solomon about Joab and his past betrayals of David.
Gossip is defined by the intentions of one’s heart!
When someone says something to another person with an intent to make that person look bad, it is gossip
Even if what they say is portrayed in another way
God looks at the heart, and God knows the thoughts and intents of the heart
Why does God hate people who sow discord?
Because unity is of the very nature of God and should be the nature of God’s people
“The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.
CONCLUSION
Most people identify sin with drunkenness, immorality, homosexuality, and other obvious sins
But this passage shows us that we need to look deeper within as God does at the heart.
The heart sins before the eyes, or the mouth, or the hands, or the feet
All sin begins in the heart
And the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord
To fear God is to hate what He hates and to love what He loves
It would be to abhors these things and be diligent to ride ourselves of them, lest we be destroyed by them
This is what I want us to do: bow our heads together and pray that the Lord would search our hearts and expose any of these seven things that may be there
And then repent of them and with everything we have in us get them out of our lives
~PRAYER~