Sermon Central
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Seven Abominations Series
Contributed by Dennis Davidson on Nov 28, 2017 (message contributor)
Summary: Man conceives of God as "one such as himself" who looks at sin with indifference. It is not so. God is not nearly so neutral as man is concerning sin. There are actually sins which God absolutely hates.
"Feet that run rapidly to evil" are also hated by God. Catch the note of urgency and energy involved in their crime. They eagerly seize each opportunity because they want to hatch and fulfill their schemes quickly. The proportion of power that evil has over a man is seen in his eagerness to do it.
God’s people should have cleansed feet (Jn. 13: 1-17), beautiful feet (Rom. 10:14-15), prepared feet (Eph. 6:15) and obedient feet (Gen. 13: 17). They should not be in the paths of evil much less run to do it.
Not even public testimony as in a trial will cause them to be honest. Truthfulness is cast aside in order to get what is planned or desired. Verse 19, "A false witness who utters lies, and one who spreads strife among the brethren."
Lying again is pointed out (v. 17) in this list of things God hates. A slanderer by his lies causes people -even friends- to be suspicious of each other. Far too many people deliberately misrepresent the facts or decline to defend someone during character assassination. Truth is the only foundation that can be built upon which will not crumble. Any relationship or government that involves lies will not bare the load overtime.
A slanderer is a cruel witness. He robs his fellow man of his highest treasure, his reputation and the confidence of his friends. Therefore a sever judgment awaits the false witness (Prov. 19:5; Zech. 5:4, 8:17; Mal. 3:5).
The last or highest rung on the ladder of the seven deadly sins, the one that is an abomination to God, is spreading "strife among brethren." Juicy information seems difficult to contain, especially if it maligns someone. It is easy to spread strife but God would have us be peace-makers. "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity" (Ps. 133:1). The wicked person destroys that unity by sowing "seeds" that produce a bitter and divisive harvest. [Persons who tampered with truth or due process threatened to distort life beyond recognition, to turn upside down the props that support stable relations.]
The seeds of strife are sown by those that gossip (Prov. 16:28; 17:9; 18:8; 26:20), by a tale bearer or by those who tell ill-natured stories, wicked inventions, by the quarrelsome spirited and askers of foolish questions (1 Tim. 6:3-5; 2 Tim. 2:14, 23). Whatever disrupts unity, friends and harmonious relationships is abhorrent to God.
Godly people sow seeds of unity and peace, not seeds of division and strife (Jas. 3:17-18). Christ prayed for unity in the church (Jn. 17:21) and the Holy Spirit seeks to produce unity in the body (Eph. 4: 1-6). How can lost people ever believe that God loves them when God’s children don’t exhibit love to one another. Heavenly dew descends upon brethren that dwell together in unity (Ps. 133) and a withering blast will fall on those who divide for gain, prejudice, and power (Rom 16:17-18).
IN CONCLUSION
All of these things are acts and declarations of independence. All of these say, "I’m going to solve that problem. I can spin the truth. I can take care of it with my clever speech, killer instinct, my running here, my manipulating there."
