God hates lying
1)
Once a month area preachers typically gather for a
meeting in
2)
I attend these meetings and usually take along some
questions to discuss with the group.
3)
One of my questions for next Tuesday involves the way
people have redefined sin.
4)
I have some examples, but would like some more. For instance:
a)
Theft does
not sound very nice so it is sometimes referred to as “petty larceny.”
b)
If someone takes a lot of money, we may hear he has
“misappropriated funds.”
c)
Theft is offensive to some modern day listeners.
5)
Altering words previously used to describe sin often can
on the surface reduce the significance of sin.
6)
Consider the activity many used to call “lying.”
a)
Saying someone “lied” sounds pretty harsh. The word “lie” sounds pretty bad.
b)
Our society has come up with terminology to put a
better face on this old sin.
c)
It is not uncommon to hear of someone “stretching the
truth” or “putting a spin on things.”
7)
We can change the terminology, but a lie is a lie. We also find that God hates lies.
8)
Item #2 on the list of things God says He hates (Prov.
6) is lying.
a)
This is interesting in view of the fact that lying is a
very common sin.
b)
People lie all the time, though not all lies may be of
the same magnitude.
c)
One lie may cheat us out of $10 or $20 dollars. Another lie may cost someone his house.
d)
Long ago David said something about people and lies.
e)
He was a bit hasty, but he recognized how large the
problem of lying is.
9)
Ps. 116:11 says “all men are liars.” This is an exaggeration, but David knew this
was a big issue.
10) Someone
once said there is a great way to find out if someone is truthful: Ask him if he is honest.
11) If
he says “yes, he is honest,” you know
he is crooked and a liar.
12) This
is also an exaggeration but it reminds us that honesty and lying are serious
problems.
a)
We may think of lying in terms of lying to other
people, and this is certainly true.
b)
It is also possible to lie to one’s own self (we do not
admit to ourselves things we should).
c)
We may think of a lie as spoken information, and this
is also often very true.
d)
Many lies are said with actual words, but lies can also
be unspoken.
e)
A lie may be told by what we do not say, or even how we
say something.
f)
When we study the subject of lying there are some
important things to remember.
g)
One critical piece of information is that we do not
have an obligation to tell people everything.
h)
We do want to try to live in a way where we are not
guilty of lying.
i)
We are not always obliged to tell everything we know.
13) I
recently saw some statistics on lying that surprised me.
a)
If these numbers are in any way accurate, they do not
speak very well of most people.
b)
It is said that 91% of the population routinely lie
about matters they consider to be trivial.
c)
36% are said to lie about what they regard as
important.
d)
Lies are often told by adults, but they are also told
by children.
e)
In this same study 86% of children were said to
regularly lie to their parents.
f)
75% of young people lied to their friends, 73% lied to
siblings, and 69% lied to spouses.
g)
Most were said to lie to others once or twice a day and lie to about 30 people per week.
a)
Would it not be interesting to see just how many
minutes a week some devote to lying?
b)
In an average day this study said most engage in some
form of lying 25 times.
c)
95% of college students said they would lie to an
employer to get a job.
d)
41% of college students said they had already lied to
get a job.
14) Based
on these figures, one might wonder who lies the most or is everybody about the
same?
a)
Researchers believe men lie more than women.
b)
Young men typically lie more than older men.
c)
Unemployed
people lie more than those with jobs.
d) Young and unemployed people
may be the greatest offenders, but everyone else is also quite guilty.
15) God
has a lot to say about liars and lying.
16) If
we had no other information than Prov. 6, this would be enough. God has said far more.
a)
Prov. 19:5 says “a false witness shall not go
unpunished; he that speaks lies shall not escape.”
b)
Lies generally catch up with people.
c)
A week ago I went out with a couple of people from
here.
d)
A man began to close in on the three of us and finally
interrupted our conversation.
e)
He said, “Would it be a sin to ask for help.” The three of us listened to this man’s story.
f)
He said he did not have enough money for a motel room
last Sunday night.
g)
A call to the motel manager proved that he lied. He tried to deny this, but he was caught.
h)
For this fellow, he seemed to have no remorse. He asked for money for the following night.
i)
This man showed no remorse for his lie and this is true
for many others in our world.
j)
God says lying has consequences, some of which are
lifelong and severe.
17) Prov.
12:19 says liars have a tongue that lasts for a “moment.”
a)
In many cases lies are eventually uncovered.
b)
People may hide the truth for a while. It may be covered up for a few hours.
c)
People may keep things secret for days, months, or even
years.
d)
Truth has a way of coming to the top of the pile.
e)
When that truth comes out, the liar is discredited and
shamed.
f)
This shame is not only in this life, it is in eternity.
18) Rev.
21:8 says liars are not going to have any part in heaven.
a)
I know that many wave a hand at lying and say it
doesn’t matter.
b)
We don’t need to tell the truth. We can shade the facts and dance around the
truth.
c)
God says this is not the way His people are to live,
and liars are not going to be saved.
19) I
had intended to studying lying on just one Sunday (today).
20) There
is so much material on this topic, it may be looked at next Sunday as well.
21) For
the balance of today’s time, I want to discuss the “types of lies” that people
tell.
a)
We know that lying is popular, we know God hates it,
and we know liars will not be in heaven.
b)
Let’s see how people can engage in this sin.
22) A
lie may occur because people twist words.
a) Jesus faced this type of
lie; He said if His body was destroyed it would be raised in 3 days, Jn. 2:19.
b)
In Mk. 15:29 Jesus’ opponents said He would “raise the
temple in 3 days.”
c)
The temple had been under construction for years; no
one could build it in 72 hours.
d)
These men took Jesus’ words and twisted them into a
lie.
e)
This type of thing happens all too often today. People take words and pervert them.
f)
As Christians, we do not want to do that because it
would make us a liar.
23) If
words are not twisted, the truth may be twisted.
24) Jesus
was raised from the dead, but people were told to say the disciples took Jesus’
body—lie.
a)
When people take facts and change them to suit their
purposes, they are liars.
b)
This happens in many areas, even in the area of
religion.
c)
A person may point to Rom. 10 which says “confession
saves us.”
d)
Another may point to a New Testament verse that says we
are “saved by faith.”
e)
We are saved by faith.
We are saved by confession.
Neither passage has the word “alone.”
f)
Peter said we are “saved by baptism” (1 Pet. 3:20-21),
but he did not say “baptism alone.”
g)
When people twist the truth, even if they are
religious, they are guilty of lying.
h)
It is bad enough to tell a lie about a secular matter;
lying about the gospel is almost beyond belief.
25) The
truth may not be twisted but it is “shaded.”
Facts are somehow messed with just a bit.
26) In
the area of religion a person may say
“the church is important.”
27) That
statement is true, but it may imply that the church is not essential.
28) The
church is essential – the church is Christ’s body, Eph. 1:22-23.
29) If
we are not part of the body, we are not part of the church.
30) When
a person says we “should” be part of the church instead of “we must,” he shades
the truth.
31) He
may not be telling a bold and direct lie, but he does engage in a form of
lying.
32) Half-truths
can also be a lie.
a)
As stated earlier, we have no obligation to tell
everyone everything.
b)
There were some things Jesus did not share certain
truths at various times in His life.
c)
He never gave a half truth that was a lie and we also
want to avoid this type of thing.
d) Abraham gave a half truth
about his wife Sarah (Gen. 12:13 and 20:2) and that led to some problems.
e)
We want avoid situations where a person later comes
back and says “you lied to me.”
33) A
lie can be a misstatement of one or more facts.
a)
Suppose a person asks us what time it is and we know
the time (it is noon).
b)
We choose to tell him it is 11 am. or 2 p.m. when we
know that is not the case.
c)
That is a lie and it is not treating someone as we want
to be treated (the golden rule).
d) Lying is done for many
purposes and sometimes the reason is cruelty—people want to hurt someone.
e)
Another type of lie is through body language.
34) Suppose
we ask a person to do something and he nods his head.
35) We
typically understand that head nod to mean “yes.”
36) Then
man does not do what we expected and we ask him why he failed to follow
through.
37) He
says “he never promised.”
38) It
is true that he never made a verbal promise, but he made a promise with body
language.
39) This
type of thing is not new.
a)
Listen to Prov.6:12-14 – READ
b)
Here is a liar – he uses body language to show his
friends what his real intentions are.
c)
People can use body language to lie. Lies do not need to use words.
40) Lies
come in many more forms as well.
a)
Gossiping about a person can be a form of lying.
b)
Slander can involve lying.
c)
If a person is accused before all the evidence is
considered, the conclusion may be a lie.
d)
Our world often used innuendo (veiled wording) to
negatively describe something/something.
e)
Innuendo is an effective (but sinful) way to lie.
41) We
may lie by casting undue suspicion on someone.
42) There
are certain cases in which silence may equal a lie.
a)
Sometimes we must be silent because we have no other
good choice.
b)
A person can plot to be silent and thus intentionally
express a lie in this manner.
c)
We have seen people use lying flattery (they use lying
praise for an ungodly goal).
43) Sometimes
we use language in an accommodative sense.
44) Compliments may be given to
children that are true and sincere, but the words are not absolutely literal.
45) A
child may be told his speech was the “best in the whole world.”
46) We
mean by those words that it was a great, great speech – absolutely wonderful.
47) We
do not mean there has never in the history of the world been a better speech.
48) Sometimes
compliments are not compliments—they are lies.
49) Lying
is a very large problem and it often results in terrible consequences.
50) There
is good news: Any lie can be forgiven
through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
51) Jesus
came and died for liars – the big liars and the little liars.
52) We
need to believe that Jesus came and died for sinners. Sinners must repent.
53) Liars
and all others can confess that Christ is the savior of the world and be
forgiven through baptism.
54) Acts
22:16 says – quote.