"Thou hast loved
righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed
thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows." —Hebrews 1:9
The word "iniquity" in
Hebrews 1:9 is the Greek "anomia," which means "transgression of
the law, the condition of without law, i.e., injustice, wickedness,
unrighteousness." Hence, Jesus Christ was not pacifist when it
came to evil and corruption. The Word of God states that Jesus HATED
iniquity. In John 2:15 we read that Jesus made a whip and drove the
thieves out of the temple. Then he poured their money all over the
floor, and overturned their tables. How many Christians do you know
today who get as upset as Jesus did when people exploit Christianity to make
money? I don't know many.
We read further in Proverb 8:13,
"The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil
way, and the froward mouth, do I hate." Proverbs 6:16-19
proclaims... "These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an
abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed
innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift
in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth
discord among brethren." An "abomination" is something
that really makes the Lord upset, His pet peeves so-to-speak. Most
people would expect to see such horrible sins as homosexuality, abortion,
adultery, or bank robbery on the list. Rather, God lists PRIDE first
on the list! America is extremely proud, murdering their own
children through abortion and torturing innocent animals while at the same time
boasting of being a nation that VALUES LIFE! A lying tongue comes
second—God hates lying! America has become a nation of LIARS, who
break their marriage vows! America is guilty of shedding innocent
blood in Iraq. Our nation is guilty of bearing false witness against
the leaders of Iraq. We are guilty of stealing their oil and
murdering the innocent. Woe unto America!
Jesus Came to Bring a Sword; Not
Peace!
Jesus said, "For I am come to
set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother,
and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man's foes shall be
they of his own household" (Matthew 10:35,36). Jesus explains
His Statements in Matthew 10:37,38... "He that loveth father or mother
more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than
me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after
me, is not worthy of me." You see, when you decide to live
godly in Christ Jesus, the world will turn on you and hate you, sometimes even
your own family... "Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus
shall suffer persecution" (2nd Timothy 3:12).
We hear much talk nowadays about
Jesus' teachings on love, peace and turning the other cheek; BUT Jesus plainly
stated that He DIDN'T come come to bring peace... "Think not that I am
come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword"
(Matthew 10:34). Do you know why? It's because God wants
us to be divided over truth; rather than united by error. The
Ecumenical Movement unites in error with unbelievers. Apostate
churchgoers unite in error with the sinful world. Satan's goal is to
pervert the Truth. As believers, we ought to love the Truth and
proclaim It. Few people love the Truth nowadays, which is why the
Satanic New International Version of the Bible is so popular.
The Truth either makes people angry
or causes them to repent. The same sun that melts the wax hardens
the clay. The Word of God is a "hot potato" in the
world. To the Christian, there is no possession any more precious
than the Bible; BUT to the unsaved person, there is no Book any more hated,
despised and criticized than the Bible. The famous author Mark
The Word of God is powerful,
cutting to the heart and convicting It's hearers (Hebrews
4:12). This is why Jesus said that He came to bring a Sword...
because the Truth causes fights, raging debates, and irreconcilable
differences. The Truth is intolerable. 1 + 1 = 2 and
there's nothing you can do about it. You can say 1 + 1 =
3 if you want; but you'd be wrong, like it or not. Abortion is
murder (Exodus 20:13). You can say it's not; but you'd be wrong, and
there's nothing you can do to change God's Law. The Bible is God's
Word and the Truth It proclaims is intolerable. Jesus is the Living
Word, and the Bible is the Written Word. They are Inseparable (John
1:1-3,14; Revelation 19:13). Anyone who talks about Jesus, without
quoting from the Scriptures, is a phony.
Peace With God Through Jesus Christ
Some people accusing me of
condemning others through my website ministry; but that is not
true. I preach the Truth of God's Word; but I am a sinner just like
anyone else. It is not my place to condemn anyone. Romans
3:19 tells us that God's Holy Law condemns the whole world of
sin. It is only through Christ crucified that we can escape the
condemnation which sin brings, and the justly deserved penalty in Hellfire...
"There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus,
who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit" (Romans 8:1).
At Jesus birth, the heavenly host
praised God, saying... "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace,
good will toward men" (Luke 2:14). The "peace" spoken
of here is not world peace, for there will NEVER be world peace until Jesus
Christ returns at the Second Coming to establish His Millennial
Kingdom. The "peace" which the heavenly host spoke of is
found in Romans 5:1, "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace
with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." The ONLY remedy to
bring lasting peace is through the blood sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ for
the sins of mankind. We can have peace with God through Jesus
Christ. There is NO other way (Acts 4:10-12).
Divided by Truth or United by
Error?
Again,
God wants us to be divided over truth; rather than united by error.
The Homosexual Agenda is one such
ERROR. The Bible teaches in 2nd Thessalonians 3:6 that a Christian
should SEPARATE from any professed believer who lives in sin... "Now we
command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw
yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the
tradition [i.e., the Word of God] which he received of us." And
again, we are warned in 1st Corinthians 5:9-11... "I wrote unto you in an
epistle not to company with fornicators: Yet not altogether with the
fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with
idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world. But now I have written
unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a
fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an
extortioner; with such a one no not to eat."
But you say, "Wait a minute
buster. Wasn't Jesus being a friend of sinners, Who ate with them and
befriended them?" Yes, that is certainly true; but Jesus DIDN'T
keep company with sinners. The Greek word for "company" in
1st Corinthians 5:11 is sunanamignumi, and means "to be intimate
with." Although Jesus ate with sinners in order to express
God's love and to bring them the Gospel; Jesus DIDN'T travel with sinners, or
partake of their sinful habits, or become intimately involved with them
personally. In sharp contrast, Jesus had an intimate relationship
with the Apostles, i.e., they traveled with Jesus, and spent much time with
Him, and knew Jesus better than others. To say that Jesus was a
constant companion of unrepentant sinners is blasphemy. Jesus
befriended sinners, teaching them the Truth; but Christ DIDN'T partake of their
drunken parties, lewd festivals, and sinful ways.
Jesus Wasn't Passive Towards Sin
Jesus hated sin and wasn't passive
towards it. We learn in John 2:15 that Jesus even became violent
over sin... "And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them
all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the
changers' money, and overthrew the tables." When's the last
time you got that angry over sin?
It is a sin to portray Jesus Christ
as Someone who never spoke a negative Word about sin, evil or
corruption. Jesus plainly warned against "false prophets"
in Matthew 7:15. In Matthew 23:17,19 Jesus called the Pharisees "fools." In
John 8:44, Jesus told the religious leaders that their father was
Satan. In Matthew 16:23 Jesus rebuked the Apostle Peter, calling him
"Satan." Jesus said what needed to be said, when it needed
to be said. Jesus hated sin and spoke out against it.
In John 4:18 Jesus confronted the
woman at the well about her 5 husbands, and her new boyfriend. Jesus
didn't avoid the subject of sin like many preachers do today. In
Matthew 23:23 Jesus rebuked the unsaved religious leaders, "Woe unto you,
scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and
cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and
faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone." Jesus
preached against hypocrisy, false religion, and self-righteousness!
Conclusion
In the absence of Light, darkness
prevails. This is why Jesus continually spoke the Truth everywhere
He went. It made many of the Jews angry at Jesus... "And many
of them said, He hath a devil, and is mad; why hear ye him?" (John
10:20). Can you imagine... people calling God Who created them crazy
and of the Devil? Whom do you say that Jesus is... Liar, Lunatic, or
Lord?
Jesus hated iniquity. He
spoke out against injustice and evil. Jesus wasn't a pacifist Who
kept silent concerning sin. Jesus was a man's man, and always
addressed the issue of sin when He dealt with people. This is why
the Pharisees brought the woman taken in the very act of adultery to Jesus
(John 8:3). They knew that Jesus preached against sin, and hoped
that He would condemn her; BUT Jesus never condemned anyone (John
3:17). Jesus hates iniquity; BUT He loves people, even those who sin
horribly... "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were
yet sinners, Christ died for us." Thankfully, God doesn't love
us because of who we are; but rather, because of Who He Is. This is
why Jesus was willing to die upon the cross for our sins, knowing exactly how
rotten we are, because He loves us for Who He Is. What a Precious
Saviour!
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