I am a Hater – a Godly Hater!

1. Fairy Floss.

Playground politics, Postmodernism, and Political Correctness make a volatile and disastrous combination.

Playground politics equals bullying. Postmodernism equals a denial of Truth. Political Correctness equals a biased, pseudo-egalitarianism. In such an environment, cogent arguments, truth, fact, and even reality are dismissed. In their place come name-calling, bullying, meaningless terms and lies. This modern estate is the “fairy floss”[1] estate—you are handed a bright and colourful substance that looks real, but once you put it in your mouth it disappears! In effect, you have paid for the joy of eating nothing and remaining hungry.

In the current debate surrounding homosexual union, we are being handed many brightly coloured tidbits and asked to swallow them. Yet, once they are in our mouths they evaporate to nothing. Then, when we have the audacity to point this out, we are labelled, condemned, harangued, and treated as completely unworthy.

Two recent examples stand out:

1. Opposition Leader, Bill Shorten, had this to say: “I don’t believe that people’s relationships and love for each other need to be submitted to a public opinion poll. … I don’t want to give the haters a chance to come out from underneath the rock and make life harder for LGBTI people.”[2]
2. The second instance has no name and not much detail. For this I apologise. After visiting my elderly father in hospital, I was driving home and decided to listen to the radio. I came across a woman’s voice arguing for protection from “hate speech”. I can only assume that this was a debate into the removal of clause 18c from the Racial Discrimination Act. Anyway, the point of interest came when the speaker highlighted her coup de gras question that she asked of her opponents: “What hate speech do you wish to use?” She went on to announce that this question had her opponents “nonplussed” or stopped cold.

Let’s analyse these statements.

• Please note the bullying and name-calling that come to the fore. People who have a different opinion are immediately labelled as “haters”, those who dwell under “rocks”, and those who delight to use “hate speech”.
• In keeping with this name calling and bullying, there is an automatic assumption on the part of the speaker that their position is the correct one or the morally superior one. Thus, the opponent is labelled and pigeon-holed for no other reason than they disagree with the speaker’s point of view.

This is truly fascinating. My wife has worked for years in the health sector. Several decades ago there came a huge, government sponsored push to avoid, at all costs, “labelling language”. People were not to be pigeon-holed or labelled in a way that would cause them detriment. Now, these same governments wish to label people without cause just to win political arguments and “Brownie” points.

• All of this leads us to ask questions regarding Morality and Truth. When the above people spoke, they did not appeal to any Absolute, they merely insisted that their opinion or view on this subject be accepted as absolute. In such a situation, who is the umpire? Does Bill Shorten win simply because he is Opposition Leader?

Time to connect the dots. The reason that we are subject to bullying and harassment is precisely because these people do not have an Absolute on which to base their arguments. They have no logic, no absolute, no moral, no consistency—so they must develop their own brand of sanctioned and sanitised “hate speech” with which to browbeat those who oppose them. Then, when this phase is effective, they will pass laws and then label those who oppose as criminals and a danger to society and then invite them to spend time behind bars.

Today we are told that everything is sweetness and light. Everything is equal. Two men together is as valid as a man and a woman. Yet, we ask, on what basis is this assertion made?[3] Indeed, even incestuous relationships are now being embraced and given their own alphabet soup so that they can be legitimised.[4] We are being handed fairy floss!

Herein is the hypocrisy. An honest citizen who has committed no crime – other than to insist on moral absolutes – becomes to these people the equivalent of a thief, paedophile, or murderer. If you think this is foolishness, then simply reverse engineer their arguments. If all are truly equal and morality does not exist, then there can be no wrong. If morality is simply what the Government of the day makes it to be, then we are all in danger for morality will change with each new law, with each passing year, and the turn of a new decade.

Think about this! You raise your child on the moral principles of the day. That child is a successful, law abiding citizen until they are in their mid-thirties when, due to a change in legislation, they now become a pariah. Society now punishes them for what society previously taught them.

2. Absolute Morality – Loving and Hating.

The only safety net available to this or any society is to return to or embrace God’s absolute morality. God has spoken. Obedience alone will bring His blessing. Empirically, we know this to be true. Our nation is in turmoil; it is in its death throes. If we are honest, we will admit that we are further from God than we have ever been, yet our estate is worse than it has ever been.

Our only hope, therefore, is to reject Man’s egalitarianism and subjective morality and embrace God’s absolute morality. We must learn to love what God loves and Hate what God hates.

At this statement, some will be greatly perplexed. They will never have heard these types of words before. Sadly, this is a confirmation of how much the World has penetrated the Church and Her theology.

Our minister has been preaching through Corinthians and he noted that the Corinthian problem was that there was too much World in the Church. Conversely, it may be argued that there is too little Church in the World. Perceive it as you will, the point is that the Church no longer believes God and His revelation of Morality and Truth. Therefore, She shies away from taking a stand. The Church has become so enamoured with being popular and with winning souls that She has forgotten what Holiness and Righteousness are and in Whom they are to be found.

This was brought home to me clearly many years ago when I made a statement about God “hating” certain things. I was immediately rebuked and told that such concepts were erroneous. I shook my head, disbelieving what my ears were transferring to my brain. Sadly, decades later, I am hearing a growing chorus of dissenters who are simply being blasphemous because they are speaking lies concerning God.

It is time to evict the World from the Church and inject the Church into the World! This eviction must begin with us believing what God says in His word about His own Being and Character, and as a consequence, jettisoning all the Worldly fair floss that we have purchased.

This jettisoning process must begin with acceptance of the very simple fact: God hates! As a Christian, as a Man created in God’s image,  I must hate what God hates. If I do not hate what God hates then I am being treasonous. Strong words by modern standards, but they are, nonetheless, true words. Think about it. Are we not citizens in a Kingdom? Are we not bound to obey the great King? Yes, we are; on both counts! Thus, to love what the King hates is to bring evil and falsehood into the Kingdom.[5]

Now, let’s be clear. We are speaking of God and as such we are speaking of intrinsic Morality as God has created and revealed it. We are not talking Ford v Holden, Pizza with or without anchovies, or whether we should drive on the left- or right-hand side of the road. No, we are speaking of God’s Morality intrinsic to Man as a consequence of being made in God’s image and likeness.

What then does God hate? Well, the answer is that God hates anything that digresses from His express will, decree, and standard. If we think of the Ten Commandments as a summary of God’s Morality, then we see that any digression from these Laws would be a thing that God dislikes intently. Thus, idolatry, adultery, homosexuality, greed, robbery, false worship, murder, and so forth are all things that God hates. It is for this reason that I say there are too many blasphemers who today speak lies in the name of God.[6] There are too many Christians who simply do not believe what God says about Himself.

If you are in doubt in regard to the basic thesis that God hates, then please consider the following (As you do, think about the relationship of each item to the Summary of God’s Moral Law, the Ten Commandments.):

Proverbs 6:16-19 – “There are six things which the Lord hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that run rapidly to evil, A false witness who utters lies, and one who spreads strife among brothers.”

Isaiah 61:8 – “For I, the Lord, love justice, I hate robbery in the burnt offering;”

Jeremiah 44:4-5 – “Yet I sent you all My servants the prophets, again and again, saying, “Oh, do not do this abominable thing which I hate.” ‘But they did not listen or incline their ears to turn from their wickedness, so as not to burn sacrifices to other gods.”

Amos 5:21 – “I hate, I reject your festivals, nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies.”

Zechariah 8:16-17 – “These are the things which you should do: speak the truth to one another; judge with truth and judgment for peace in your gates. ‘Also let none of you devise evil in your heart against another, and do not love perjury; for all these are what I hate,’ declares the Lord.”

Malachi 2:16 – “For I hate divorce,” says the Lord, the God of Israel, “and him who covers his garment with wrong,” says the Lord of hosts. “So take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously.”

To this list we could add those texts that speak, like several here, about that which the Lord God Almighty declares to be an abomination. As one example, please consider Deuteronomy 12:31 – “You shall not behave thus toward the Lord your God, for every abominable act which the Lord hates they have done for their gods; for they even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.”

As per usual, we are keenly aware that detractors will state that these texts are from the Old Testament and then justify this statement with some new spin on an old heresy. To these, we can only suggest that it time that they got their head around the Doctrine of God’s Immutability.

Anyway, for these, we will give one text which is very important. Here are Jesus’ words; the words of God’s eternal Son; words that Jesus, the resurrected Lord spoke to His Church concerning a group of wayward heretics: “Yet this you do have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.”[7]

Yes, Jesus hates. That is what the text says. Jesus commends His people for hating the deeds (works) of these heretics because Jesus also hated them. The commendation comes because at that very point these people were one with their Master.

This then gives us a clue as we move forward and look at what our attitude should be to those things which God hates. Indeed, this is not a clue or a hint; it is the reality of our relationship with God, through Christ Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit – we must be one with our God!

The Psalmists have this to say:

26:5 – “I hate the assembly of evildoers, and I will not sit with the wicked.”

31:6 – “I hate those who regard vain idols; But I trust in the Lord.”

97:10 – “Hate evil, you who love the Lord, Who preserves the souls of His godly ones; He delivers them from the hand of the wicked.”

139:21-22 – “Do I not hate those who hate Thee, O Lord? And do I not loathe those who rise up against Thee? I hate them with the utmost hatred; they have become my enemies.”

119: 104, 113, 128, 163 – “From Thy precepts I get understanding; Therefore I hate every false way; I hate those who are double-minded, But I love Thy law; Therefore I esteem right all Thy precepts concerning everything, I hate every false way; I hate and despise falsehood, But I love Thy law.”[8]

Next, a simple question: The fear of the Lord is …? How did you answer this? Did you say “knowledge” or maybe “wisdom”? Not incorrect, but did you realise that the same pen also wrote: “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way, and the perverted mouth, I hate”?[9]

Again, for the New Testamenty Christians we have this selection:

1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 – “But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil.”[10] (NIV: Test everything. Hold on to the good.  Avoid every kind of evil.)

Jude 22-23 – “And have mercy on some, who are doubting; save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh.”

Romans 12:9 – “Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.”

Lastly, let us conclude with two statements from Jesus:

Luke 14:26 – “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.”

Luke 16:13 – “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one, and love the other, or else he will hold to one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”

What these statements teach us is that God in Trinity must have the priority in our lives. There is no human relationship, nor is there wealth, life, philosophy, ideology, policy, or organisation that can make a claim on us that is greater than that which God makes. If we are God’s servants in and through Jesus Christ, then we must serve as Jesus did – My food is to do the will of Him Who sent Me and to accomplish His work!

It means that we can only love that which God loves and that we must hate and abominate that which God loathes. We cannot claim to be God’s faithful servants and then disown those things which are the essence of His nature. We cannot befriend that which God hates nor can we accept that which God has declared unacceptable.

Therefore, I am crawling out from under my rock and the hate speech I wish to say is this: Thus says the Lord, “Homosexuality is an abomination in My eyes”. As His servant, I say, “Homosexuality, along with murder, rape, thievery, and the like, is an affront to His holiness. If we as a nation continue to pander to the rebellious homosexual minority, in particular, and if we continue to fail in providing true justice, then we will ask for God’s wrath to be delivered to us both in time and space and in eternity. Our nation will not prosper. We will continue to face dangers from without and within. Our freedom will become slavery. Our joy will be turned to sorrow. We will inflict great suffering on the generations to be born.

Mr. Turnbull, Mr. Shorten, and all those who support the homosexual movement’s radical rebellion, know that you are playing with fire by angering Almighty God. Know that all your statements are falsehood. Know that you speak lies and impugn the integrity of God Almighty. Know that you betray your office as Ministers of God. Know that He will not acquit the guilty. Know that you are bringing destruction to this people. Know that you will give an account before His judge, Jesus Christ. Know that unless you repent, there will be no account that you can give of yourself that will be acceptable. Know that ideas and actions have consequences and your continued rebellion will bring ruination to this people in time and in eternity!

I adjure you by the mercies of God, forsake your folly; Kiss the Son lest you perish in your way; Flee from the coming wrath; Repent; Hate evil; Do what is Good; Live! Exalt this nation rather than cover it in shame and disgrace! In short, fulfill the great Commandment: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind!””

Footnotes:

[1] “Cotton Candy”, for our North American brethren.

[2] Taken from Saltshakers News Update, September 9, 2016.

[3] The nonsense of the current position being thrust upon society is seen in the growing alphabet soup. Once, homosexuals were labelled as “queer”. This was not acceptable to the moderns so it was changed to LGBT. Now this is not adequate. Apparently the fraternity of the sinful have embraced their former appellation, so a “Q” was added. Now this is not adequate, so the soup has been extended yet again to LGBTQIA, to included “intersex” and “asexual”. What next? All we will add is, please note that there is no “H” for heterosexual. Apparently it is okay to accept every sexual orientation except the one created and commanded by God!

[4] http://www.kidspot.com.au/parenting/real-life/in-the-news/im-in-love-with-my-brother-and-were-going-to-get-married. http://www.kidspot.com.au/parenting/real-life/in-the-news/mother-and-son-face-jail-as-they-fight-to-stay-in-sexual-relationship. This is now referred to as GSA – Genetic Sexual Attraction. The sickening aspect is that I had bookmarked one account of a Father and daughter. This story had disappeared, but I easily found two new ones on the same site – Vomit bags on standby!!!

[5] Isaiah 5:20 – “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” Proverbs 17:15 – “He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the righteous, both of them alike are an abomination to the Lord.”

[6] http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-08-30/welcoming-but-not-affirming-being-gay-and-christian/7798226. I refer you to this site for the picture, not necessarily for the article content.

[7] Revelation 2:6.

[8] Note that in these particular Psalms the contrast is always between God’s revealed standard – Law, Precept – and what the Psalmist sees in men.

[9] Proverbs 8:13.

[10] We would do well to remember that the “form” of evil begins with the evil thought. The evil thought produces evil actions. Thus, we must always be on guard against believing anything which contradicts God’s word for this is the evil root which will produce the evil fruit.