Seven Things God Hates Series

Listen to how the scripture describes us in Matthew 15:19 “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.” And then in II Corinthians 10:5 we told to be “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.”

A heart that devises or comes up with wicked ideas is the opposite of an honest heart and honesty is the always the best policy and not only because God commands it but also because dishonesty has a way of blowing up in our faces.

I heard about a really stingy guy who had to send a birthday present to a friend but he didn’t want to spend too much, so, when he was in a store he noticed a broken vase that the owner was about to throw away. So, he bought it for next to nothing and then had the store mail it to his friend. He figured his friend would think this expensive gift had been broken by the post office; but a week later he received a note from his friend and it said, “Many thanks for the lovely vase. It was nice of you to have each broken piece wrapped separately!” And I’m sure that after the fact, he would have thought that honesty was the best policy.

And then the fifth thing God hates are “feet that are swift in running to mischief.” And this speaks of people who are quick to carry out what has already been devised in their hearts. This is more than falling or sliding into sin, which is common to all of us but this is the execution of a premeditated act of sin. Isaiah 59:7 “Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths.”

And we’re told to do the opposite in Ephesians 6:15 where it says, “And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.”

And then the sixth thing God hates is a false witness that speaks lies. Literally; this means, “he that breathes out or utters a false witness” and we looked at this a few weeks ago in the Ten Commandments where it says, “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.” In other words, you shouldn’t lie to them and you shouldn’t lie about them.

And then the seventh thing God hates; is he that sows discord among the brethren and the emphasis here is on the person who intentionally seeks to destroy the harmony and unity among believers. Bitterness and vindictiveness have no part in the lives of true Christians.

Paul said to the Corinthians in I Corinthians 3:3, “For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?” And this tells us carnality in the church is very disruptive because it takes the focus off of the important issues. It stifles the growth of the church. It disrupts the witness of the church and it divides the body of Christ.

I was listening to CBC one night and a Jewish homosexual was being interviewed for some kind of an article. And when they asked him about religion he said, “I used to be an atheist but now I don’t really care anymore so I guess you could call me an apatheist because I just don’t care.” He was apathetic because the whole idea didn’t appeal to him one way or the other.