Now some of you will walk out
of here tonight shocked. You'll say, I've never heard
anything like that. You'll say he was mean-spirited, all sorts
of things. But I can assure you if you would only read old books,
you would find out this is what preachers have always said. They
don't say it anymore because they want big churches. Now let me talk for a moment
about something that will be quite offensive to you. I want to talk a moment about
the hatred of God. Now, I know that you've heard
these evangelists over and over on television. How many times
do I hear evangelists get up in the pulpit and say, God is
not an angry God. Okay? Let's just see. Go with me to Psalms chapter
7, verse 11. God is a righteous judge and
a God who has indignation every day. In some of your translations,
a God who is angry every day. The Bible says God is an angry
God, and you ought to fall down on your knees and praise that
He is. Not only is He an angry God, He is a God who hates. The Bible does not say that God
hates the sin and loves the sinner. The Bible says God hates the
sinner. Look in Psalms 5. Just look there
for a moment. Psalms 5. Verse 5, the boastful shall not
stand before your eyes. You hate all who do iniquity. In another translation, you hate
all who do wrong. Now, you know that wonderful
statement that goes something like this, God loves the sinner and
hates the sin? Just look at this text. Is that
what it teaches? It's not what it teaches. I'm
sorry. I know it's a pretty thing to say and it looks good on the
back of a contemporary Christian t-shirt, but it's not what the
Scriptures teach. It does not say here that God's
hatred is manifested towards the wicked deed. It says God's
hatred is manifested towards the one who commits it. You say,
Brother Paul, but what about John 3.16? It's in the book. God so loved the world. Yes,
it's in the book, but so is Psalms 5. But God is merciful and a loving
God. What about that? Yes, that's
true and we're going to talk about it, but you can't understand
it until you understand the full counsel of God. God is love,
but this loving God hates. God is merciful, but He is angry. You see, you just can't take
one side of the coin, not just one part of the story, and that's
the problem today. Because you need to realize the
Bible says, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of
God, and you have no idea what that means. That we were born
radically depraved and God-hating. That we would have never sought
God, never come to God. We have rebelled against God,
broken every law. It's not just an issue that you
have sinned. The issue is you've never done
anything but sin. The Bible says in the Prophets
that even our greatest works are like filthy rags before God.
And because of that, you know what we deserve? the wrath of
God, the holy hatred of God. You say, now wait a minute. God
doesn't hate anybody. God is love. No, my friend. You need to understand something.
Jesus Christ taught, the prophets taught, the apostles taught this,
that apart from the grace of God revealed in Jesus Christ
our Lord, the only thing left for you is the wrath the fierce
anger of God because of your rebellion and your sin. When
I speak in universities, they're always quick to point out, no,
God cannot hate because God is love. And I tell you, God must
hate because God is love. You see, I love children, therefore
I hate abortion. If I love that which is holy,
I must hate that which is unholy. God is a holy God. That's something
that the Americans have forgotten. God loves all that is right,
all that is true, all that is good, all that is virtuous. But
Scripture after Scripture after Scripture in the Bible tells
us that His hatred is manifest against wickedness. Someone has
done a study of God's hatred in the Word of God. They examined
33 texts, and you can do this yourself. concerning the hatred
of God. Do you know that only 12 of those
texts describe God as hating the sin? Twelve. Twenty-one describe God
as hating the sinner. The psalmist said His soul hates
the wicked. He hates all evildoers. Now do not be mistaken. God's
hatred is not like ours. It is not a self-centered, egotistical,
selfish hatred. It is the reaction of a holy
God against men who are vile. Well, who are you speaking of?
Every man who was ever born a son of Adam. You need to understand. Just
what do you think the wrath of God is? some impersonal thing
that flies out from behind the throne of God. It is God. You
come to a text like John 3.36, the wrath of God abides upon
you already if you are not a believer in Jesus Christ. Already! That doesn't mean that God goes
around with a perpetual smile upon you. It means what it says. His wrath is upon you. There
are those of us in this place right now who sit here at relative
ease. God hates you. God's wrath, God's indignation,
God's anger is directed to you. And you know
what? You have provoked God more than
some who have lived in past generations in England and China. or Central
Africa. Because you have far more light.
And God's hatred towards you is stirred, His indignation is
stirred far more than for those who are there. And the only thing
that keeps you out of hell right now, the only thing, is God's
will to keep you there. God's forbearance. There is nothing
else. There is no promise. You know
all those passages, prepare to meet thy God? God is holy. He cannot look upon iniquity.
His eyes are too pure. That the wrath of God is revealed
against all unrighteousness. You and your sin being encountered
by a holy God, there is only one response. Wrath. God says in Ezekiel 8, Therefore
I will act in wrath, my eye will not spare, nor will I have pity. And though they cry in my ears
with a loud voice, I will not hear them. He will hate you with a perfect
hatred. He will hate you and He will
have you. That is the fearsomeness of hell.
The text we read says that those in hell, they are going to be
tormented. Where? In the presence of the holy angels
and of the Lamb. Let me give you another example.
Heaven is heaven because God is there. Well, that is true.
But then the counter is not true. Hell is hell because God's not
there. That's not what Scripture teaches. Hell is the wrath of
Almighty God. It is His perfect justice revealed
against men throughout an eternity. One of the most fearful things
about hell is not the total absence of God. The absence of all of
His blessings, yes. Can you imagine forevermore with
not any joy, no more comfort? But God is going to be there.
One of the fearful things about God, it is a fearful thing to
fall into the hands of the living God. He is a consuming fire.
And when He sets His face against you, He will trample you out. in the winepress of His wrath.
And it is forever. Jonathan Edwards, he said, Almighty
God will inflict wrath without any pity when God beholds the
unspeakable, he said the ineffable, extremity of your case and sees
your torment to be so vastly disproportioned to your strength
and sees how your poor soul is crushed and sinks down, as it
were, into an infinite gloom, He will have no compassion upon
you. He will not forbear the executions of His wrath, or in
the least, lighten His hand. There will be no moderation,
no mercy. He will have no regard to your
welfare. nor be at all careful lest you should suffer too much
in any other sense than only that you shall not suffer beyond
what strict justice requires. Nothing shall be withheld because
it is so hard for you to bear." This is no game. If you're not certain Something rings true to this
in your conscience that I'm in great danger of this. Christ stands ready to pardon. This is a day of mercy. This
is a day of grace. Today the voice of Christ beckons
you. Come. Come unto me, you that
labor and are heavy laden. I'll give you rest for your souls. Come. Today it's come. It's come. Then it will be depart. Depart. Depart. But God's love is of
such a character that He is even able to love and show love and
demonstrate love towards the objects of His wrath. It is though
with one hand God is holding back His justice against this
world, and with another hand He is pleading for men to come,
but one day both hands will be dropped. You know that, don't
you? Look. Look to Christ. Whatever sin you have to leave
behind, He says it is better to go blind than to go with two
eyes into that eternal fire. You may have some friends. You
may have somebody that put pressure on you, children. You hang around
with friends. They'd laugh at you if you did
this. Don't let anybody be responsible for damning your soul. There's
too much at stake. The wrath of God. Well, I just
don't believe that. Well, just what you believe doesn't
really matter. What does Scripture teach? There is the wrath of God and
it is the result of Him being righteous and holy and even loving
and good. Can God be loving and not move
against wickedness? No. Can God be good and be apathetic
towards evil? Absolutely not.