I want to tell you the whole truth

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Marriage is a funny thing- We lie to our spouses before we get married- or at least- we don’t play up the bad part- we play up the good parts

When Crystal and I were dating- I didnt tell her I didn’t pick up clothes from the floor, I have a hard time saying no to trinket on sale, I flatulate at night, I didn’t say that I get angry in traffic.
I wanted her to see the best of me- So I played up my loving nature, how wonderful I was
The truth of who I was- a bit different
I want to be a pastor and a church that is truthful about who God is and who he is not
This is counter-cultural to how most people envision God- And this is how people want to see God
They play up the parts they like and they downplay the parts they dont- Its human nature
Its what we do with our love for America, or a vacation, or a relationship
The Bible is a declaration of God’s love for us. The repeated message of Scripture is that God loves us and cares for us. And it tells us all we need to know of God’s affection for us.

But Psalm 15 TITLE- I want to tell the whole truth

1 John 4:19 “We love because he first loved us.”
1 Peter 5:7 says: “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”
John 3:16 God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
During His ministry on earth, Jesus told a parable about how much God loved us.
Luke 15:11-32

So, that’s our God. That’s the God of Scripture. That’s the God Jesus came to tell us about.
The God of love and compassion… the God who cares for us.
But then, if you read the entire Bible- you get a much different picture of the totality of God
But, then we read other passages of Scripture about a God who…“hates”

Proverbs 6:16-19 says: “There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.”
1 Haughty eyes 2Lying tongue 3hands that shed innocent blood 4 a heart that plans to do evil 5 feet that are quick to rush into evil 6 a false witness who lies 7 a man who stirs up dissension among brothers
Lev. 20:23, “Moreover, you shall not follow the customs of the nation which I shall drive out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore I have abhorred them.”
Hosea 9:15 “All their wickedness is in Gilgal, For there I hated them. Because of the evil of their deeds I will drive them from My house; I will love them no more. All their princes are rebellious.
Malachi 2:16 “For the Lord God of Israel says That He hates divorce, For it covers one’s garment with violence,” Says the Lord of hosts. “Therefore take heed to your spirit, That you do not deal treacherously.”

Pat and Chris at the Auburn Community Dinner

How do I reconcile a loving God… with a God who hates things?

some have tried to say that there are TWO GODS in scripture.
There are people who actually believe that there’s a God of the Old Testament. A God known for His judgment and wrath. Then they believe there’s the God of the New Testament. A God known for His love and compassion.
They believe in Two separate and distinct Gods the Bible has a word to describe that kind of teaching… it’s called heresy.
But that IS NOT taught anywhere in the Bible.
The God of the Old Testament IS the God of the New Testament. (Immutability of God)
But, that doesn’t help me solve the riddle: how could a God of love also be a God of hate?
God hates evil. AND God hates those who practice evil.
Proverbs 3:32 declares “…The LORD detests a perverse man.”
Psalm 5:5 “The arrogant cannot stand in your presence; you hate all who do wrong.”
Psalm 11:5 “The LORD examines the righteous, but the wicked and those who love violence his soul hates.”
And as you may recall… Jesus wasn’t real keen on some people:
Matthew 11:20-24 He rebuked a bunch of cities
Matthew 23:27“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean.
Those are hateful words from Jesus – focused on a hateful group of men.
Jesus encouraged his disciples to hate
Luke 16:13 “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”
John 12:25 He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
When Jesus comes back-
Rev 2:6 6 But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
Now, that doesn’t quite seem right, does it? That God would hate people?

I mean, isn’t there a proverb of some kind that says “God hates sin…” and what’s the rest of it? Oh yeah “but He loves the sinner.” (couldn’t find that verse)
God does hate certain people – perverse men, all those who do wrong, the wicked, and those who love violence.

Why would God hate these people? Well, because these people do hateful things.
Their eyes are haughty. They’re proud and arrogant people.
They have lying tongues. They deceive people to take advantage of them.
Their hands shed innocent blood. Kill babies, terrorist bombs, random killers
Their hearts devise wicked schemes. One of the most powerful condemnations of the people who died in Noah’s flood was this:
Genesis 6:5 “The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”
These folks stayed up at night thinking of evil things they could do.

Their feet are quick to rush to evil. They can’t wait to do bad things. They hurt others out of the pure joy of doing it.
They are false witnesses who pour out lies. They gossip about others. They say mean and hateful things, all with the intention of dragging other down around them.
And they stir up dissension among brothers. people who create “drama” . They deliberately stir up trouble between people so that they can sit back and watch. It’s like they can’t get away to watch their favorite soap operas, so they create their own dramas at school or work.
God hates all that And according to scripture God hates all those who do those kinds of things.
And there are 2 reasons why God hates this.

1st – God hates them because these folks have hated Him first.
Exodus 20:5 “I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who Hate ME”
2nd – God hates these people because of what they’ve done to other people.
Notice that every sin listed in Proverbs 6 is an action taken against other people.
The haughty eyes… they’re looking down on others. Lying tongues… they’re lying to folks. Hands that shed innocent blood… they kill people. Hearts that devise wicked schemes… they plot to hurt others. Feet rushing to do evil… they can’t wait to hurt others. False witness… saying false things against other people. And stirring up dissension (drama) among their brothers.
Each and every sin listed in this passage tells of wicked people who hurt others.
Imagine someone hurting someone in your family who you love. Doing mean and painful things that damage that special someone.
Wouldn’t you get angry and wouldn’t you feel a bit of hatred for someone who would be so mean and cruel to your loved one?
Of course you would. You would take it personal. You would hate what they had done
And God takes it kind of personal. He hates it.
A.W. Tozer “God’s wrath is His utter intolerance of whatever degrades and destroys. He hates iniquity as a mother hated the polio that would take the life of the child.”
If my child were caught in the grips of a deadly disease,
you better believe I’d hate that disease. I’d do everything I could to FIGHT that disease. I’d do whatever I could to destroy that disease.
Why? Because it hurt someone I love.

Auburn Community Dinner Last Wednesday of the month 5:30 to 6:30 PM

And that’s how God hates sin.
God hates sin because he hates the damage and death it brings to those He loves.
Of course God hates that type of thing.
And of course God hates (as the Bible says) those who do such things.

Now we can say- “YEAH. GOD HATES YOU, AND YOU’RE ALL GOING TO HELL!!!”
You know, there’s just something wrong with that kind of thinking.
And what’s wrong is this: Many people think of “Sinners” as being – the OTHER GUYS. It’s those OTHER PEOPLE who are the sinners.
the Bible says “All of us have sinned…” all of us have been hateful of God.
Ephesians 2:3 “All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, WE were by nature objects of wrath.”
God is speaking to ALL of us and saying – you have sinned.
You and I have all done hateful things.
Galatians 5:19-21 says this to the Christians in Galatia “The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn YOU, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

Notice Paul warned them. In fact, he’d warned them BEFORE that if they lived like this they wouldn’t inherit the kingdom of God.
Who is Paul talking to in this letter to the church at Galatia? (Christians)He’s warning Christians.
He’s telling the Christians there that God hates sin… and if they were to continue to engage in things like “… sexual immorality, witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition… dissensions, factions and envy” … there was a danger.
And what’s the danger? The danger is: Christians who lived like this would not inherit the kingdom of God. If they lived like that… they’d end up in hell.
But here’s the deal – God doesn’t want that.
The Bible tells us that God LOVES us. He doesn’t want us to be under His wrath.
He doesn’t want us going to hell.

What God is saying is this: IF you do evil things – there is a price to be paid.
BUT if you decide that you don’t want that future for your family.
If you decide that you’ve been foolish to do hurtful things to God.
If you decide you want to turn around (repent) and stop living for yourself and start living for God and pleasing Him… THEN He’ll break the cycle of destruction in your life.
But how would God do that? How could God undo all the damage of my bad decisions?

Ephesians 2:3-5 “All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath BUT because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions— it is by grace you have been saved.”
2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
Romans 2:4 Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?
You were dead in your transgressions.
You were by nature – objects of wrath.
You had nothing to offer God.
But because of His GREAT LOVE and mercy God made us ALIVE with Jesus
Not because of YOUR righteousness… but because of Christ’s.

Burritos Yum!

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Faith and Victory Church

1302 A Street SE Auburn WA – Services Sun 9 AM & 11 AM – Wed 7 PM (LIve and livestream)

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