LIAR, LIAR, PANTS ON FIRE

 

My topic today could not be more current. The entire world is obliged to search their hearts and make a decision as to whether lying is to be excused and overlooked.

The news interviews are both revealing and troubling. Most of the people interviewed are very lenient in regards to lying. (Except, of course, if they were on the receiving end of the lie.) One of the most troubling aspects of the interviews to me, is that it seems everyone thinks that everyone else lies most of the time. DO YOU LIE?

I want us to look at examples in the Bible of liars and consider what God says in His Word about liars and lying.

I will not be covering the sin of sexual lies because current events reveal the depth of the tragedy of such deception and mockery.

READ SCRIPTURES

THE JEALOUS LIE (CAIN AND ABLE)

Gen. 4:1-16

THE DECEPTION LIE (ISAAC AND JACOB)

Gen. 27:1-29

(Jacob reaped his lie when his sons sold Joseph.)

THE GREEDY LIE (NAAMAN - ELISHA - GEHAZI)

2ND Kings 5:1-27

THE FEARFUL, EMBARRASED, ASHAMED LIE ( THE APOSTLE PETER)

John 18:15-27

(Young lady at the door of the High Priest's palace; one of the men warming at the fire; one of the servants of the High Priest who was a relative to the man whose ear Peter cut off in Gethsemane.)

THE FINANCIAL LIE (PAUL - ANANIAS - SAPPHIRA)

Acts 5:1-11

 

What are some of the results and consequences of lying?

  1. Damages a persons relationship with God.
  2. Causes the lose of respect and trust in family and friendships.
  3. If not corrected, establishes a lifestyle of cover-up and deception.
  4. Gives Satan the opportunity to manifest his true nature. (Jesus said the Satan is the father of liars.)
  5. Eventually destroys a persons understanding of reality and substitutes it with a fantasy view of life.

 

What should a person do who has lied?

  1. Confess and repent of the sin to God.
  2. Confess and repent of the sin to the one who was wronged.
  3. Correct the results, if possible, of the sin.
  4. Purpose to never again be used of the devil in the sin of lying.
  5. Stay submitted to the Lord in all ways so as to avoid the alluring trap of lying in order to cover wrongs, to get your way, to prosper, and to fulfill other fleshly desires.