Seven Things God Hates - Part 6

For the Christian believer, the human body is God's temple and God's tool. As God's temple, we should use our bodies to glorify God. God says that to us in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20: "What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." In the way we act, in the way we dress, I think in the way we eat, in the way we care for ourselves, our bodies ought to glorify God. Paul wanted God to be magnified, Christ to be magnified, in his body.

But our bodies are not only God's temples, they are God's tools. He wants to use every part of our body to serve Him and to accomplish His will. I read in Romans 6:12-13—you might want to turn there, Romans 6:12-13: "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members"—that means the members of your body—"as instruments of unrighteousness." And that word instruments means arms or weapons or tools. "Instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God." God wants to take the various parts of our body and use these as tools to accomplish His will.

Now, we're reading Proverbs 6:16-19, and here you have sin controlling a human body. Listen. Proverbs 6:16: "These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: a proud look"—sin controlling the eyes. "A lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, a false witness that speaketh lies"—there's the tongue again—"and he that soweth discord among the brethren." Now, from head to foot, this person is controlled by sin, and this even involves the feet. Verse 18: "feet that be swift in running to mischief."

You see, this whole sequence is so real. It starts with a proud look. When you get proud, you have to defend yourself, so you start lying—a lying tongue. And then you really have to defend yourself—hands that shed innocent blood. Proud people don't let others get in the way; they just knock them down. This also leads to a heart that deviseth wicked imaginations. You've got to scheme more and more to support and promote and defend your pride. And this results, when you've made these schemes, in feet that are swift in running to mischief. The devil can even use your feet to accomplish his terrible purposes.

Let's talk about feet. The feet may not be the most beautiful part of the human anatomy, but let's talk about feet. They are important. In the Word of God, you find a great deal said about feet: the feet of the sinner, and the feet of the believer—the saint—and the feet of the Savior.

Let's start with the feet of the sinner. Solomon tells us that the feet of the sinner are used to accomplish mischief. "Feet that be swift in running to mischief." Isn't it interesting that when we have a job to do, we don't run? When we're having to go perhaps to the dentist or the doctor or someplace, we don't run. You don't see too many children running to get to school; they're so anxious to be there. No, when it's something we don't enjoy, we sort of take our time. But I tell you, when there's some sin to be perpetrated, when there's some mischief to be accomplished, somehow we find extra adrenaline and we can run swiftly to accomplish our own purposes. The feet of the sinner are swift to do evil, not to do good.

It's interesting that in the New Testament, Paul warns especially about busybodies. 2 Thessalonians 3:11: "For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly"—that means soldiers out of rank—"working not at all, but are busybodies." Now, they're busy, but they're not busy about the Lord's work. Their bodies are busy doing nothing. And he even goes further in 1 Timothy 5:13: "And withal they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house; and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not."

I don't know about you, but I find myself very busy. It seems when I finish one task, I have four more to do. There's always an article to write, a message to prepare, there's always a phone call to make, a decision to ponder. There's always something to do that keeps you busy. Even when I'm out on a trip somewhere, we're driving down the highway or flying over the highway, my mind is thinking about the work that has to be accomplished. I can't understand how there can be people in our churches today with nothing to do. When there are prayer meetings to attend, when there is a Bible to study, when there is witnessing to do, there are doors to knock on, there are chores to be done. I just can't understand how people can have feet that are running to mischief because they have nothing else to do.

I can't prove this statistically, I'm only conjecturing this from, oh, a lot of years of ministry in churches, that about 15 to 20 percent of the church population really is involved in getting the work done. The other 80, 85 percent are spectators. Busybodies, swift to do evil, running from house to house—or sometimes they don't let their feet do the walking, they let their fingers do the walking. They use the telephone to gossip and tattle and backbite, and God says, "I hate that. I don't want you to do that."

You see, if you aren't careful, your feet will lead you into sin. Proverbs 5:5 talks about the harlot, the strange woman who's out trying to attract people, and in verse 5 of Proverbs 5 it says, "Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell"—or on the grave, Sheol. Busybodies, leading people into sin, and that's the feet of the sinner.

Now, God knows all about that, and God says that the sinner is walking on the broad road that leads to destruction. Matthew 7:13-14 tells us that. And in verses 13 and 14, Jesus said, "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." The feet of the sinner on the broad, busy road that leads to destruction.

Now, that's not the kind of feet we want to have. You see, repentance means to change your mind. To be converted means to turn around. "Repent and be converted." Turn around. Your feet are walking toward hell, now turn around, start walking toward heaven. Repent of your sins, put faith in Jesus Christ, move into a different direction. Get on that narrow road that is leading to life. The feet of the sinner bring trouble, and the feet of the sinner are on their way to destruction.

Let's think now about the feet of the saint. We don't want to have feet that are swift in running to mischief. What kind of feet do we want to have? Well, number one, we want to have clean feet. Now, you remember what Jesus taught in John 13. He got up from the table and He put on a towel and He went around and washed the disciples' feet. It was a lesson in humility, a lesson in service, but also a lesson in daily cleansing. He gave us an example that we should serve others, but He also tells us that if we're going to have communion with Him, we must keep our feet clean. John 13:8, Jesus said, "If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me"—no communion with me. Verse 10: "He that is washed all over"—that's salvation—"needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all."

He was talking about Judas, of course. When you were saved, you were washed all over. As you serve the Lord and walk in this world, your feet get dirty. It's like the priests in the Old Testament Tabernacle. There was no floor in the Tabernacle, and as they served, their feet got dirty, and their hands got dirty handling the sacrifices, the blood and so forth. And so regularly they had to stop at the brazen vessel there, and it was filled with water, and they washed their hands and their feet. God wants us to have clean feet.

He wants us to have obedient feet. In Proverbs 4:25, listen to these statements from our Lord: "Let thine eyes look right on, let thine eyelids look straight before thee." You've got a goal, keep your eye on that goal, don't get distracted. "Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil." He says you get on the right road and you head for the right goal, and you have obedient feet. That's where Samson got into trouble. Samson kept going off on detours. It's a dangerous thing in the Christian life to go off on detours. God wants us to have obedient feet.

Now, how do you find out what path He wants you to walk on? By searching His Word, by living in His presence. Can two walk together except they be agreed? You meet the Lord in the morning, and you read the Word, you pray, you commit yourself to Him, and you say, "Now, Lord, guide me today." I sometimes ponder Psalm 25, where he talks about God being our light and our guide and showing us His will, where God gives us the path on which He wants us to walk. You ought to read Psalm 25. "The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way. All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies." You see, God guides those who are in His Word and who want to do His will. Cleansed feet, obedient feet.

Thirdly, God wants us to have beautiful feet. Now, I seriously doubt that my feet are very beautiful, but Romans 10:13-15 talks about beautiful feet. It's a quotation from Isaiah 52:7. Romans 10, Paul is talking about the desperate need to get salvation out to the whole world. Verse 13 of Romans 10: "For whosoever"—Jew, Gentile, rich, poor—"for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except they be sent? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!" Beautiful feet, a quotation from Isaiah 52:7.

Now, the logic here is unanswerable. You can't be saved until you call. You can't call unless you believe. You can't believe unless you hear. Faith comes by hearing, hearing by the Word of God. You can't hear without somebody sharing it, and these people will not share except they be sent. And they are sent because they have beautiful feet. Anybody who comes sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ is a person with beautiful feet.

I think of that first Easter morning, that resurrection morning, when the Lord Jesus Christ arose from the dead and the angels told the believers, "Get going! Go quickly and tell! Come and see, go and tell!" And they did. They were running all over the place telling people Jesus is alive. They had beautiful feet. Paul had beautiful feet. He took the Gospel throughout the Roman Empire and shared the Word of God with lost sinners.

Do you have beautiful feet? When you go visiting and knocking on doors and telling people about the Lord, you've got beautiful feet. Oh, people may not see it, but God sees it. God wants us to have beautiful feet, feet that bring the message of the Gospel to a lost world. By the way, one of our great needs today is to raise enough missionary support to send out these people with beautiful feet. I trust that you are sharing in the missionary enterprise of your local church and you're praying that God will raise the support needed. There are hundreds of missionaries waiting to go out, they just simply can't get the support. And if you want to have beautiful feet along with them, you pray and you give.

God wants us to have feet that are shod for peace. Ephesians 6:15, talking about the armor of the believer: "And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace." A soldier depended on those shoes for stability and security. And God says when you go forth, you are walking in peace, you're carrying the Gospel of peace, you are prepared to share the Gospel of peace. A soldier goes out to declare war; we go out to declare peace, because God has made peace through the blood of the cross.

We're also supposed to have believing feet. You say, "Well, how can my feet believe?" Well, let me illustrate it from Joshua 1. God says to Joshua in verse 3: "Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses." Joshua, step out by faith! In fact, in Joshua 3 they stepped out by faith and got their feet wet. They were crossing the Jordan. Joshua 3 tells us about this in verse 15: "And as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water." What happened? God opened the way, and they crossed the Jordan River.

You see, our feet express our faith. God said to Joshua, "You want to claim the land, just step out by faith. Wherever you walk and claim the land, it's yours. You want to enter the land, get your feet wet." I've seen people who just don't want to get their feet wet; they want to stay very safe and secure. When you're living by faith, you must have believing feet. You've got to take that step and get your feet wet and trust God to open the way.

Let's talk about the feet of the Savior. The Gospel of Mark is the Gospel of the servant, and 41 times in the Gospel of Mark you find immediately, immediately. Busy feet! Oh, the Lord Jesus was in the house of Peter, then He was in the synagogue, then He was by the seaside, then He was with the leper—busy feet, the Lord Jesus Christ as He served when He was here on earth. I want to have feet like that. I think you do, too.

All of God's people ought to be like the Savior in having busy feet, just carrying ministry and love and compassion to those who have need. Sometimes we open the doors of the church and wait for folks to come to us. Our Lord didn't do that; He just went to them. And the apostles went to them. In the book of Acts, the people got on their feet and they went out and everywhere carried the Gospel.

But the thing about my Lord that is so interesting—He had pierced feet. Psalm 22:16 says that: "They pierced my hands and my feet." Luke 24:40: "And when he had thus spoken, he"—Jesus—"showed them his hands and his feet." You know, when we get to heaven, we're going to see the wounds of our Lord Jesus in His body. He took back to heaven pierced hands, pierced feet, and a pierced side. The only work of man in heaven today: the wounds of the Lord Jesus Christ in His body. I'm going to have a glorified body that's perfect, no wounds. But He, throughout all eternity, will be the Lamb that was slain from before the foundation of the world. And we're going to look upon those wounds and we're going to say they're beautiful. The beautiful wounds of the Lord Jesus. He was wounded for us, wounded for our transgressions. The pierced feet of the Lord Jesus.

And today those are victorious feet. I like to read what Paul wrote to the Ephesians, chapter 1, verse 20, talking about God's mighty power "which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in that which is to come: and hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all."

I like that phrase: "He's put all things under his feet." You and I are worshiping the sovereign Savior. The pierced feet of the Lord Jesus Christ are the feet of the absolute sovereign of the universe. Victorious feet, glorified feet, feet that belong to the Head of the church, the King of kings and the Lord of lords.

What kind of feet do you have today? The feet of the sinner, running to mischief? Or the feet of the saint, bringing the blessing and the message of the Lord?