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WHY DO WE LIE?

Victor M. Eskew

 

INTRODUCTION

 

A.    Lying is forbidden in God’s Word (Eph. 4:25).

 

Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor:  for we are members one of another.

 

B.      Lying is something that God hates (Prov. 6:16-17a).

 

These six things doth the Lord hate:  yea, seven are an abomination unto him.  A proud look, a lying tongue…

 

C.     Lying will keep one out of heaven (Rev. 22:27a).

 

And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie…

 

D.    Lying keeps us from being imitators of the Godhead (See Tit. 1:2; John 14:6; John 16:13).

 

E.      Yet, all will admit that we lie from time to time.  So, the question is:  “Why?”  “Why Do We Lie?”  This is the title of this lesson.

 

I.                   WE LIKE TO LOOK GOOD

 

A.    All of us have some difficulty with our egos.

1.      We like to look good. 

a.      The 2 pound bass becomes a 5 pounder

b.      A bogey round of golf becomes a par round

c.       Our grandchildren far surpass their developmental milestones

2.      This was one of the problems the Pharisees had.

a.      They had elegant titles (Matt. 23:7-8).

b.      They prayed long (Matt. 23:14).

c.       They tithed down to the mint, anise, and cumin (Matt. 23:23).

d.      They made the outside of their lives look clean (Matt. 23:25-27).

e.       They acted like they respected the dead prophets (Matt. 23:29).

 

B.      What we fail to understand is that truth is what really looks good to others.

1.      People appreciate transparency.

2.      People desire things to be real and authentic.

 

II.                WE LIE TO PROTECT OURSELVES FROM EVIL CONSEQUENCES

 

A.    Children are taught when they are young that there are consequences to bad behavior.  Therefore, rather than suffering the consequences, they will lie.

 

B.      Adults will do the same thing (Ex., Gehazi, the servant of Elisha, II Kings 5:15-27).

1.      Elisha refused Naaman’s payment for healing his leprosy.

2.      Gehazi believed that Naaman had spared the Syrian, an enemy.

3.      He chased Naaman and lied to get payment from him.

4.      Upon his return, he was questioned by Elisha about what he had been doing.

5.      He lied to the prophet (II Kings 15:25).

 

But he went in, and stood before his master.  And Elisha said unto him, Whence comest thou, Gehazi?  And he said, Thy servant went no whither.

 

C.     There are a couple of things that we need to understand.

1.      Lies are exposed at some point in time.  If not now, later.

2.      The punishment we will suffer once the lie is known is worse than what would have been suffered it we had admitted our wrong doing.

 

III.             WE LIE TO KEEP FROM GETTING BAD REACTIONS FROM OTHERS

 

A.    There are times that we know if we tell the truth that other will react negatively to the things that we say.  Sometimes the negative reactions are severe.

 

B.      One example of this involves the “yes men” of a powerful leader.

1.      Ahab aligned himself with Jehoshaphat to do battle with Syria (I Kings 22:1-4)

2.      Before Jehoshaphat would go, he wanted to hear a word from the Lord (I Kings 22:5).

3.      Ahab had 400 prophets that he consulted (I Kings 22:6).

 

Then the king of Israel gather the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said unto them, Shall I go against Ramothgilead to battle, or shall I forbear?  And they said, Go up; for the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the king.

 

a.      These men were liars.  They were “yes men.”

b.      These men catered to the desires of the king.  The told him the things that he desired to hear.

c.       If they did not, they would be removed from their positions, or, worse, could be killed.

 

C.     Lies like these involve:

1.      Cowardice:  a fear to tell the truth

2.      Selfishness:  a desire to preserve and promote self

3.      Protection from harm:  a lie will never change the truth

 

IV.             WE LIE TO LEAD OTHERS ASTRAY

 

A.    This is Satan’s primary mission.  He lies to us to lead us from the paths of righteousness.

 

B.      There are two ways that men often seek to lead others astray.

1.      In the perversion of justice.

a.      A false witness tells likes to lead the judge or jury astray.

b.      They want a particular verdict.  Thus, they lie in order to get it.

c.       Proverbs 14:5

 

…but a false witness speaketh lies.

 

2.      In the proclamation of false doctrine.

a.      False doctrine leads one away from God and away from one’s eternal reward in Heaven.

b.      I Timothy 4:1-2

 

Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron.

 

C.     Leading others astray involves leading the wrong way. 

1.      The person ends in a place where he did not need to be or want to be.

2.      We do not like others leading us astray.  Thus, we need to practice the Golden Rule on this point (See Matt. 7:12).

 

V.                WE LIE TO HARM OTHERS

 

A.    It is evil people with wickedness in their hearts that do this. 

 

B.      We see an example of it in the lie Potipher’s wife told about Joseph.

1.      Potipher’s wife wanted Joseph to lie with her (Gen. 39:7, 10, 12)

2.      When alone in the house, she propositioned him, “and he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out” (Gen. 39:12b).

3.      She accused Joseph of trying to rape her and used his garment as evidence of the supposed crime (Gen. 39:14-18).

 

…the Hebrew servant, which thou hast brought unto us, came in unto me to mock me:  and it came to pass, as I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me, and fled out.

 

4.      Her plan to harm Joseph worked.  Potipher had Joseph thrown into the king’s prison (Gen. 39:20).

 

C.     Only an evil heart desires for any kind of harm to come to another person.  Even God does not take pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ezek. 18:32).

 

VI.             WE LIE TO PERSUADE PEOPLE TO OUR POSITION

 

A.    There are times when we so desperately want others on our side that we will lie to them to get them to join us.

 

B.      We see this all of the time in the political arena.

 

C.     The atheists have done this by manipulating the evidences for their explanation of the origin of the Universe.

1.      The fossil record is a fraud.

2.      The “good” mutations are a lie.

3.      The missing links are nothing but scandals.

4.      The idea of “billions” of years is a hoax.

 

D.    Again, all need to give ear to the words of the psalmist in Psalm 14:1.

 

The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God…

 

 

 

 

VII.          WE LIE OUT OF OUR IGNORANCE

 

A.    There are times when we lie because we are ignorant.

1.      We think we know the truth.

2.      We have only a partial amount of evidence.

3.      We put our trust in others without doing our homework.

4.      Sometimes our ignorance is willful.

 

B.      One of the biggest lies pawned off on our society today, other than evolution, is man-made climate change.  Man’s contribution to the environment is so small that it is insignificant.

1.      I asked a man:  “Did we have an ice age long before factories, airplanes, and cars came into existence?”  How did climate change when man could not be responsible? 

2.      Greenhouses gases make up 2% of the atmosphere.

CO2 only makes up 0.04% of the atmosphere.

Of that 0.04%, man contributes only 3.5%

3.      There are literally hundreds of things that contribute to climate change in our world.

4.      Most do now want to admit God’s hand in sustaining this planet. 

a.      He formed this world to be inhabited by man (Isa. 45:18)

b.      He upholdeth all things by the word of His power (Heb. 1:3).

 

C.     Sadly, there are many who believe lies when it comes to their spiritual well-being (Ex., the doctrine of faith only is a big one, James 2:24).

 

Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.

 

CONCLUSION

 

A.    When man resorts to lies, it shows how degraded man can become.

1.      We elevate our egos.

2.      We protect ourselves:  consequences/bad reactions

3.      We lead others astray.

4.      We harm others.

5.      We manipulate others.

6.      We display our ignorance.

 

B.      Those who are relentless about truth are strong, courageous, loving, caring, and knowledgeable. 

 

C.     Let’s close with two thoughts:

1.      Since you and I have put off and old man and put on the new man, we should put away lying (Col. 3:9-10).

2.      We need to remember that “all liars” will have their part in the lake of fire and brimstone (Rev. 21:8).