ABOMINATION TO THE LORD!
Jeremiah 4:1 "If you return, O Israel,declares the LORD, to me you should return. If you will put away your abominations out of My sight. THEN you shall not be moved."
Not every sermon I’ve preached or written were a home run and a blockbuster hit; many have boomerang and hit me back instead – this one I write today may be one. Just a caution before I proceed! We have talked a lot of ‘joy of the Lord’, ‘prosperity’, ‘sin’ and a lot more, is it not important to find out what displeases the Lord a lot? The word that is used in the Bible is ‘abomination to the Lord!’ When I preached this message earlier in a night-prayer meeting in Tamil Nadu they found it ‘strange and strong word!’ We see the spiritual lives of Christians today in a state of confusion, decay and disarray; reason? Lack of Biblical teachings and knowledge of God and His holiness! Frankly it alarms me when many churches do not teach the congregation on these important subjects, which is a must for people in countries like India, that is deeply rooted with pagan god rituals. There are many out there who are struggling with unanswered prayers in their life; why not measure your life today with the Word of God and set right your life? Flooded and bombarded today with doctrines and new teachings everywhere, there is every reason to be a lot more circumspect! For instance, some western churches perform ‘homosexual marriages’ and in India we see churches perform ‘intermarriage’ with unbelievers, but the Word of God says these are abomination to the Lord. At times, it may be required to make drastic changes in your structured life, which may even demand change of business or job, but if your life style is an abomination to the Lord, I sincerely advise you to make amends today. Ignorance of law is no excuse! I preached the same message in our church this Sunday; okay, let us listen to the Lord.
Read the scriptures carefully: Luke 16:15 “And He said to them, "You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.”
The words that caught my attention were the last few words of Jesus in the above scripture:” For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God!” Let this be a warning! The acres of land, palatial apartments, fleet of cars, smart phones and luxury may be highly esteemed by the world standard but not by God; if the source of income is not righteous then it becomes an abomination to the Lord. Beware! Proverbs 15:9 says,” The way of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD, But He loves him who follows righteousness.”
What is required today is a clear and cogent explanation of the subject imbued with apt scriptural references, hence let me go step by step so that you don’t miss a word:
a) Idol worship: Deuteronomy 7:25”You shall burn the carved images of their gods with fire; you shall not covet the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it for yourselves, lest you be snared by it; for it is an abomination to the LORD your God.”
I would not say here that those who worship idols only are an abomination to the Lord, but there are Christians who do not worship idols but have close connection with idols, though. How? Dancing to the lyrics of praising hindu gods(Bharathnatyam), using your voice to sing worship songs for the idols are all wrong. I know of a hindu convert who took water baptism but was connected with his family business of selling pooja materials in the market; he suffered for 8 years with a demon possessed wife and after several warnings from me changed his business as well. I encouraged the entire family to leave the old joint where he stayed and move to a different location and start life afresh, he is doing great now.
Intermarriage with idol worshipers is an abomination to the Lord! This message comes with a strong caveat! Do not make a covenant with them and get destroyed, look at the strong warning from the Lord:
Deuteronomy 7: 3”You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons,
4 for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods. Then the anger of the LORD would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you quickly.”
b) Evil practices: Deuteronomy 18:9 "When you come into the land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations.”
Following specific auspicious time, days, astrology, numerology are all some of the evil practices that we should not follow; it is an abomination to the Lord. Click ‘Do not do as they do’ to read my earlier message to know more stuff on this.
c)Honest scales: Proverbs 20:10 “Diverse weights and diverse measures, They are both alike, an abomination to the LORD.”
The boom of ‘pirated soft ware’, bribe, unethical practices in the work places that includes embezzlement of funds, manipulation of finances in payment of tax are all abomination to the Lord and so are the wealth reaped through them. Such splendor of the world would one day perish and vanish! Be warned!
d) False lips: Proverbs 12:22”Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD, But those who deal truthfully are His delight.”
Let your life be rooted in integrity and honesty right from the time you wake up to the time you hit the pillow in the night. Remove every form of lie; however small they may be. A hindu lady working in a very high position received the favor of the Lord in a very great way through our prayers and hence whenever I visit the city, she would come and see me, but I have been shocked by her flippant use of tongue in uttering enormous lies, she would beautifully answer her mobile from my prayer meeting venue as though she was in her office cabin. I told her categorically one day, ‘attend the worship with integrity taking a day off from work, rather than sneaking away from office like a thief.’ Such things are an abomination to the Lord!
d) Pride: Proverbs 16:5 “Everyone proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD Though they join forces, none will go unpunished.”
A proud person ends up being rebellious, stiff-necked and also a angry person. Recently when I slightly rebuked a young man in the ministry working in the rural area, he got very, very angry with me. I just pointed out his short temper which he did not like and he did something that I never faced before; the ‘speedy mail network’ came handy for him, message transmitting was never this easy before, so within a few seconds I received hot, simmering, seething, strong, harsh emails and ‘sms’ from the young man half my age. It hurt me tremendously, it was like a kick from my own son. Pride is extremely damaging! Some youngsters straight away jump from Bible colleges and start their own churches, without dirtying their hands in the mission field, as a result they end up with swollen-heads. Young adult leaders sadly are limited in wisdom, decision-making, prioritization, lack of impulse control, emotion control and a bunch of other skills the leaders should possess. Due to pride, spur-of-the-moment actions can cause irreparable loss! Watch out your posts on Facebook as well, allow the fume to cool before you react! Pride is an abomination to the Lord!
e) Sacrifice of the wicked: Proverbs 15:8 “The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD, But the prayer of the upright is His delight.”
All the works and deeds that we do with tainted hands, legs, heart and life are an abomination to the Lord; let us first straighten out our crooked lives. Observe, ‘the prayer of the upright is His delight!’ Wow! What is an upright heart? Heart that trembles at His Word! Heart that loves Him whole-heartedly! Heart that obeys His Word! Heart that abhors evil and desires your holiness! I remember a day that I stayed back in my office alone, while the entire office ( movie screening arranged for the whole office staff) had gone away for a movie, people thought I was weird, fanatic and crazy; however, God delights when you take a stand for Him!
Finally a word of conclusion: Jeremiah 4:1 "If you will return, O Israel," says the LORD, "Return to Me; And if you will put away your abominations out of My sight, Then you shall not be moved.
Rev. CHARLES H SPURGEON said: ”If there is a commandment which you do not relish, it ought to be a warning to you that there is something wrong in your heart that needs setting right. If you ever quarrel with one of Christ’s commands, end that quarrel by especially attending to it beyond every other! Jesus does not say, “If you love Me, keep this commandment or that.” Out of love obey every command!”
