Revelation 21:5-8 [Almighty God] who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. 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.”
I remember as a child saying that popular children's rhyme, “Liar, Liar, Pants of fire”, never realizing that I was paraphrasing the Bible passage above. The origin of the limerick may date back to the 1810 poem “The Liar,” by William Blake, begins in a familiar way: “Deceiver, dissembler, your trousers are alight. From what pole or gallows shall they dangle in the night?” It appears also in a collection of English naval ballads from 1840, featuring a short poem that seems to come from this lineage, and it reads. “What’s good for liar? Brimstone and fire.” The poem’s taunt seems light, yet the eternal implications are hellishly serious.
Proverbs 6:16-19 tells us, “These six things the Lord hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: [1] A proud look, [2] A lying tongue, [3] Hands that shed innocent blood,[4] A heart that devises wicked plans, [5] Feet that are swift in running to evil, [6] A false witness who speaks lies, [7] and one who sows discord among brethren.” At least two of the seven things that our sovereign God hates have to do with being a liar. Lying is a sad result of our fallen sin nature from Adam that continues through all generations. People have become desensitized and the sin of lying is common place in this day and age in order to get what we want or not get what we do not want; so much so that people blindly believe that the common practice of lying is, without a second thought of God or their fellow man, “right’ and “good”. There seems to be no shame or guilt, yet lying, whether for self or another, to achieve personal gain or protect against personal loss is manufactured distraction and misguiding deception. The old idiom "Can't see the forest for the trees" is used when describing a person who cannot see a situation they are in [like lying] as it truly is, instead they get lost in the details of self-gain or loss, and lose perspective on the bigger issue. In other words, one who gets blinded by a situation they are fully involved in. But truly, our ever-present, all-power Maker in Heaven sees all, knows all, catches us in our lies every time. Oh, did I mention that there were consequences?
Romans 1:18-19, 24 says that “the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. They exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.” Our Creator Father God sets the standards and the mark for “right” and “wrong”, “good and evil”, what to do and what not to do for our wellbeing. To instinctively by the flesh desires, spontaneously by unbridled emotion, or by outright rebellion, willfully disobeying the Lord’s holy Word, Will and Way is Sin [missing the mark of the high calling of God] and there are over-arching consequences on their soul [mind, will and emotion of a person], their spirit [relationship with God] now and hell to pay later. Someone has to pay the penalty. But, change is offered.
Ephesians 2:4-8 tells us, “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.” Forgiveness is available and offered freely to those who repent of sin, believe God, receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, have their heart and soul transformed. Their mind will tell them: Sin is wrong and lying is unthinkable because as the Lord Jesus instructs us in Matthew 5:37 “Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.” No lie!
Philippians 2:5 “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.”
Brian
No comments:
Post a Comment