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[0:00] Amen. It's so good to see you all here today. And again, keep those in your thoughts and prayers that aren't here today.! Amen. Romans chapter 9, verse 13.

[0:14] ! As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.

[0:25] And then Revelation chapter 2, verse 6. But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

[0:39] Amen. Let's pray. Lord Jesus, I thank you, Lord, for this word that you've burdened me with. God, I pray, Lord, that you would loose my lips. God, let them be anointed to deliver your holy word to your people today, God.

[0:51] I pray, Lord, that it find a resting place upon our hearts and our minds and our souls. Lord, let it be fruitful, God, and let it be challenging, God. I pray, God, for the response at the end of the service.

[1:03] God, I pray that your people would respond to your preached word today, God, and that your word would be backed up by signs following. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen. Amen. Before you're seated, look across to the aisleway to the people on the other side of the church and say, hate is a strong word.

[1:24] Now look to your neighbor to your left and right. Hate is a strong word. Amen. That's my title today. You may be seated. Hate is a strong word. When we think about the times we use the word hate, we can probably all agree we overuse it.

[1:41] We overuse that word. Man, I hate to do that. Or man, I hate when they do that. Or man, I hate when that happens. And I hate it when I'm in a hurry.

[1:54] And all of a sudden it seems like everyone out on the road knows it somehow and somehow make and find their way in front of me and decide that now today they will go the speed limit or less than the speed limit.

[2:07] It seems like it happens every time I'm in a hurry. And I hate that. I hear people say that they hate Mondays. Mondays is that sudden disruption to your weekend that you just had and that sudden start of your work week.

[2:23] And who likes Mondays, you know, besides Sister Eccles because she gets to watch Miles on Mondays. But besides her, besides her, you know, I don't think many people really care for Mondays.

[2:34] And I've heard it said many times, I hate Mondays. I just hate Mondays. And I've heard people say that they hate group text. I don't know why. I mean, I can understand a little bit why if you're in a group text with my daughter, you might understand this.

[2:47] Constant notifications going off from the chatty people in the group. Amen. A lot of people have just said, I hate group text. There's a lot of things that we attribute hate to and say that I would hate something.

[3:00] I hate alarm clocks. Amen. Amen. I haven't been able to find an alarm clock tone that I can appreciate. They're all bad. I don't like any of them. Now I've come to the realization I just, I hate alarm clocks.

[3:14] Anyone else hate alarm clocks? Amen. Being jarred awake from beautiful sleep, you know, leads most people to hate alarm clocks. Right?

[3:24] And so, who here hates standing in long lines? Or do you love standing in long lines? I mean, we've probably said it before. Man, I hate standing in long lines. Have you ever been to Disneyland or something like that?

[3:36] And we hate waiting in long lines and things like that. But who likes commercials or ads that pop up when you're trying to watch the latest news video? And you click on the news video and all of a sudden you're taken to this ad that you have to watch for 30 seconds.

[3:51] And you're just waiting for the skip button to come up and you're just ready to push it at any second. Because we hate advertisements. We hate ads. You know, so there's things that, there's a lot of things in life that cause us to utter those words, I hate something.

[4:07] But the reality of it is these are just annoyances. And we really, we overuse the word hate. We really do. We're really overusing that word because the word hate is a strong word.

[4:19] Hate is a strong word. Amen. And we use it haphazardly. We use it a lot more than we probably should. Amen. And we should be careful what we say.

[4:32] And not just pass out the word hate like it's Halloween candy. Amen. Because the fact is hate is a strong word. And Brother Webster says that hate is extreme dislike or disgust.

[4:46] And to feel extreme enmity toward or to regard with active hostility. Amen. I hate your guts. Have you ever heard that said?

[4:58] Or have you ever said that? Those are ugly words. It's so ugly to say something like that. But how many of you have heard something similar said? Amen. The thing that we need to understand about the word hate is that it is actually, it really is a strong word.

[5:14] Not a word that we should use lightly. And hate is not a word a Christian should use regularly. A disciple of Jesus Christ has only three things that they should hate.

[5:27] And it is the same three things that God hates. Amen. Amen. I'm here to teach about hate today. Is that okay? You're expecting to hear a message on love. Amen. Today. But we're going to talk about hate for a little bit.

[5:40] Okay. What does God hate? We hear a lot about God's love. And I preach it here plenty. You know, 1 John 4 and 8.

[5:51] He that loveth not knoweth not God. For God is love. God is literally what love is. Amen. And we need to love. We need to love. Love God with all of our heart, soul, and mind.

[6:03] Love your neighbor as yourself, which includes yourself. So we're to love God. We're to love ourselves. And we're to love our neighbors. We preach that here. We understand that here. Ephesians 2, 4 through 5.

[6:14] But God, who is rich in mercy for his great love, wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ by grace.

[6:24] You're saved. Amen. I thank God that he loved us and that he was willing to love us even when we were at a point in sin, because he could see that we would answer that call and that pulling to repentance one day.

[6:39] Amen. Amen. Romans 8 and 38 and verse 39. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height or depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

[6:56] This is a message to the church. This is a message to the church in Rome. Amen. Amen. That we're not going to be separated by the love of God. He's going to love us. Amen.

[7:06] There are hundreds of verses I can read to you that emphasize the depth and the sacrificial nature of God's love towards us.

[7:18] And we ought to cling to those scriptures and have confidence in those scriptures. Amen. And be encouraged by the knowledge that God is love and he has directed that love toward us.

[7:31] Amen. But when we come across scriptures that indicates to us that God hates something, we better stop and pay attention because when it comes from God, that word hate is a strong word.

[7:46] Amen. If God is love and he uses a word like hate, we may think a good idea to stop and pay attention to what's going on here. God said, Jacob, have I loved, but Esau, have I hated.

[7:58] God speaking to the church in Ephesus said, thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. Hate is a strong word. And when it comes out of the mouth of God, hate is not just an overused, watered down word that God uses.

[8:14] Amen. Amen. Like like oftentimes we do as humans. But it is a strong word and we need to pay attention to what it is that God hates. The Bible has 18 verses that talk about what God hates.

[8:27] 16 times in the Old Testament and two times in what God hates is mentioned in the New Testament. And all these mentionings, I have categorized them into three specific things that God hates.

[8:41] And I want to teach that to you today. I want to show that to you. And in the Old Testament, God would speak to his chosen people through to the Israelites through his prophets.

[8:53] Amen. David. He's looked at as a king. He was King David, but he was also used in prophecy. David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hosea, Amos, Zechariah, Malachi and Moses all spoke of things that God hates.

[9:06] And those 16 verses I'm talking about. Amen. And and I'll give you some examples so we know what we're talking about. Psalm five and five. The foolish shall not stand in thy sight.

[9:19] Thou hatest all workers of iniquity. Amen. Proverbs six and 16 through 19. These six things that the Lord hate. Yea, seven are an abomination unto him.

[9:32] A proud look. A lying tongue. Hands that shed innocent blood. And a heart that divides wicked imaginations.

[9:44] Feet that are swift and running to mischief. A false witness that speaketh lies. And he that soweth discord among the brethren.

[9:55] Gossipers. These are in no particular order, but the first thing I'm going to point out in Scripture is that God hates wickedness and sin. Those verses that I just read speak of things of wickedness and sin.

[10:09] And so the three things that I've categorized all all of Scriptures that I could find where God is speaking in the context of hating something. They're not in any particular order today that I'm going to present them to you.

[10:23] But the first one is that God hates wickedness and sin. We need to be on notice today of these three things that God hates because hate is a strong word. So if God hates it, I'm going to hate it, too, actually, because the Spirit of God lives in me.

[10:39] Amen. And if I'm surrendered to the Holy Ghost and I'm surrendered to the Holy Spirit inside of me and I'm surrendered to the things of God, I'm surrendered to his word. The things that God loves, I love and the things that God hates, I hate, too.

[10:54] Amen. And so the first thing we need to understand is God hates sin. God hates wickedness. He hates it to the truest sense of the definition of hate. He is disgusted by sin.

[11:05] He is against sin. He is actively hostile towards sin and wickedness. Because God is, we, too, should be absolutely disgusted by sin and wickedness.

[11:17] There's not an ounce of God in it, as my grandfather would say. Amen. They made a children's movie called Wicked, and they promote witches and wickedness as being misunderstood and actually good.

[11:30] And that's the way of the world, and God hates it. And if you enjoy sin and wickedness, if you are entertained by sin and wickedness, if you find pleasure in watching sin and wickedness, and you're not a disciple of Jesus Christ because God hates sin and wickedness and is disgusted by it and is hostile towards it.

[11:52] Amen. Psalms 11 and 5 says, The Lord trieth the righteous, but the wicked in him that loveth violence, his soul hateth. The soul of God.

[12:03] I didn't ever caught that before. God's soul hateth. I have to study that some more. That terminology, his soul hateth.

[12:13] Whatever is on its surface without studying it, it's like whatever, if you try to understand who or what God is, your mind's going to fail at some point because you can only go so deep with the human brain.

[12:30] But whatever that core thing that God is, whatever that is, that soul of God, it hates wickedness. We have to understand this today. Don't ever say, God has me going through a trial.

[12:44] He must hate me. The scripture said, The Lord trieth the righteous, but the wicked in him that loveth violence, his soul hateth. Amen. So don't ever say, if you're going through a trial, that God must hate me.

[12:55] The Lord trieth the righteous, but his soul hateth the wicked. Amen. It doesn't mean he hates you just because you're going through a trial. But people that he hates go through trial too. The difference is if you're living a life of wickedness and sin.

[13:10] Hate is a strong word, right? And so God doesn't use it lightly. We have to repent of our sins. We have to repent of our wickedness. And there's this whole category of scriptures that we can read.

[13:22] They all pertain to moral and ethical and relational sins. And God hates it all. He's against all of it. Amen. They all sicken him.

[13:33] And so we shouldn't be amused by what God hates. Don't be drawn into what God hates. Don't be enticed by the things that God hates. Stay clear of sin and wickedness.

[13:45] Stay away from it. Don't touch it. Don't listen to it. Don't watch it. Don't participate in it. Repent of it and turn away from it. And don't look back. Look towards God and the things that God loves and reject the things that God hates.

[13:58] Amen. And sin and wickedness is something that God absolutely hates. The second category that I can sum up scripture into, the things that God hates, is idolatry and false religion.

[14:12] Idolatry and false religion. Amen. Idolatry, worshiping something or someone else, which can also include yourself.

[14:24] Amen. And not God. Anything that you would worship instead of God, including yourself, is idolatry. Leviticus 26 and 30.

[14:34] And I will destroy your high places and cut down your images and cast your carcasses upon the carcasses of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you.

[14:46] There's another term with God using his soul. Abhor you. Same as hate. Or probably worse, if there is such a thing. Deuteronomy 6 and 22. Neither shalt thou set thee up any image which the Lord thy God hateth.

[15:03] Amen. God hates images and idols. And all through the Old Testament journey of God's chosen people, the Israelites, they always seem to have their eyes looking to the left or looking to the right in their peripheral at all the pagan nations around them, and all the false gods that those pagan nations worship.

[15:24] I mean, they always had their eyes somewhere else. But it also is mentioned in the New Testament as well with the apostolic church. Amen. And we have to understand that today we're the apostolic church, and we're the Old Testament.

[15:38] It was the Israelites. In the New Testament, it's the church. Amen. The apostolic church has been birthed in Acts chapter 2. And there was a great revival that thousands come to the Lord and were filled with the Holy Ghost.

[15:53] And the apostles continued in the apostles' doctrine in Acts 2.42. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship and in breaking of bread and in prayers. But it wasn't long that the new spiritual Israelites, us, the first church, those that were not Jews, those of us that were grafted in by the Holy Ghost, the spiritual church, the spiritual Israel, that grafted branch, began to turn their eyes to the left and to the right.

[16:24] And in Galatians chapter 1, 6 through 9, Paul, speaking to the church, I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel, which is not another, but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ.

[16:47] But though we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you other than that you have received, let him be accursed.

[17:07] Amen. Said it very clear. And when we see in the last book of your Bible, and we read it in Revelation, where God is speaking through an angel to the churches, and he's speaking to the church in Ephesus in Revelation chapter 2, verse 1 through 6, unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write, these things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, I know thy works, and thy labor, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil, and thou hast tried them which say they're apostles and are not, and has found them liars.

[17:46] So notice the people in the church of Ephesus, they can't bear those that are evil. They don't put up with that. They don't, they hate what God hates, right?

[17:57] And so continue verse 3, and has borne and has patience and for my name's sake has labored. Amen. Are we laboring for the name of Jesus today? And has not fainted.

[18:09] Nevertheless, I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. We may have heard this preached before. Verse 5, Remember, therefore, from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works, or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of its place, except thou repent.

[18:26] So Jesus is telling them, you're doing good. You hate evil. You hate sin and wickedness, like me. Good job. However, I'm a little upset with you, because you lost that first love, your enthusiasm for me.

[18:39] You know, it's not as hot. It's not that white hot love that you had for me in the beginning. So I'm a little heartbroken about that, and so you need to repent, or I'm going to come and take my spirit from you, that candle, that candlestick.

[18:52] I'm going to take that, your ability to be a witness, I'm going to take that from you, if you don't repent of that. And then he continues for one more verse, and here it is. It's my point in verse 6.

[19:03] Revelation chapter 2, in verse 6, we read it. But this thou hast, so he's telling that church, but this you do have, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

[19:16] One other good thing you have, is that you hate what I hate, because you also hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans. So it begs the question, who are the Nicolaitans? In another verse, to the church of Pergamos, after this, who are accepting the Nicolaitans, Jesus said this, in Revelation 2.15, so hast thou also them, that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.

[19:44] So who are these Nicolaitans? Because God says, he hates the deeds of the Nicolaitans, and the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, and if God hates their deeds, and their doctrine, I want to as well.

[19:56] So I want to know what this is. And so I've studied, and studied, and studied, and studied, to find that the scripture doesn't tell us anything else.

[20:07] And if anyone tells you anything else about the Nicolaitans, it's a stretch, okay? I can find, you can find all kinds of stuff on it, but it's a stretch, it's the fill in the blanks, it's the speculations, and opinions, and all that.

[20:21] But what is clear from the scripture, is that they had some other doctrine, or teaching, and some other practice, or deeds, because he said he hated, the deeds of the Nicolaitans, and he hated the doctrine of the Nicolaitans.

[20:34] And so, so what are we to learn of this? Amen. And I think the reason why God kept it hidden to the specifics of what that really was, because it doesn't really matter what it was.

[20:47] It was something different than the apostles' doctrine. Amen. If it was something specific mentioned in the Bible, we could say, well, it's just as long as we don't do that, then we can do whatever else.

[20:58] But he left it a mystery. He left it unknown, for the purpose, I believe, to let us know that it doesn't matter what the teaching is. It doesn't matter what the deeds or the practices are.

[21:09] If it's not the apostles' doctrine, then it's wrong, and I hate it. Amen. So, we have to be clear from scripture, that it was some other doctrine, some other teachings, some other practices and deeds, and so, God hates it.

[21:25] Idolatry, worshiping false gods, and participating in any false religion, that is not of the book of Acts, Acts of the Apostles, Apostles' doctrine, the unadulterated gospel that was delivered to the apostles by God himself in Jesus Christ, and any other teaching, any other practice is false, and God hates it.

[21:44] Amen. Amen. He hates it. The Bible says in Ephesians, ironically enough, in the letter to the Ephesians, before Jesus speaking to Ephesians in Revelation chapter 2, so before that, I wonder where they got their teaching from.

[22:00] I wonder where they got their steadfastness from, about hating the doctrine, or the deeds of the Nicolaitans, and we find it in Ephesians chapter 4, verse 5 and 6, where Paul is teaching them, there's one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God, and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

[22:20] Amen. That Holy Ghost, that you have the Spirit of Christ in you, it's the Spirit of God in you. Amen. The Holy Ghost in you is that one Lord, one faith, one Holy Ghost baptism.

[22:30] There isn't any other doctrine, there isn't any other deeds, or practices to worry about. There is only one God, apostolic faith, and anything else, God hates it. Amen. God hates sin, and wickedness, and that's unrepentant.

[22:43] God hates any kind of false doctrine, or practices that isn't the one God, apostolic doctrine. Amen. And hate is a strong word, and God hates it. And so, what is the third thing that God hates?

[22:56] I'm so glad you asked. And I'll explain to you, the third category that I've been able to put these scriptures into. And we read it.

[23:09] In the beginning, Jacob, have I loved, but Esau, have I hated. Where does this come from? It's Malachi 1.3 in the Old Testament. And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains, and his heritage, that means his whole future, his children, his grandchildren, every descendant.

[23:27] I've hated Esau, and laid his mountains, all his possessions, everything he could have, and all his heritage, waste, for the dragons of the wilderness. The dragons of the wilderness.

[23:39] Amen. Those are some strong words. Hate's a strong word. And how do we apply that today? Dragons of the wilderness. Amen. Whenever the Bible's speaking of dragons, it's usually speaking of the devil, and when it's speaking of the wilderness, it's speaking of the world, worldliness.

[23:57] And so, he hated Esau, that he basically gave him over, and his whole family, and generations to come, over to the devil, and to the world.

[24:10] Amen. Romans 9 and 13 repeated it. This is Paul to the Romans. As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. We read it. The story of Jacob and Esau, I don't know if you know it or not, I'll just give you the real brief highlights, which you can find in Genesis chapter 25 through 36.

[24:32] It's a story of twin brothers, who choices shaped their destinies, and ultimately had vast, far-reaching implications upon their family, their children, and all their descendants.

[24:46] Twin brothers Jacob and Esau were born to Isaac and Rebekah, their lives intertwined with God's covenant promise to Abraham, the descendants of Abraham directly.

[24:56] And Esau, the firstborn, held the birthright. They were twins, but Esau was born first, and so he held the birthright, which was a sacred privilege of an inheritance of spiritual leadership.

[25:12] He would become the spiritual leader. Amen. When his father would be gone. When Isaac would be gone.

[25:23] Amen. And so, yet in the moment of hunger, you may know the story, he traded that birthright and that spiritual calling, if you will, to Jacob for a bowl of soup.

[25:38] And when he did, he despised the eternal weight of that birthright and spiritual calling upon his life. Amen. He despised it for a bowl of soup. And that is what God hates.

[25:50] God hated his rejection of his calling, the rejection of his role that God had for him. Amen. Although it was prophesied that it would happen beforehand, God knows the beginning to the end.

[26:06] But God hated that. Esau gave away what should have been highly valued in the lineage of Abraham, the father of the faithful. But instead, Esau valued immediate comfort for a bowl of soup when he was hungry over divine purpose and divine calling and divine opportunity that landed upon his lap.

[26:29] Amen. Not anything that Esau could have done to earn that. He was born into that spot that he could have had that. But he chose not to over a bowl of soup.

[26:41] And God hates when we trade our calling, our role in his kingdom for insignificant things in life. Amen. This truth has landed in our laps.

[26:53] Somehow, someway, whatever, however you've gotten here today. Amen. It's come to you and it's in your hands right now. And God hates it when we trade our role in his kingdom for insignificant things in life.

[27:06] And we do that, don't we, sometimes? And we don't think about that a lot, but we need to today. Compared to the calling God has for you and the role he has for you in his kingdom, there's nothing greater in value.

[27:17] You're never going to find anything greater in value than what God has for you in his kingdom. And so trading what God wants you to be for whatever else, it's a dangerous decision to make because it's a decision that will not only affect you and your destiny, but also the destiny of your descendants and those that look to you.

[27:36] Amen. And God hates sin and wickedness. God hates idolatry and false religion. And God hates when you squander his calling he has on your life for anything else in this world.

[27:47] Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. And hate is a strong word. Amen. Hate is a strong word. I invite you to stand today.

[27:58] Let's all stand. The call today from the Lord for this church, for the disciples of Jesus Christ, from me, to everybody that's here, the call today for us is to take a look at our current situation.

[28:12] If you're caught up in sin, it's time to repent. It's time to repent. We shouldn't have unrepented sin and wickedness in our lives and in our hearts.

[28:24] Amen. Don't have an unrepented sin and wickedness in your life. If you're struggling with this one God, Jesus name, Holy Ghost message, or you're putting something else, you're lifting up, exalting something else in your life other than God.

[28:40] Pray to God that he helps you understand the apostles' doctrine and helps you reject idolatry and false teachings. Don't tolerate false religion. Amen. And idolatry.

[28:51] And if you have not made your role in the kingdom of God your priority, and you are focused on some other things in life, you need to get right with God before you leave here today.

[29:03] Amen. I feel it so strongly in my spirit today, especially this last third one. And I saved the best for last, if you will. It's because I believe this is the word of God for this church today, for the people that are here.

[29:16] Amen. A disciple of Jesus Christ has only three things that we should hate. And it is the same three things God hates. And we really need to hate them. We really do.

[29:27] And we need to get disgusted over sin. We need to get disgusted over false doctrine. And disgusted over rejecting our callings into the kingdom of God in our lives.

[29:38] Reject sin. Reject false doctrine and idolatry. And embrace your calling and the role in the kingdom of God has for you. I feel that so strongly today. And so here is how we do it.

[29:51] We get full of the Holy Ghost. We get full of the Holy Ghost and we submit to the leading and guiding of the Holy Ghost. Amen. The Holy Ghost will lead you away from sin.

[30:02] It leads you and guides you away from sin. It gives you the strength to conquer sin. When you didn't have that strength before. It gives you the strength to overcome wickedness. Amen.

[30:13] To be conquerors in this world. To conquer the world. And the Holy Ghost inside you will lead you to truth. The Bible says it will lead you to all truth. And away from idolatry and false religion if you submit to the Holy Ghost.

[30:25] But if you submit to the Holy Ghost inside of you it will be your guide into what your role is in the kingdom of God. And for as many that are led by the spirit of God they are the children and the sons of God.

[30:38] Amen. And so that's what I want us to pray today. I want us to find a place to pray before we leave today to understand and I feel a heavy burden today that there's people in here including myself that we have been called to specific roles.

[30:54] We all have a calling. We all have a role to play in the kingdom of God. Amen. And we can't squander the call. We cannot squander the role that God has placed in us.

[31:05] Amen. I don't know how you came to know truth. I don't know how you came to hear truth but you're here and you know truth. You've heard truth preached. Amen.

[31:16] You've been called to the kingdom of God and if you've got the Holy Ghost inside of you there should be a drawing and a desire to want to serve God and to be in His kingdom today. Amen. And so if we're not focused on that if we're not investing in that whatever that is Amen.

[31:32] And maybe we haven't even taken the time to consider or to pray and wonder and ask God what is it my purpose in your kingdom? Oh God I want to be a servant of yours.

[31:43] I want to be in your kingdom oh Lord. God I want to serve you in your kingdom Jesus. If we have not even taken the time to do that today is a good time to start. Amen. Let's not squander what's landed in our lap.

[31:57] Amen. Amen. God Jacob he loved Esau he hated. Amen. And the reason why is because of the squandering of the birthright. The squandering of the spiritual implications of what he had available to him.

[32:12]  Amen. And that's what I would hate for us to do today. Amen. Let's find a place to pray before we leave.