7 Deadly Sins - Lying

Video

Intro - Today as we continue in our series of 7 Deadly Sins we are going to look at the sin of lying.

Proverbs 6:16-17

Proverbs 6:16-17

Introduction -

Video

Big Idea - God is truth and wants His people to live life in the goodness of truth. God hates lies, because they hold his creation back from Himself and what is good.

What is a lie? The deliberate covering up of the truth.

This can be done by telling something that is completely wrong.

Telling only part of the truth.

Or it can done in silence by holding back truth that should be shared.

Transition - Why is lying so bad?

Lying is wrong, because it goes against the very nature of who God is.

I. God is Truth

John 14:6 ESV

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

One of God’s great attributes that cause us to trust Him is that He is truth and He always tells the truth.

When God speaks you can count on what He says. You can take it to the bank.

In God’s great truth He builds with us a great deal of trust or faith.

Our trust - our faith - stands on the fact that He always tells us the truth. Truth is who God is.

Truth is a communicable attribute.

That is a big church word that means that this is an attribute of God that God’s people can also take on themselves.

God blesses us with truth. There is a trust and peace because God is truthful.

God calls you and I to be like Him … to be truth tellers.

I have a question for you.

Are you a truth teller?

Are you someone who blesses others around you with truthfulness or do you choose at times to bend the truth?

Are yo someone who is satisfied telling lies, not just big lies, but those smaller lies that seem to have no consequence.

Or do you take on the character of God by being a truth teller?

God calls that person who tells small lies one thing - He calls you a liar.

If you are a liar, you are not like God in truth telling, but instead you are like The Father of Lies - Satan.

Speaking to the Religious Leaders Jesus said this ...

John 8:44 ESV

44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

Transition - God is truth (it is part of His beauty), but He hates not only Satan, but God hates lying.

II. God Hates Lying

I want you to listen to these scriptures. You’ll see that God doesn’t just think lying is something you shouldn’t do like eating too much cake.

God really hates lying. He detests it.

, "There are six things which the Lord hates, seven which are an abomination to him: haughty [proud] eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and a man who sows discord among brothers."

, "Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord."

What is an abomination?

An abomination is something that is detestable to God and brings His judgement.

Revelation 21:7–8 ESV

7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. 8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

And so we see how serious God takes lying

Sometimes

Transition - One of many reasons that God hates when you lie, is not only does it offend His pure character, but ...

, "He who conquers shall have this heritage, and I will be his God and he shall be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, as for murderers, fornicators, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their lot shall be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." (Cf. 21:27; 22:15.)

III. Lying hurts the people around us.

Turn in your Bibles to Genesis 12

Intro - The Bible tells us of when Abram (to later be re-named Abraham) and Sarai (later to be re-named Sarah) struggle with lying

Story tell Abram and Sarai

, "The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor and a snare of death."

-There was a great famine [Crisis] and Abram and Sarai go to Egypt to get food.

-Abram’s wife is beautiful. Abram was afraid that the Egyptians would kill him so they could take his wife.

-Abram told Sarai to tell the Egyptians that she was his sister, so they would not kill him.

-Apparently Abram and Sarai were from Alabama, because this lie was partly true. Abram married his half sister Sarai.

-Pharoah heard of Sarai’s beauty and called for her.

-To make Abram happy Pharoah gives Abram sheep, oxen, donkeys, camels and servants. Abram gets rich, but Pharoah is courting Abram’s wife and getting ready to place her in his harem.

-Pharaoh’s family/court gets a skin disease as a curse from God for Pharoah taking in Abram’s wife. (Boils/Leprosy)

Look what God does

Genesis 12:17–20 ESV

17 But the Lord afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. 18 So Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? 19 Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her for my wife? Now then, here is your wife; take her, and go.” 20 And Pharaoh gave men orders concerning him, and they sent him away with his wife and all that he had.

Truth of the passage -

Abram did not trust God to take care of his need for food or to take care of his family.

Abram took control of the situation by dealing in lies.

People were seriously hurt because of Abram’s lie.

When we lie - others get hurt.

In the short run or in the long run - others get hurt.

Illustration - I was told this story by a student of mine in Augusta.

Transition

Story - Korean boy who was brand new to the U.S., brand new to the English language, new to U.S. culture comes as a foreign exchange student to a Christian camp.

-Korean Foreign exchange student who was a Christ follower flies to the U.S. just a few weeks before school begins.

-His Christian hosts sign him up for their Churches Summer Camp so the boy can meet some new friends and be spiritually encouraged.

-This 14 year old young man is excited.

-There was a mistake made.

-Every large youth group has a few boys who go to camp, not for spiritual reasons but for recreation time and the girls.

-This young man was placed in a room with these kind of boys.

-The first day of camp the boys realized that they had a young nieve roomate they could take advantage of.

-They asked him if he wanted to make friends and show honor to those he met. He was eager.

-So they taught him some inappropriate greetings that he had never heard of before. Greeting that included 4 letter words. He didn’t know the words were bad and was happy to use these special greetings.

-Instead of waving at people, these roommates taught him how to encourage and make others happy by telling them that they were number one. Not by lifting his first finger, but his middle finger.

-So this foreign exchange student would go around camp happily greeting all these new Christian friends by lifting up one finger and with a big smile on his face and his strong Korean accent greeting them with curse words and insults.

-Really confused with the new Christian Korean kid the other youth finally reported to the counselors about a day into the awful prank.

-As you can imagine, the boys who took such terrible advantage of the kid were sent home from camp.

-The new Korean was devastated and very embarrassed during his first days of being in the U.S.

Lying hurts the people around us.

Lying offends the perfect character of God.

So many times we think a lie or a set of small lies won’t hurt others - it won’t be found out.

So we lie about:

-How much money we have.

-God knows immediatly when

-What we purchased or didn’t purchase.

Emphasize that Pharoah

-We lie to the IRS about our income.

-We lie about who we spent time with or what the conversation was about.

-We lie about when we came into work or how much work we got done.

-We lie about our feelings not being hurt or not being angry.

-We lie about our grades.

-We lie to cover for a friend.

-We lie when a love one is drunk or have taken too much pain medicine and tell people they are sick or not at home.

-We lie about a relationship we want to keep secret.

-We lie about what we watched on the TV or looked at on the computer.

Pause

Abram - when he hid his marriage to Sarai was trying to hide something he was scared was going to to be uncovered.

He was avoiding the consequence.

Eventually our lies are found out.

Is there a lie a lie in your life right now where you are trying to hide to avoid a consequence?

Why

There are some who right this moment are feeling the press from God on your soul. God is pressing you/convicting you to stop walking in this lie and confess it.

Pause

Transition - Not only does lying hurt people around us, but lying attempts tp take control from God.

IV. Lying attempts to take control from God.

Application - When we lie, we are trying to control the circumstances of life for ourself.

Why? We do not think God is going to do the best job.

We don’t trust Him.

So, we take control.

Let me give you an example

Examples - We don’t want someone to get hurt

-If I tell my spouse how much I really put on the credit card they are going to get really mad. Plus they are stressed out with work already.

-We believe, God can’t handle my marriage and we reject that God wants me to stop spending less.

-If I tell my parents who’s house I went to last night they are going to hit the roof. We just had a big fight... no reason to start another.

We believe, My relationship with my parents is out of even God’s control. We also believe, my parents don’t know what they are doing.

When Abram had Sarai tell the lie to the Egyptians. He took control of the situation instead of trusting God with the situation.

When you tell the truth, even when it is hard - you trust God with the situation.

When you lie - you are not trusting God with the situation.

Transition - Eventually by God’s great love for us - either the lie or the character of the lier come is found out.

Eventually, out of God’s great love, our lies are found out.

Why is this so loving?

God desires to free you from the habit of lying and bring you into the peace of living a life of obedience.

V. God reveals the truth to set us free.

Turn in your bibles to

, "He who conquers shall have this heritage, and I will be his God and he shall be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, as for murderers, fornicators, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their lot shall be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." (Cf. 21:27; 22:15.)

I was a Pastor of Youth and Missions for 19 years at my previous church.

A student made a mistake and posted a video on a social networking platform that I had access to of her with a Juul (vaping pen) as a minor in her possession. I called her in for a meeting, there was no ability to hide it or lie about it - it was on video.

I told her I wasn’t going to tell her mom, but she was going to tell her mom and have her mom let me know they had talked about it. That was a tough conversation for her to have.

The student came back to me.

She said, I’m glad I got caught, glad I had to deal with it.

It’s something that’s going to help me spiritually.

In this young lady’s life God shined the light on her to set her free from what could have been a lifetime of addiction.

John 3:20–21 ESV

20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

Slow and intentional - There are those in this room today, who God is calling to come into the light.

God is calling you to end the lying.

Those lies that you are having to keep up with ...

Those lies that are offending the holiness of God ...

Those lies that you have become tired of telling ...

God is calling you to walk away from them.

-In most of those cases, this is going to mean confessing the lie to the person you have been decieving.

-You say, Preacher, that’s going to hurt. That is going to blow up light a bomb.

-In some cases it will. This is the sting of sin and what will help you remember to not get caught in the web of lies you have been telling.

-It will take great humility and strength.

-Trust that God is in control.

-Trust that God will bring healing.

-Trust that God over time, will help you reestablish trust.

There are people in this room - that today - not tomorrow, but today need to go to the one you have been lying to and sit down and say,

“Friend, I have been sinning against you. I have something I need to confess. I have failed you and God. What I am about to tell you is going to disappoint you and hurt you. Before I tell you what i have done, I ask your mercy and forgiveness. I have been keeping up a lie...”

Do not hold back confessing your sin.

Do not wait another day.

Do not allow the lie to gain another inch in your life.

Day by die the lie is wrapping its tentacles around you.

This is not God’s plan for you life.

There will be some of you who will be surprised when someone comes to you and confesses a lie. This will be an opportunity to trust God - to not explode, but to realize that even though what you hear deeply hurts, that God is doing spiritual work in the heart of the one confessing.

Please hear them with grace and mercy. Please work toward forgiveness.

GOSPEL

The beauty of confession is this that God says when we come before Him to confess sin that He hears us.

1 John 1:9 ESV

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Jesus paid for sin on the cross by shedding His blood.

When we come to Him in faith, confessing our sin and giving over to Him our whole life He forgives us.

He cleanses us from all our sinfulness, especially our lying.

If you are not a Christ follower, You need to come before God right now,

Ask forgiveness of your sins and give your life to Him.

His promise is true - God tells the Truth.

He will forgive you and make you pure.

Christ follower - if there is a sin (especially of lying) that you have in your life. God is waiting now for you to confess this and return to him.

Do not wait another day.

Do not let this linger.

God is asking you now to release this to Him.

Pray.

_____________________________

Why does God hate lying so much?

God loves truth. Truth allows for healing (physical, emotional, mental and spiritual). Truth allows for growth (spiritually, relationally, business, financially, team. Truth is an essential part of what we do.

When you lie, you break trust. When you lose trust nothing can go forward.

Relationships cannot go forward, teamwork cannot go forward ...

Lies not only cause things not to go forward, but they cause life to go backwards.

Lies make your friendships and marriage unstable, your job unstable, how you manage your money unstable, even your health unstable (this won’t hurt me that bad).

Lies block the truth. What we fail to understand is that truth brings healing & health.

You may think as you sit in your seat, the lies that I’ve told I’ve gotten away with. You may have gotten away with the lie with one person, but others who know you told a lie and covered it up with a lie will lose trust and respect for you.

The lies that you have told have hardened your heart to God.

You don’t love the wonderful truth of God because God’s Word threatens your lie and to uncover it.

So, you sit in your seat right now tight fisted in your heart, holding on to your lie. While God is gently pulling at your fingers, telling you to let Him have what you have been hiding from others.

Lies break trust and

Abraham lying about his wife

Genesis 12:10–20 ESV

10 Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land. 11 When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance, 12 and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me, but they will let you live. 13 Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared for your sake.” 14 When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. 15 And when the princes of Pharaoh saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house. 16 And for her sake he dealt well with Abram; and he had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels. 17 But the Lord afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. 18 So Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? 19 Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her for my wife? Now then, here is your wife; take her, and go.” 20 And Pharaoh gave men orders concerning him, and they sent him away with his wife and all that he had.

Lying at some time in most of our life is something that we struggle with.

Let you yes be yes and your no be no.

Common Lies

“I’m on my way.”, Relationship Status, You look great in that outfit. Finances, “I’m fine.”, I’ll call you back. Yes, I’ll be there. Calling into work sick., I’m not hungry., I promise, I didn’t get your call or I didn’t get your text. I’m too tired - when you just don’t want to do it. I didn’t mean to or I was just joking.

Why do we lie - We do not trust that God is in control.

We want to keep our deeds secret and in the dark.

We don’t want to hurt someone.

Avoid conflict

Avoid general immediate consequences

Avoid accountability

III. God never lies

Who does lie? Who is the Father of Lies? Satan

When we lie we are like Him.

IV.