A Christian’s approach to life situations part 17
Lying
Lying is one of the most tempting and easy sins that a Christian can commit. Sometime we find it easier to lie than to tell the truth. Some of the latest Twix commercials have played on this idea and they have come up with their own way to keep you from actually having to say the truth in difficult situations. The first one I remember is a man was sitting on the couch watching some TV eating on his Twix bar when his wife comes in and ask him if her outfit makes her look fat and of course this was a large woman and she had on spandex. He quickly shoves the whole Twix bar in his mouth and then answers the question. Of course you couldn’t understand what he said, but the woman assumed the best and told him how sweet he was. Once she left the room he wiped his brow in relief.
While this might make us laugh its situations like this that tempt the Christian to lie. However, we will learn in this lesson that a Christian should avoid lying at all cost because it is a sin.
One of the first things we need to realize about lying is where it comes from,
John 8:44
"You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father
you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand
in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks
from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.
Jesus was rebuking some
Jews who would not believe Him and said that the devil was their father. He
also tells us that the devil has no truth in him and he is the father of lies.
He is the one who invented it and he is the first one we read about using a lie
to deceive in,
Genesis 3:4 Then the serpent said to the woman, "You
will not surely die. 5
"For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and
you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
The devil is good at
telling lies. He loves to mix in a little truth with his lies to make them more
believable. That exactly what he did with Jesus when he tried to tempt Him.
Remember how he would quote scripture to Jesus trying to get Him to sin, but
Jesus knew his tricks and was now fooled by him and said, Away with you, Satan.
So we need to keep in
mind that when we decide to tell a lie,
that we are making Satan our father and we joining forces with him. Anytime you
decide to lie, just visualize in your mind the devil putting his arm around you
and patting you on the back telling you what a great job you are doing. Imagining
that should make the hairs on your neck raise up and make you think twice about
lying to someone.
If you are someone that
lies all the time I hope you have good memory because it’s going to be hard for
you remember what lie you told a week ago or a month ago. However, if you don’t
tell lies you don’t have to worry about this because your story will always be
the same. Once a person realizes that you like to lie, they will never trust
what you say even when it’s important.
I am reminded of the
children story of the boy who called wolf. He called wolf several times when
there was no wolf to play a joke on the people, but when a wolf really was
there and he cried wolf, no one would come because they figured he was lying
and the wolf got to eat as much as he wanted.
Next we are going to
examine several examples from the Bible of why people lied and what the results
were from it.
Genesis 4:8 Now
Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the
field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him. 9 Then the LORD said to Cain,
"Where is Abel your brother?" He said, "I do not know. Am
I my brother's keeper?" 10
And He said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries
out to Me from the ground. 11
"So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth
to receive your brother's blood from your hand.
12 "When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield
its strength to you. A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth."
In this familiar story we
know that Cain was jealous because God accepted Able’s sacrifice, but he didn’t
accept his. So, he kills his brother over this. Now when God asked him where
his brother was what did Cain do? He lied. Why did he lie? Because he didn’t
want anyone to know what he had done. But his lying didn’t do him any good when
it came to God because no thought or deed can be hidden from Him. What was the
result of his lie? He became cursed and the ground would no longer produce for
him as it had and he would always be on the run like a fugitive.
This teaches us that
nothing escapes the eyes of God. In fact Jesus tells us,
Matthew 12:36
"But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give
account of it in the day of judgment. 37
"For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be
condemned."
We need to realize that
God is listening and He doesn’t miss a word. Knowing this should encourage us
to choose our words wisely and to avoid lying.
Our next example comes
from when Joseph’s brothers wanted to get rid of him because they were jealous
of him. Instead of killing him, they sold him into slavery and they decided to
lie to their Father about what had happened as we can see in,
Genesis 37:31 So they
took Joseph's tunic, killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the tunic in the
blood. 32 Then they sent the
tunic of many colors, and they brought it to their father and
said, "We have found this. Do you know whether it is your son's
tunic or not?" 33 And he
recognized it and said, "It is my son's tunic. A wild beast has
devoured him. Without doubt Joseph is torn to pieces." 34 Then Jacob tore his clothes,
put sackcloth on his waist, and mourned for his son many days. 35 And all his sons and all his
daughters arose to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted, and he said,
"For I shall go down into the grave to my son in mourning." Thus his
father wept for him.
Jealousy is what drove
these brothers to lie. Instead of dealing with their problem in a positive way
they got rid of their brother and simply lied to cover it up. At the time, they
thought it was great idea and thought their father would get over it soon
enough, but as we read this made Jacob extremely sad and he could not be
comforted and he states that he would mourn his son until the day he dies.
This shows that while a
lie may seem like an easy way to cover up something evil that you have done and
to make your life easier it can still hurt someone else. After his brothers saw
how much Jacob was hurt by this scheme they concocted, you know they felt
guilty for the misery they had caused him. So, we need to keep this mind before
we lie to make things easier for ourselves.
Our next example comes
from,
Acts 5:1 But a
certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession. 2 And he kept back part of
the proceeds, his wife also being aware of it, and brought a certain
part and laid it at the apostles' feet.
3 But Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your
heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the
land for yourself? 4
"While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not
in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have
not lied to men but to God." 5
Then Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and breathed his last. So great
fear came upon all those who heard these things.
As the story goes on we
know that His wife tells the same lie and she is struck dead by God as well.
But, what motivated these two lie? Well, as I mentioned this morning they were
being greedy and wanted to keep part of their money while pretending to give it
all away. But, another possible reason they did this was so they would receive
the praise of others. Right before this event, Barnabas had sold his land and
gave all the money from it to the apostles. It certainly possible that the
people were praising him for making such a great sacrifice and so Ananias and
his may have wanted this same praise.
They didn’t have to lie
about what they had done because their land and their money was theirs. They
could give part of it or all it. Nobody was demanding that they give it all.
But, since they lied about it, the result was physical death.
This is another result
that can come from lying. Now, God is not going strike you dead today for
telling a lie. However, if you tell the wrong person a lie, they could kill you
or someone else.
Another example comes
from,
Matthew 26:69 Now
Peter sat outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came to him, saying,
"You also were with Jesus of
If you will remember
Peter had told Jesus earlier that he would never deny Jesus even it would cost
him his life. But now, we find him lying because he is afraid for his life.
These people were sure that he was one of Jesus’ disciples, but He denied it 3
times before the rooster crowed. The results of his lie caused him to be
overwhelmed with guilt and disappointment in himself.
This same thing can
happen to us today when we lie. Sometimes a Christian will lie about being a
Christian when they want to fit in and they will engage in some sinful
activity, but afterwards when they reflect on what they did they too will be
overwhelmed with guilt and disappointment in themselves.
Our next example shows
how some use lies and deception to lead people astray.
2 Peter 2:1 But
there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false
teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even
denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift
destruction. 2 And many will
follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be
blasphemed. 3 By covetousness
they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has
not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber.
There have always been
false prophets and false teachers in the world and they have learned well from
the master the devil because they like to cover up their false ways by claiming
they love God. They will use scripture and mix it in with their own opinions
and hidden agendas and they will manipulate you with their deceptive words.
An example of this comes
from 1 Kings 13 when God sent a man to go to
1 Kings 13:8 If you were to give me half your house, I
would not go in with you; nor would I eat bread nor drink water in this
place. 9 "For so it was
commanded me by the word of the LORD, saying, 'You shall not eat bread, nor
drink water, nor return by the same way you came.' " 10 So he went another way and did
not return by the way he came to
Next an old prophet
catches up to this man and invites him to eat with as well and once again the
man of God says he would not because God said he could not. But watch how this
prophet lies to manipulate this poor man,
1 Kings 13:18 He said
to him, "I too am a prophet as you are, and an angel spoke
to me by the word of the LORD, saying, 'Bring him back with you to your house,
that he may eat bread and drink water.' " (He was lying to him.) 19 So he went back with him, and
ate bread in his house, and drank water.
Just because this man
claimed to have a message from God, he believed it and went and ate with this
man. As the story continues the man of God finds out that this prophet had lied
and that he had broken God’s command and that he would die after he left this
man house and sure enough he did.
What we need to learn
from this story is that we cannot believe someone just because they claim to be
a Christian or gospel preacher. When we have guest preachers come we might
assume that they are going to preach the truth and I am sure that they will,
but we cannot put our minds on in neutral and just accept everything they are
saying as being Biblical. We must open our Bibles and compare what they are
saying to it what it says. If it doesn’t match up then we can know that they
are lying or misinformed.
So, the best way to keep
from getting duped by a false teaching and finding yourself sinning against God
is by studying your Bibles and being like the Bereans by searching the
scriptures daily see if what is being said is so.
Now, let’s take a look a
few verses that defines what else can make a person a liar,
1 John 2:4 He who
says, "I know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar,
and the truth is not in him.
A person doesn’t have to
speak a lie to be a liar. They way they live their life can make them a liar
because if they claim to be a Christian and then they do not follow God’s
commands then they are a liar. As the saying goes, actions speak louder than
words.
1 John 2:22 Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is
the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son.
This means that all
atheist, Jews and everyone who denies Jesus as being the Son of God are liars.
1 John 4:20 If someone says, "I love
God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his
brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?
If you hate you brother you are liar.
1 John 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive
ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
The Bible makes it clear
that we have all fallen short of God’s glory and we all sin from time to time
and to deny this makes you a liar.
Now lets take a look at
how God views lying.
Proverbs 6:16 These
six things the LORD hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to
Him: 17 A proud look, A lying
tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood,
18 A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in
running to evil, 19 A false
witness who speaks lies, And one who sows discord
among brethren.
Notice two of the seven
things mentioned have to do with lying and God hates these things and views
them as an abomination. Since God hates lying and views it as an abomination,
surely we can see that as Christians we should stay far away from lying. Proverbs
13:5 says that a righteous man hates lying and this should be the case because
if God hates it, we should hate it to. This is why Paul tells us in,
Ephesians 4:21 if
indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in
Jesus: 22 that you put off,
concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to
the deceitful lusts, 23 and
be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24
and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true
righteousness and holiness. 25 ¶
Therefore, putting away lying, "Let each one of you speak
truth with his neighbor," for we are members of one another.
Once again we can see
that lying should not be part of a Christian’s life. The book of proverbs and
the book of Psalm says that the liar will not go unpunished and must be
stopped. Lets look at few of these.
Proverbs 19:5 A false
witness will not go unpunished, And he who speaks lies will not escape.
Proverbs 12:19 The
truthful lip shall be established forever, But a lying tongue is but for
a moment. 20 Deceit is in the
heart of those who devise evil, But counselors of peace have joy. 22 Lying lips are an
abomination to the LORD, But those who deal truthfully are His delight.
Psalm 63:11 But the
king shall rejoice in God; Everyone who swears by Him shall glory; But the
mouth of those who speak lies shall be stopped.
Psalm 31:18 Let the
lying lips be put to silence, Which speak insolent things proudly and
contemptuously against the righteous.
All of the verses confirm
that if we love God and we are going to be servants of righteousness then we
must not lie. However, if you are still not convinced that lying is that big of
deal I have saved the best verse for last that should encourage any God fearing
person not to lie.
Revelation 21:7 "He
who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be
My son. 8 "But the
cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers,
idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with
fire and brimstone, which is the second death."
John is letting us know
that lying is a sin and that it will keep us out of heaven and it will cause to
be cast into the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which of course is
referring to hell. So, if don’t want to go to this horrible place, then don’t be
a liar. Instead, be a person who tells the truth and stands for the truth.