Thank You For The Cross
Introduction
This passage gives insight into the Creator’s attitude toward wickedness. “Six things the Lord hates, yes, seven are an abomination to Him.” What we call an idiomatic Hebrew expression. It implies that the list is not exhaustive. It’s used as a means of arresting attention. It provides in its list a profound glimpse into the sinfulness of man.
In the Last Supper, the evening where Jesus was with His disciples, light would be contrasted with darkness as Jesus would speak of His death which would bring deliverance and of His betrayal, which would bring death.
Prov 6:16-19 defines the wicked and worthless person of Prov 6:12-14. Note the use of body parts to demonstrate the total involvement of the wicked person in their scheme of divisiveness.
“eyes” - 13, 17
“mouth” – 12, 17
“feet” – 13, 18
“hand” – 13, 17
“heart” – 14, 18
What Solomon describes it is that which he warns us of in Prov 4:20-27
Proverbs 4:20-27
“My son, give attention to my words;
Incline your ear to my sayings.
Do not let them depart from your eyes;
Keep them in the midst of your heart;
For they are life to those who find them,
And health to all their flesh.
Keep your heart with all diligence,
For out of it spring the issues of life.
Put away from you a deceitful mouth,
And put perverse lips far from you.
Let your eyes look straight ahead,
And your eyelids look right before you.
Ponder the path of your feet,
And let all your ways be established.
Do not turn to the right or the left;
Remove your foot from evil.”
There is something of a contrasting parallel arrangement with the Beatitudes of Matt 5
The first Beatitude , “Blessed are the poor in spirit” contrast with the first hated thing, “a proud look” and the 7th “peacemakers” with 7th hated thing, “one who sows discord among brethren.”
This list reminds me of the words of Jeremiah
Jeremiah 17:9, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; Who can know it?”
“desperately” – incurably sick
Note also Jeremiah 17:10
“I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind,
even to give every man according to his ways,
according to the fruit of his doings.”
“mind” – most secret parts
CONTRAST
Jeremiah 17:5, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the Lord.’”
Jeremiah 17:7, "Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord.”
It’s here that my heart shouts, “Thank You Jesus for the cross!”
Lord hates:
I. The Disdainful Look
. “proud look” - “looking down his nose” at someone else. Pride is the father of all sin. The proud look is scornful and contemptuous, the look of a person who imagines himself to be much better than others.
All 7 things listed are characteristics of fallen Lucifer (Devil) and they stand in stark contrast to the characteristics of the Lord Jesus.
Expressions - “I just let the devil have his way,” “the devil got all over me,” “he/she is just full of the devil.”
I must join the Psalmist in Prayer
Psalms 139:23-24
“Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me, and know my anxieties;
And see if there is any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting.”
II. The Deceitful Tongue.
“a lying tongue” – Satan is the father of lies
John 8:44, “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.”
The Lord Jesus is the Truth
John 14:6, “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’”
Note the question of John 18:38, “What is truth?”
John 18:36-38, “Jesus answered, ‘My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.’ Pilate therefore said to Him, ‘Are You a king then?’ Jesus answered, ‘You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.’ Pilate said to Him, ‘What is truth?’ And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to them, ‘I find no fault in Him at all.’”
III. The Deadly Hand
“hands that shed innocent blood”
John 8:44 Satan is a murderer from the beginning
ILL. Cain/Abel murder
Abortionists!
Jesus’ hands blessed the little children, touched blinded eyes, leprosy, and bore the nails for us.
IV. The Depraved Heart
“a heart that devises wicked plans”
Genesis 6:5, “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”
Sex-trafficking, dope peddlers, pornography
The Lord Jesus is pure, holy, and undefiled
Hebrews 7:26, “For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens”
2 Corinthians 5:21, “Him who knew no sin…”
V. The Delinquent Foot
“feet that are swift in running to evil”
Satan ran swiftly to cause trouble for Job
Job 1:7,”And the Lord said to Satan, ‘From where do you come?’
So Satan answered the Lord and said, ‘From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.’”
VI. The Dishonest Witness
“false witness who speaks lies”
Jesus is the faithful witness
Satan is behind all false witnesses
Matthew 26:59-61, “Now the chief priests, the elders, and all the council sought false testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, but found none. Even though many false witnesses came forward, they found none. But at last two false witnesses came forward and said, ‘This fellow said, 'I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days.'"
VII. The Deliberate Meddler
“one who sows discord among brethren”
Satan helps to divide
Jesus came to heal
EXAMPLE AND EXHORTATION
Armstrong stripped of his 7 Tour de France Titles: “Armstrong’s team had a ‘win at all costs’ attitude fueled by deceit, intimidation, coercion, and evasion.” Armstrong, who has vehemently denied ever doping, declined to comment. But, in the past, he said that he, his teammates, and those riders who competed against him would always know he won those seven tours.
The status of the One sinned against is key.
Valley of Vision (Puritans) prayed:
“Let me never forget that the heinousness of sin lies not so much in the nature of the sin committed, as in the greatness of the Person sinned against.”
The size of a sin is not ultimately determined by the sin itself, but the One who is sinned against. Sin is infinitely wicked because it rejects the One who is infinitely holy and good. The more we recognize the perfection of God’s holiness, the more obvious the truth becomes.