INTRODUCTION: One of the characteristics of God is His omniscience, i.e. that He is all knowing! But did you know that there were some things God did not know?

BODY

I. GOD DOES NOT KNOW ONE SIN THAT HE DOES NOT HATE.

A. The Psalms describes God's attitude toward sin.

1. Psalms 5:4-6 "For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, Nor shall evil dwell with You. 5- The boastful shall not stand in Your sight; You hate all workers of iniquity. 6- You shall destroy those who speak falsehood; The LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man."

2. Psalms 45:7- "You love righteousness and hate wickedness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions."

3. Proverbs 6:16-19

B. God hates even the "small sins" that we sometimes think are trivial.

1. Zechariah 8:17- "Let none of you think evil in your heart against your neighbor; And do not love a false oath. For all these are things that I hate,' Says the LORD.""

C. What attitude, then, should we take toward sin?

1. Psalms 119:104, 128- "Through Your precepts I get understanding; Therefore I hate every false way....Therefore all Your precepts concerning all things I consider to be right; I hate every false way."

2. Romans 12:9- "Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good."

3. Psalms 101:3- "I will set nothing wicked before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; It shall not cling to me."

4. Proverbs 8:13- "The fear of the LORD is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way And the perverse mouth I hate."

5. 1 Corinthians 13:6- "(love) does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;"

A. As intensely as God hates sin, He just as intensely loves those sinners who have rebelled against Him.

1. Ezekiel 33:11- ""Say to them: 'As I live,' says the Lord GOD, 'I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?'"

2. John 3:16

B. God wants all those who have departed from His way to return and be saved!

1. 1 Timothy 2:3-4 "For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4- who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth."

2. 2 Peter 3:9, 15- "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. 15- and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you,"

C. A couple word pictures of the love of God.

1. The Shepherd and the sheep- Luke 15:4-7

2. The Loving Father- Luke 15:20-24

D. This is why God sent His Son, to provide a means for salvation from sins.

1. Romans 5:8- "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

2. 1 John 4:10- "In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins."

A. The Gospel is God's means of salvation for all mankind.

1. Romans 1:16- "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek." 

B. It is through that gospel that God provides salvation from sins and a relationship with Him, in the church.

1. Ephesians 1:3-10, 20-23.

C. It is that method of salvation, the Gospel system, that we must remain loyal to, not depart from, and not change and modify!

1. Galatians 1:6-9

A. God has only promised one opportunity for salvation - TODAY!

1. 2 Corinthians 6:2- "For He says: "In an acceptable time I have heard you, And in the day of salvation I have helped you." Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation."

2. James 4:14- "whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away."

B. Christians must not get complacent about their salvation. We must work and be faithful TODAY!

1. Romans 13:11-14 "And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. 12- The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. 13- Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. 14- But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts."

2. John 9:4- ""I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work."

Special thanks to Jim Sasser for the original sermon.