Proverbs 6:16-19
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These six things the Lord hates, yes, 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 in running to evil, A FALSE WITNESS WHO SPEAKS LIES, and one who sows discord among brethren.”
If we love God then we will love what He loves and hate what He hates. God is capable of hate, as we can see from the above scripture. He has feelings and I have grown to care about them. I also know that He cares deeply about how I feel.
Most of the New Testament addresses the way in which we, His children, treat one another. He cares deeply about this and Jesus made it very clear that His main desire is that we love one another. The church at large is presently sailing treacherous waters since we are in the very last days and the scriptures pertaining to them. The wheat and the tares are growing fast together.
Years ago I was impacted by the opening chapter of Rick Joyner’s book The Final Quest, which described a vision he had seen of the awful behavior of the saints towards each other, as they fell under the influence of the end time demonic hordes who drove them to extreme hateful antics. I remember thinking that this must break the Fathers’ heart. It does.
As an apostle I am burdened both by and for the church, and in recent times have been afflicted by many attacks of FALSE WITNESS which have been weapons formed against me. I am not writing this article in an attempt to defend myself – God will defend me – but rather to appeal to Christians who name the name of Jesus Christ yet are pro-active in broadcasting untruths about other Christians.
We are regularly warned from pulpits all over the world concerning the issue of GOSSIP, and so we should take heed. There is a difference between GOSSIP and FALSE WITNESS though, since it is possible to gossip the truth about people and things yet be violating a confidence and broadcasting things which should remain private and confidential. Just because we know something does not mean we have permission to inform others.
FALSE WITNESS however is lying about someone or something supposedly pertaining to them. It’s about broadcasting the wrong facts on purpose in order to discredit them by attacking their character or name. It can ruin a persons’ good reputation and is a gross evil, which is why God hates it. It can be fueled by jealously, envy, revenge or pure malice, or even by pharisaical religious zeal wanting to ‘fix’ someone, which is pure vindictiveness. It is a spirit of MALICE, which means ‘active ill-will!’ The devil is the ‘father of lies’ and those who insist on practicing FALSE WITNESS are in danger of becoming his children if they don’t arrest their tongues!
One of the ways this spirit has attacked me personally has been via assumption and presumptuous judgmentalism i.e. some people have presumed to know what they ‘think’ I believe, have been opposed to it and judged me by it and then broadcast it to anyone who would listen to their opinion of the supposed ‘error of my ways/ false doctrine’ etc. This results in me being misrepresented and lied about in and to the public arena, causing people to suspect and distrust me as a minister.
Of course I’m not the only minister victimized by this. Rick Joyner and others have whole websites dedicated to destroying them! I am not claiming to be on their level and I don’t have a persecution complex. My main concern is that the saints and other ministers should STOP practicing these behaviours – IF they love God that is?
How the devil loves it when the saints slander one another and fight on FACEBOOK and other electronic media! Especially if they name one another in a way that exposes them. This is disgusting and the PROPHET in me must WARN about it. Why? Because God’s children must walk in a manner worthy of our call. Apostles are burdened and in labour UNTIL Christ (not the enemy) is formed within the saints.
Something to consider – how do you know that what you are being told about someone is the truth? If it’s something negative and unsavory it should not be passed on even if it is true – we can pray for people if we believe them to be wrong. The scripture warns us not to ‘
judge the servant of another’ (Romans 14:4,10)
It’s interesting to me that in Proverbs 6 it says that God hates the PERSON who speaks the lies! Wow! That’s serious! Personally I don’t wish to be hated by God. There are other places in scripture where God is said to hate the PERSON/PEOPLE. I am grateful for His grace and the time He gives to us to repent. Please guys – we live in a nasty world plagued with opinions and arguments, arrogance and criticism, fault – finding, mocking and ridicule, competition and bitterness. This should not be within the Bride of Christ, and one more point please- criticism is NOT ‘truth spoken in love’, as some use as an excuse. Love is KIND – can we be please be KIND TO GOD?
Grace to you all,
Apostle Lynne Hamilton