Proverbs chapter 6. Proverbs 6, our focus tonight will be verses 16 to 19. I'll just read the beginning in verse one. My son, if you become surety for your friend, if you have shaken hands and pledged for a stranger, you are snared by the words of your mouth.

You are taken by the words of your mouth. So do this, my son, and deliver yourself, for you have come into the hand of your friend. Go and humble yourself, plead with your friend. Give no sleep to your eyes, nor slumber to your eyelids.

Deliver yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, and like a bird from the hand of the fowler. Go to the aunt, you sluggard. Consider her ways and be wise, which having no captain, overseer, or ruler, provides her supplies in the summer and gathers her food in the harvest. How long will you slumber, oh sluggard?

When will you rise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep. So shall your poverty come on you like a prowler and your need like an armed man. A worthless person, a wicked man, walks with a perverse mouth.

He winks with his eyes. He shuffles his feet. He points with his fingers. Perversity is in his heart.

He devises evil continually. He sows discord. Therefore, his calamity shall come suddenly. Suddenly he shall be broken without remedy.

These six things the Lord hates, yea, seven are an abomination to Him. A proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift and running to evil, a false witness who speaks lies, and one who sows discord among brethren. My son, keep your father's command, and do not forsake the law of your mother. Bind them continually upon your heart.

Tie them around your neck. When you roam, they will lead you. When you sleep, they will keep you. And when you awake, they will speak with you.

For the commandment is a lamp, and the law a light. Reproofs of instruction are the way of life, to keep you from the evil woman, from the flattering tongue of a seductress. Do not lust after her in your heart, nor let her allure you with her eyelids. For by means of a harlot, a man is reduced to a crust of bread, and an adulteress will prey upon his precious life.

Can a man take fire to his bosom and his clothes not be burned? Can one walk on hot coals and his feet not be seared? So is he who goes into his neighbor's wife. Whoever touches her shall not be innocent.

People do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy himself when he is starving. Yet when he is found, he must restore sevenfold. He may have to give up all the substance of his house. Whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding.

He who does so destroys his own soul. Wounds and dishonor he will get, and his reproach will not be wiped away. For jealousy is a husband's fury. Therefore, he will not spare in the day of vengeance.

He will accept no recompense, nor will he be appeased, though you give many gifts." Amen. Well, let us pray. Father, thank you for your Word. Thank you for the book of Proverbs and the great wisdom that we have here, revealed to us by the Spirit through Solomon.

We ask God that you would give us open hearts to receive these things, and in particular, May we ponder, may we contemplate, may we meditate upon those things that you hate, and may we, as a result, avoid them like the plague. And may you help us to embrace those things that you love, and help us to walk in holiness and in righteousness. Forgive us again for all of our sin and unrighteousness, all that remaining corruption that is in our hearts. As well, Father, we pray for those here among us that are still dead in their trespasses and sins, that they would know the forgiveness of God Most High as it comes through the gospel of our blessed Lord Jesus Christ.

Fill us now by the Spirit. May He guide us and lead us into all truth. And we pray in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Introduction

Well, we read in 1 John that God is love. Nowhere that I'm aware of in the Bible do we read that God is hate. But we do have in Proverbs 6, 16 to 19, those things that God does hate. It's not confined to this particular list.

There are other things in the Bible that are sinful. This is not an exhaustive or a comprehensive list, but it is a good summary statement. It deals with actual members of the body, and then it deals with actions that are engaged in by sinful people. So again, very important that we understand this.

If you look back for just a moment to Proverbs chapter three, specifically at verse seven, do not be wise in your own eyes, fear the Lord, and depart from evil. Proverbs chapter 8 at verse 13. The fear of the Lord is to hate evil. So there is on the part of the people of God a hatred in their hearts for those things that are contrary to God. and to his revealed will.

We see that that is consistent with the teaching here in Proverbs 6, 16 to 19. These six things Yahweh hates, yea, seven are an abomination to him. There is a close connection to the preceding context. If you look at verses 12 to 15, it's a description of the man of Belial, literally, or a worthless person, a wicked man.

Notice in verse 12, a worthless person, a wicked man, a son of Belial walks with a perverse mouth. He winks with his eyes. He shuffles his feet. He points with his fingers.

Perversity is in his heart. He devises evil continually. He sows discord. Therefore his calamity shall come suddenly.

Suddenly he shall be broken without remedy. So in this next catalog, this numeric catalog, it sort of amplifies or exemplifies what is going on with reference to this son of Belial.

God's Hatred Declared

So in the first place, I want to look at the declaration concerning God's hatred in verse 16. And then secondly, the description of what God hates in verses 17 to 19. Again, it's broken down into two categories. The abominable members, the proud look, the lying tongue, the murdering hands, the cunning heart, and the running feet.

And then the abominable actions in verse 19. One who bears false witness and one who sows discord among the brethren. But notice in the first place, these six things the Lord hates, yes, seven are an abomination to Him. God is love, but God does hate those things contrary to Him.

If you look specifically at the book of Psalms, you can turn to Psalm 5, a passage that I'm sure we're all aware of. The Apostle Paul quotes from Psalm 5 in Romans chapter 3. He appeals to the psalm to show or to evidence his doctrine of total depravity. But in Psalm 5.5 we read, the boastful shall not stand in your sight, you hate all workers of iniquity.

Psalm 11 at verse five underscores the same thing. The Lord tests the righteous, but the wicked and the one who loves violence, his soul hates. Again, those things that are contrary to our blessed God. Turn over to the prophet Isaiah.

Isaiah chapter one underscores the same reality. There are actions, there are things about sinners, sinners themselves, according to Psalm 5.5, that God abominates, that God hates. Notice in Isaiah one, at verse 14. Your new moon and your appointed feasts my soul hates.

They are a trouble to me. I am weary of bearing them. So the reality is that God is opposed to that which is contrary to Him. You see this in James and Peter.

God resists the proud. God is opposed to the proud, but He gives grace to the humble. And then with reference to our text, when it says, these six things the Lord hates, yea, seven are an abomination to Him, the second half of the verse, simply escalates the thought. Again, it's a literary convention that the wise man is employing for our benefit.

So there is the declaration concerning God's hatred.

What God Hates Described

Now let's focus in on the description of what God hates in verses 17 to 19.

The Proud Look

Notice in the first place, in terms of the abominable members, the proud look. Verse 17, a proud look. The sin in view is pride, and the manifestation of it is through the eyes. The sin of pride is repeatedly condemned in the book of Proverbs over and over again.

We see it condemned repeatedly in the New Testament. We see it as that sin of sins in many ways that is the fountainhead of a host of other sins that flow from it. In Proverbs, for instance, you can look at chapter 11 at verse 2. Proverbs chapter 11 at verse 2.

When pride comes, then comes shame, but with the humble is wisdom. Proverbs 13 and verse 10. By pride comes nothing but strife, but with the well-advised is wisdom. Proverbs 14.3.

In the mouth of a fool is a rod of pride, but the lips of the wise will preserve them. Proverbs 16 in verse 5, everyone proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord, though they join forces, none will go unpunished. Proverbs 16 at verse 18, pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. Proverbs 18 in verse 12, you're getting the point, you're getting the emphasis.

Solomon makes sure that we understand that pride is an abomination to God. Proverbs 18, 12, before destruction the heart of a man is haughty and before honor is humility. Proverbs 21 at verse 4, a haughty look, a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked are sin. Proverbs 27 at verse 2, Proverbs 27 at verse 2, same emphasis, let another man praise you and not your own mouth, a stranger and not your own lips.

There he's going in terms of a real-life application of this. All the other preceding verses are simply condemnations and descriptions, but here there's a real-life application. Don't praise yourself. Don't call attention to how great you are.

Let another man praise you. Be a humble servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. The people of God are not to virtue signal. The people of God are not to be pharisaic.

The people of God are not to stand on the street corner and pray thus with themselves, I thank you, God, that I'm not like other men. I'm not a murderer. I'm not an extortionist. I'm not an adulterer.

I'm not like this tax collector that I have standing next to me. The pride of man is falling. God Most High calls us to imbibe a spirit of humility. Notice in Proverbs 28, verse 25.

He who is of a proud heart stirs up strife, but he who trusts in the Lord will be prospered. Proverbs 29, 23. A man's pride will bring him low, but the humble in spirit will retain honor. And then in 30, chapter 30, specifically in verse 13.

But look at verses 11 to 14 with me. There is a generation that curses its father and does not bless its mother. There is a generation that is pure in its own eyes, yet is not washed from its filthiness. There is a generation, oh, how lofty are their eyes and their eyelids are lifted up.

There is a generation whose teeth are like swords and whose fangs are like knives to devour the poor from off the earth and the needy from among us. Now, we're not the first generation to display or exhibit these things. Certainly, it was rampant at the time that Solomon wrote, or he would have no need to condemn it, but this is an apt description of our own generation. Rebellion, self-righteousness, arrogance, covetousness, these are the manifestations of sin and depravity from the heart of man.

John Gill says, Pride is the first of the hateful things mentioned, it being the first sin committed, as is probable, the sin of angels and of the first man, and is a predominant evil in human nature, and is directly opposite to God and to his nature, and against which he sets himself, for he resisteth the proud, said James in James 4.6. Matthew Henry says, there are seven things that God hates and pride is the first because it is at the bottom of much sin and it gives rise to it. Now, when we conclude the sermon tonight, I'm going to encourage us to try and imbibe and pursue the opposites of what God hates. So if God abominates a proud look, that doesn't mean we look lowly and humble and just walk in such a way as to demonstrate our humility.

But the idea is that we pursue humility. And the means by which we pursue humility firstly is by killing pride, to oppose it in our own heart, not let it give vent. Not everybody needs to hear everything we're ever thinking. This is one of the problems, if you want my estimation of what is wrong today.

A generation ago, nobody knew what everybody else was thinking, and nobody cared what everybody else was thinking. Now we have blog comments. We have Twitter. We have all these avenues to make sure everybody hears the wonderful nuggets of wisdom that drip from our lips.

How in the world did the world manage before that came alive? How in the world did we ever function without knowing the thoughts of a man that is on the other side of the world? Brethren, we need to engage in humility. We need to guard our hearts against the sin of pride.

God opposes it. He resists the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. It is a most blessed thing to seek to cultivate humility. And again, I think the best way in cultivating humility is by killing pride.

Because no doubt, when we're cultivating humility, we're gonna tell everybody that we're cultivating humility. And by that, we'll undo the very cultivation of humility. I'm really working on humility. I'm being so much more humble than I've ever been before.

Brethren, that's not a humble statement. One of my brothers and I used to joke, a good book title would be, Humility and How I Mastered It. That would absolutely contradict the very theme under investigation. The best way to cultivate humility is to kill pride.

God opposes the proud, but He gives grace to the humble.

The Lying Tongue

Notice, secondly, the lying tongue. These six things the Lord hates, yea, seven, are an abomination to Him. A proud look, a lying tongue. Again, let's see that this is not confined to this list of what God abominates.

Proverbs 12 at verse 17. Proverbs 12, 17. He who speaks truth declares righteousness, but a false witness deceit. Proverbs 12, 19.

The truthful lip shall be established forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment. Verse 22. Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who deal truthfully are His delight. Notice in 13.3, he who guards his mouth preserves his life, but he who opens wide his lips shall have destruction.

Proverbs 17.4. Proverbs 17.4, an evildoer gives heed to false lips. A liar listens eagerly to a spiteful tongue. Proverbs 26.18 and 19.

Proverbs 26.18 and 19. Like a madman who throws firebrands, arrows, and death is the man who deceives his neighbor and says, I was only joking. Lies and deceit is a wretched evidence of our depravity under a holy God. It ought not to surprise us in the language of Psalm 31 that Lord God of truth would be opposed to lies.

And notice the consistency with the father of lies when we exhibit this. The Lord Jesus upbraided the religious leaders of his day in John 8. You're like your father, the devil, and the deeds of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning and a liar.

So these things are absolutely contrary to the living and true God. Again, Gil says, nor is there anything in which a man more resembles the devil who is the father of lies.

Hands That Shed Innocent Blood

Notice thirdly, he speaks concerning the murdering hands, the murdering hands, hands that shed innocent blood. Note that connection between lying and murder in light of John 8, 44. He was a father, a murderer from the beginning, and a liar. There's no truth in him.

He has not the capability or ability to speak the truth. So there is that close juxtaposition there between that lying tongue and hands that shed innocent blood. Now, that innocent blood is not absolutely innocent. We know that there is none righteous, no not one.

We know that everybody is born an Adam. But it speaks concerning the judicially innocent. We know from scripture that there are three instances of lawful homicide. It's not wrong to kill somebody in terms of capital punishment.

Genesis 9 and Romans 13 underscore that. Secondly, it's not wrong to kill somebody if they are found breaking in your house at night and you defend your property or you defend your people. Exodus 22 exonerates the man who defends his house from a savage attacking him. That is absolutely legitimate and justifiable homicide.

And brethren, if we need a return to scripture, we need it at that point as well. because of the case that there is instances, at least in the US, where persons are being indicted and sentenced for murder as a result of having defended themselves in very clear-cut situations. And then, of course, the third is holy war. God said to Israel, go in and utterly dispossess the land of the Canaanites. Do that by killing them.

Do that by removing them from the land. Romans 13, the magistrate has the sword, not only to punish evil doers within society, but as well to defend the body politic from foreign invaders from without of society. So there are lawful instances of homicide that the Bible speaks of. But what Solomon condemns here is murder.

Hands that shed innocent blood. It clearly portrays murder. Go back to Proverbs chapter one. Proverbs chapter one, specifically at verses 11 to 14.

Well, verse 10, my son, if sinners entice you, do not consent. If they say, come with us, let us lie in wait to shed blood. Let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause. Let us swallow them alive like Sheol and whole like those who go down to the pit.

We shall find all kinds of precious possessions. We shall fill our houses with spoil. Cast in your lot among us. Let us all have one purse.

My son, do not walk in the way with them. Keep your foot from their path, for their feet run to evil and they make haste to shed blood. Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird, but they lie in wait for their own blood. They lurk secretly for their own lives.

So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain. It takes away the life of its owners. Notice in Proverbs 28. Proverbs 28 at verse 17.

Again, God abominates hands that shed innocent blood. Proverbs chapter 28, specifically at verse 17, a man burdened with bloodshed will flee into a pit, let no one help him. Now the burden with bloodshed isn't accidental homicide, it isn't lawful homicide, but it is rather unlawful homicide, therefore don't help him. This man deserves what he gets as a result of his crime of murder.

And then notice in 31, eight and nine. 31, eight and nine, open your mouth for the speechless and the cause of all who are appointed to die. Open your mouth, judge righteously and plead the cause of the poor and the needy. Now, brethren, we can make obvious application in terms of euthanasia, make obvious application in terms of abortion. The hands that shed innocent blood are an abomination to God.

The persons today shouting their abortion are shouting those things that are contrary and opposite to who God is. And God Most High will punish, God Most High will vindicate His elect who cry to Him day and night, and God Most High hears the cry of that blood from the earth. He hears the cry of righteous Abel, certainly hears the cry of all those innocents that have been murdered in abortion. It is not a right for a woman to choose to kill somebody.

It is not a right for a man to choose to kill somebody. It is not right, brethren. The Bible condemns it, and hands that shed innocent blood are an abomination to God Most High. The fact that our nations are saturated with blood ought to give us great cause for fear.

The reality is, is that God is angry with the wicked every day. And while He hasn't lashed out in that fury and sent down hailstones to destroy Planned Parenthood and all of those engaged in this wickedness, it is coming. The Lord Most High is not mocked and He will one day bring to right all of those who have opposed his holy law at the level of the sixth commandment.

The Cunning Heart

And then notice in terms of the last member, it's the, or I'm sorry, the fourth is the cunning heart. And this is the literary center of the text. Notice three items precede and three items follow. The heart is the ethical center of man.

Turn back to Proverbs chapter four, specifically at verse 23. Keep your heart with all diligence for out of it spring the issues of life. Keep your heart with all diligence, not keep everybody else's heart. Keeping your heart is a full-time job.

That'll keep you occupied for 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days out of the year. Doesn't mean you can't help your fellows, doesn't mean you can't pray for others, doesn't mean you can't be there for assistance, but the keeping of the heart is for the individual. Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life. Notice what Jesus teaches relative to the same truth in Matthew's gospel.

You can turn to Matthew chapter 12. Matthew chapter 12, we see that same emphasis on the heart. Matthew chapter 12, specifically at verse 34. Brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak good things?

For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." And then over in Matthew chapter 15, remember the Pharisees come and they're upset because Jesus' disciples are eating without washing their hands.

Crime of crimes. And so Jesus, of course, rebukes them, and the means by which he rebukes them is found in verse 10. When he had called them, I mean, he does other stuff prior to that, but he brings it here, home here. Notice in verse 10, when he had called the multitudes to himself, he said to them, hear and understand, not what goes into the mouth defiles a man, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.

Then his disciples came and said to him, do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying? Do you know that they didn't like that? Do you know that upset them? Do you know that that triggered them?

Does Jesus say, well, you know, I'm going to go on my apology tour now. I'm going to, you know, make sure that everybody knows that we never say anything that will ever, ever, ever upset anybody. No, Jesus doesn't do that. Jesus doubles down.

In Luke's gospel, there's an instance where a lawyer said, or he's rebuking the scribes and the Pharisees, and then the lawyer says, you know, this offends me. And then Jesus turns his cannons to that lawyer too. Well, you got issues as well. So he doesn't back down.

He's not afraid to name the sin. Notice in verse 13, he answered and said, every plant which my heavenly father has not planted will be uprooted. He sees in that the absolute positive sovereignty of God Most High. And then he says, let them alone.

They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch. And Peter answered and said to him, explain this parable to us. So Jesus said, are you still without understanding?

Do you not understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man." So going back to the Proverbs, Solomon is on to something, the wise man.

It says, keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life. The greater than Solomon reaffirms that very commitment. You gotta watch your heart. Back in our list, our vice list, we see a heart that devises evil plans.

Turn to chapter 11 in verse 20 in the book of Proverbs. Chapter 11, verse 20, those who are of a perverse heart are an abomination to the Lord, but the blameless in their ways are His delight. And then over in Proverbs 24, one and two. Proverbs chapter 24, 1 and 2, Do not be envious of evil men, nor desire to be with them, for their heart devises violence, and their lips talk of troublemaking.

We see that emphasis all the way back in Genesis chapter 6, in verse 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. Now brethren, if a man does not act upon the thoughts of his heart, he's not engaged in criminal activity. But in the sense that he has engaged in that in his heart, he's engaged in sinful activity, and God sees that, and God will deal with that. Notice in Psalm 36 verse four, speaking of the wicked, he devises wickedness on his bed.

He sets himself in a way that is not good. He does not abhor evil. He devises wickedness on his bed. Perhaps your custom in the morning is to wake up, to wipe the dust out of your eyes, to kind of contemplate what's gonna happen during the day.

Perhaps you reach over to your phone, you look at the weather's gonna be like, so you know how to dress appropriately. I'd suggest those are probably good ways to wake up. Thankfulness to God that he kept you through the night. Let's go have coffee.

Let's get the day rolling. But not the wicked. They're devising wickedness in their bed. They're planning and plotting how they can engage in pain, misery, and destruction for those who happen to get in their way.

The wicked are really wicked, brethren. I'm not suggesting that we are not, but there is a class of sinners that have no concern whatsoever for God Most High. And God Most High is contrary, well, to all sinners, but with reference to those particularly wicked ones, we see lots of things written concerning them in the scripture. Now, I'm not saying again that there's only the really bad and then there's the righteous.

No, we've all sinned against a holy God. But I think you'd agree that Pol Pot and Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong were probably in a different league than most of us garden variety centers. I have never actively engaged in the collectivization of land. I have never squeezed people into a famine scenario.

I have never, and I'm not tooting my own horn, brethren. This is very low-hanging fruit. The fact that I've not committed mass murder is not a commendation on my righteousness or goodness. Just so you know, there are those persons that plan wickedness on their bed.

Matthew Henry says, the more there is of craft and management and sin, the more it is an abomination to God.

Feet Swift in Running to Evil

And then fifth, by way of members, notice the running feet. They not only have this heart that is cunning and devising evil, but they have feet that are swift in running to it. You've got this heart that devises wicked plans and feet that are swift and running to evil. They're not jumping out of bed to get coffee so they can embark on their day.

They don't kiss their wives so they can go work hard at whatever the job is. They get off their beds and their feet are swift and running to do evil. It is a horrific situation. Now, Paul quotes this in Romans chapter one with reference again to the sinner.

I'm sorry, Romans chapter 3. As Paul is building his case in terms of total depravity, he does take a whole host of passages from the Old Testament, brings them together in chapter 3, and summarizes the biblical doctrine concerning sin. And he mentions this one in particular. You see it, or we saw it in 1.16. 1.16, for their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed blood.

Again, Matthew Henry says, vigor and diligence in the prosecution of sin. They're not just sitting, they have vigor and diligence in it. I mean, take a Christian. I mean, we sin, don't we?

But typically we cry out with the Apostle Paul, the good that I want to do, I don't do. The evil I don't want to do, I find myself doing. It says, wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death? There's conviction.

There's that understanding. There's that realization that we stand and fall before a holy God. He goes on to say, the policy and vigilance, the eagerness and industry of sinners and their sinful pursuits may shame us who go about that which is good so awkwardly and so coldly. I pointed that out, I think it's around Acts chapter 23, where you have this conspiracy against the apostle Paul.

These men take an oath that they will eat no food until they rid the earth of the apostle Paul. Now, in hindsight, you'd want to say, how did that work out for you? I bet you folded. I bet you ate.

I bet you had to take some morsel or else you wouldn't have continued on in your dreary, miserable existence. But those men saw Paul as such a threat that they would bind themselves with an oath not to eat until Paul was dead. Oh, that God would give us the grace to have that kind of zeal, that kind of eagerness. I mean, Psalm 122, I was glad when they said unto me, let us go to the house of the Lord.

David's feet were swift in running to good, running to the house of God. That's the contrast. The wicked, however, has feet that are swift in running to evil.

A False Witness Who Speaks Lies

Now notice the actions that follow. You have one who bears false witness. So after the members, we've got the proud look or the eye, we've got the lying tongue, we've got the hands that shed innocent blood, we've got a heart that devises wicked plans, and feet that are swift and running to evil. Notice next, he says, in terms of an action, a false witness who speaks lies.

A false witness who speaks lies. Now, think about this for just a moment. He's already said in verse 17, a lying tongue. You mean twice out of these six things Yahweh hates, yea seven are an abomination to him?

Lie, deceit, falsehood is mentioned twice. Why is that? Because it's absolutely positively wretched. That's why, it's a bad thing.

God is the Lord God of truth. The specific sin of perjury or character assassination is what's in view here. We have the commandment that prohibits this, the ninth commandment, Exodus 20, Deuteronomy chapter 5. You shall not bear false witness.

You're not supposed to do that. And look at the language of our text, a false witness who speaks lies. This indicates that the perjurer speaks lies with the specific person of destroying others. He's doing this calculatedly to ruin his fellow.

That is a bad thing, and again, something that ought to concern us in terms of court proceedings, in terms of people going up there swearing to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, and then perjuring themselves, lying to various persons, and never being held accountable. I mean, some of these lies are patently obvious. They are found out. They are exposed.

They are seen in the newspapers, and yet Nothing ever seems to happen. Well, if you continue down that path, you demoralize the body politic. You bring people to a place of utter frustration and exasperation when there is no justice needed out. When there is a two-tier justice system, that, in my estimation, is a way to break the back of the body politic.

And in my estimation, I think that's what we're seeing. We are seeing the erosion of due process and things that ought to be in place. This is, with reference to this false witness speaking lies in terms of perjury, it is the deliberate willful giving. of false, misleading, or incomplete testimony under oath. And it's not just the fifth commandment, I'm sorry, ninth commandment, but Exodus 23, twice speaks to this.

And then Deuteronomy 19. Deuteronomy 19 is the law of witnesses. You need to have witnesses in the plural, and they need to speak the truth. As well, the book of Proverbs.

Notice in chapter 14, Proverbs chapter 14, verse five. A faithful witness does not lie, but a false witness will utter lies. There's no accident that our brother read Psalm 15 tonight. I believe Psalm 15 is a description ultimately of Jesus.

Who can ascend to the holy hill of Yahweh, who can stand in his presence is Jesus. And by virtue of the gospel, he brings us with him. But it says there that he swears to his own hurt. Brethren, that's what it must be.

The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. And we see that here. Faithful witness does not lie, but a false witness will utter lies. Notice as well, verse 25.

Verse 25, a true witness delivers souls, but a deceitful witness speaks lies. So what does that mean? The true delivers souls, the false speaks lies. What happens then?

He destroys souls. He's not delivering them at that point. He's actually engaged in the contrary. He's destroying them.

Proverbs 17 verse 15. He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the just, both of them alike are an abomination to the Lord. Proverbs 19 and verse 5. Proverbs 19 and verse 5, a false witness will not go unpunished and he who speaks lies will not escape.

Again, verse 9, a false witness will not go unpunished and he who speaks lies will perish. 21, 28, 21, 28, a false witness shall perish, but the man who hears him will speak endlessly. And then Proverbs 25 at verse 18. 2518, a man who bears false witness against his neighbor is like a club, a sword, and a sharp arrow. That old children's adage that says, sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me is absolutely positively wrong. We can destroy people with the power of the tongue.

And with reference to Solomon reiterating these, or re-emphasizing these, or repeating these in a whole host of ways, think of it not only in terms of general Christian conduct, but Solomon is a king. Solomon's sons are a dynasty of kings. So what is Solomon emphasizing with reference to his kings? A righteous civilization, a righteous kingdom, a righteous body politic is founded on the truth.

When we compromise the truth, we see the dissolution of all that is good and all that is holy and all that binds us together as fellows in a common society. Matthew Henry says, there cannot be a greater affront to God, to whom in an oath appeal is made, nor greater injury to our neighbor, all whose interests in this world, even the dearest, lie open to an attack of this kind, than knowingly to give in a false testimony. There are seven things which God hates, and lying involves two of them. He hates it and doubly hates it.

One Who Sows Discord

And then the final one, notice back in Proverbs 6 at 19, a false witness who speaks lies and one who sows discord among brethren. Look up to the description of the son of Belial, the worthless man, the wicked man. Notice in verse 14, perversity is in his heart. He devises evil continually.

He sows discord. Now this discord is sown in those social units. The discord is sown in family. The discord is sown in church.

The discord is sown in society. We have all these politicians saying, we want to unify everybody. All the while, they are sowing discord, turning the body politic, members of that body politic, against one another. That is wretched behavior.

That is contrary conduct. God is opposed to that. These six things, Yahweh hates, Yea 7, are an abomination to Him. I suspect there are a whole host of churchmen, a whole host of the people of God.

Actually, I'm seeing contrary reports to this, but I like to think that all churchmen everywhere would oppose abortion. that all churchmen everywhere would oppose euthanasia. They would oppose hands that shed innocent blood, and they would not engage in that particular activity. They would not go and get an abortion. They would not go and euthanize somebody.

But how many of those self-saying churchmen will sow discord among brethren, will gossip, will slander, will whisper, will tell tales about others that is not anybody's business? We need to guard our hearts at this point. Sowing discord among the brethren is something that God abominates. This is something that you and I have access to.

Certainly all the other ones, I'm not suggesting we don't, but there is this sense where I think, and again I'd like to think, that most of us wouldn't go have an abortion. Most of us wouldn't go pay for an abortion. But when it comes to sowing discord among the brethren, are we as careful? Do we see it as repugnant?

Do we see it as loathsome in the sight of a holy God? I mean, the same God that loathes or abominates the hands that shed innocent blood is the God who abominates the one who sows discord among brethren. Gil, again, says whether in a natural relation or in a civil society or in a religious community, This can happen wherever we find ourselves, and this is something we need to resist and guard our hearts against. Now, Proverbs doesn't leave us wanting in terms of information.

We ask the question, how can we do this? And I hope we're not asking it so that we can do this, but how can we do this so that we'll avoid it, so that we won't engage in it, so that we won't cause that kind of strife, or generate that kind of discord, or bring that kind of division, or ultimately dissolution. Well, first, the sin of gossip. Look at chapter 11 and verse 13.

The sin of gossip. 11, 13. A tale-bearer reveals secrets, but he who is of a faithful spirit conceals a matter. When the tale-bearer reveals those secrets, what do you think happens? You think everybody says, oh, that's great.

So glad my secrets have been revealed to my church. We need to guard against this in prayer meeting. You know, brethren, I want to pray for so-and-so because of this, that, and the other. Well, you better make sure so-and-so is okay with you telling us about this, that, or the other.

I make sure that anybody who gets a prayer request sent out through my computer asks me to do it. Some people don't want that, and they're not to be faulted for that. Everybody has a basic and fundamental right to privacy. Whether the government respects that or not, I think ecclesiastical government should.

So if you want your prayer request to go out, make sure you let me know, or I'll ask you, do you want me to send that out? Some people don't want to do that. And if that's the case, then perhaps we shouldn't make, you know, verbalize everybody's issues in the context of the church. Notice in 1628, 1628, when we engage in gossip, we can sow discord among brethren.

This is the point. A perverse man sows strife and a whisperer separates the best of friends. Whisperer is a vice that we find in Paul's vice list in Romans chapter one at verse 29. It literally means a rumor monger or a tale bearer.

What happens when we engage in this particular activity? Look at it. A perverse man sows strife and a whisperer separates the best of friends. Don't do that.

Don't be that guy. Don't be that girl. Guard against it. Notice in 18.8. 18, eight, the words of a tailbearer are like tasty trifles.

They go down into the inmost body. There's something about it that we crave. We're not supposed to crave it. We're supposed to resist it.

We're supposed to oppose it. 20, 19, chapter 20, 19. He who goes about as a tailbearer reveals secrets. Therefore, do not associate with one who flatters with his lips. And then over in 26, 20 to 22.

Chapter 26, 20 to 22, where there is no wood, the fire goes out, and where there is no tailbearer, strife ceases. I'm not a physicist, but I know enough that if you don't have something to burn, there's not going to be fire. But in ecclesiology, or in society, or in family, if there's no tailbearer, then strife ceases. He goes on to say, as charcoal is to burning coals and wood to fire, so is a conscientious man to kindle strife.

The words of a tailbearer are like tasty trifles, and they go down in the inmost body. Why do you think he keeps repeating that? Because we keep needing to hear it. Because there's something again in us that gravitates toward those things that are none of our business.

There are things that do not concern us. Keep your own heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life. The sin of pride is another way to do this. 2825. 28, 25. He who is of a proud heart stirs up what?

He stirs up strife, but he who trusts in the Lord will be prospered. And then the rejection of due process. Turn back to chapter 18. And due process doesn't simply apply to a courtroom, but it applies to those other social conventions.

Your family, your church, your ethics, your life, your conduct. There are two passages in Proverbs 18 that we should seek by grace to master, seek by grace to imbibe, seek by grace to live according to. Proverbs 18, 13, he who answers a matter before he hears it, it is folly and shame to him. Don't answer a matter that you've only heard one side of.

Brethren, there's always two sides to a story. And when somebody tells you one side, the typical response is, oh, I can't believe it. How wretched and horrible is that other person? And then you do a bit of cross-examination and you find out they're probably not as wretched and horrible as person A depicted them to be.

Don't answer a matter until you've heard it. Ideally, don't listen to the matter if it doesn't concern you. And then notice in Proverbs 18, 17, the first one, to plead his cause seems right until his neighbor comes and examines him. Same sort of an emphasis.

Again, this is the foundation of civilization's jurisprudence. This should be just commonplace, but we're seeing the erosion of it. We're seeing the defection from these standards in Western civilization. But that doesn't give us the right to defect.

It doesn't give us the right to say, well, you know, these civil courts, they don't cross-examine anymore, so we don't have to. Absolutely, positively, we must. Now, with reference to this particular list back in Proverbs chapter 6, we need to understand these are not things that are simply something God just kind of doesn't like. These six things Yahweh hates, yea, seven are an abomination to Him.

Bridges comments on the man who sows discord among brethren. He says, let the self-willed separatists remember the double stamp, verses 14 and 19, upon him that soweth discord among brethren. If the heavenly dew descends upon the brethren that dwell together in unity, Psalm 133, a withering blast will fall on those who, mistaking prejudice for principle, cause divisions for their own selfish ends. Fearful is the Lord's mark upon them, sensual, having not the spirit, Jude 19.

Matthew Henry says, those who blow the coals of contention are but preparing for themselves a fire of the same nature.

Application: Pursuing the Opposites

So in conclusion, it is good for us, first, to understand what God loves, but secondly, to understand what God hates. And understanding what God hates ought to go a long way in helping us to avoid those things. A couple of months ago, my beloved and I were driving to the city of Vancouver. And as we approached Ikea land, I looked over at her and I said, I know that you love me because you're not going to ask me to go to Ikea.

She knows what I hate, so she doesn't bring it right to me. She doesn't try to get me to do that. If I happen to know that she hates flowers, I'm not going to give her flowers. If I happen to know that she hates diamonds, I'm not going to give her diamonds.

Not that I know that she hates diamonds or anything like that, but you get the point. It's good in a marriage relationship to know what our fellow loves and our fellow hates. Well, with reference to our walk with God, we ought to know the same thing. We ought to guard our hearts against those things that are contrary to the nature of our holy God.

And then, as I said, the necessity to pursue what God loves, the pursuit of humility. God opposes the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. What should we take from that? I ought to be humble.

I ought to kill pride. I ought not to vaunt myself or exalt myself or walk around like I'm eight foot tall and bulletproof. I'm not all that. I'm not the best thing that's ever lived.

I need to make sure that I understand that. Secondly, the practice of speaking the truth. Swearing to his own hurt and not changing is, again, the description of our blessed Christ in Psalm 15, the practice of speaking the truth. Brethren, we need to be careful in this regard.

God is, in fact, the Lord God of truth. Third, the protection of life. If God abominates hands that shed innocent blood, what should we do? Protect innocent life.

We should protect our lives, we should protect the lives of those around us, and we should be outspokenly opposed to a government that sees as its primary mandate the murder of the unborn around us. That is simply unconscionable, and we cannot stand idly by and not speak out against that. As well, fourthly, the protection of the heart. Notice the wicked, the heart that devises wicked plans.

Keep our own hearts with all diligence, understanding that out of it spring the issues of life. As well, the pursuit of goodness. If there are feet that are swift in running to evil, let our feet be swift in running to church. Let our feet be swift in running to the family altar.

Let our feet be swift in running to help the brothers that are in need. Feet that are swift in running to good, contra these wicked persons. The practice of bearing true witness. If we're ever called upon to testify in a court, the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help us God.

That is the underscoring statement that we swear fidelity to. And with reference to our everyday conduct, let our yes be yes and our no be no. Be men and women that speak the truth and do not shrink back from it. And then notice as well, the pursuit of peace in family, society, and the church.

If God abominates one who sows discord among brethren, we ought to be peacemakers. Doesn't Jesus pronounce a beatitude upon the peacemakers? Blessed are the peacemakers. We're not supposed to be those who bring division, who sow strife, and who bring discord.

And then I'd suggest finally we ought to praise God most high that we have our salvation in our Lord Jesus Christ. We sang tonight, Jesus thy blood and righteousness. Because if you look at this list and you look at it honestly, you know that it finds you out. whether pre-conversion or as a Christian person. You are struggling, like all of us, with remaining corruption.

These things are not foreign. They're not things that I have to try and convince you about. There's actually people that, name the name of Christ, that fall into these things. Of course we do.

We've got problems. We've got a proneness to wander and a proneness to leave the God that we love. But our blessed Jesus is the one who is perfect. The Lord Jesus Christ obeyed the Father perfectly at every point.

There was no sin, no rebellion, no bad heart, no feet that were running to evil, no hands that shed innocent blood. Our blessed Christ is our righteousness. That doesn't get us off the hook in terms of normative approach to the law. We seek by the grace of God and the power of His Holy Spirit to inculcate these, to imbibe these, and to pursue, not these, but the contrary, but with reference to Christ.

He is our righteousness. He is our hope. He is the reason for which we are going to heaven. Well, let us pray.

Closing Prayer

Our Father in heaven, we thank you so very much that you tell us not only what you love, that you are love, but you also indicate what you hate and abominate. God help us to go thou and do likewise. We see in Proverbs 8, the fear of the Lord is to hate evil. There are things that the people of God are supposed to hate.

And this is a wonderful list for us to take and to internalize and to be like you with reference to these evils. We ask that you would bless and keep and protect us, watch over this church and help us in all things to bring glory to you. And we thank you for a wonderful Lord's day. We thank you for the privilege of gathering together and singing hymns of praise unto our blessed God, coming to the Father through the Son in the Spirit and knowing the joy of the Lord as our strength.

And we pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, amen. We'll close with a brief time of meditation.

Scripture References

• Genesis 6:5; 9:6
• Exodus 20:16; 22:2; 23:1-3
• Deuteronomy 5:20; 19:15-19
• Proverbs 1:10-16; 3:7; 4:23; 6:12-19; 8:13; 11:2; 11:13; 11:20; 12:17; 12:19; 12:22; 13:3; 13:10; 14:3; 14:5; 14:25; 16:5; 16:18; 16:28; 17:4; 17:15; 18:8; 18:12; 18:13; 18:17; 19:5; 19:9; 20:19; 21:4; 21:28; 24:1-2; 25:18; 26:18-19; 26:20-22; 27:2; 28:17; 28:25; 29:23; 30:11-14; 31:8-9
• Psalms 5:5; 11:5; 15; 31; 36:4; 122:1; 133:1
• Isaiah 1:14
• Matthew 12:34-37; 15:10-20
• Acts 23
• Romans 1:29; 3; 13:4
• James 4:6
• 1 Peter 5:5
• 1 John 4:8
• Jude 19