One morning a minister ended his sermon by saying, “Next week I am going to preach on the subject of liars. And in preparation, I would like you all to read the seventeenth chapter of Mark.” The following week, the preacher began his sermon by asking, “Now, all of you who have done as I requested and read the seventeenth chapter of Mark, please raise your hand.” Nearly every hand in the congregation went up. “Very good,” said the preacher. “You are precisely the people I wish to speak to this morning. There is no seventeenth chapter of Mark!” (Bible Illustrator).
God considers lying a very serious matter, regardless of whether the consequences of that lie are immediate and deadly (Proverbs 6:16-19).
I. COMMON LIES
See if you can find yourself in this list:
• The policeman asks you, "Do you know how fast you were going?" You reply, "Was speeding?”
• Someone calls on the phone for you, and you step outside the door so that your spouse or child can say that you are not in at the moment.
• You'd rather not go to work on Monday, so you call in sick and go shop- ping.
• You convince yourself that if you buy a certain car, you will be wealthy and popular.
• You promise to spend more time with your family, but never get around to it.
• The fish gets bigger every time you tell the story.
• On Sabbath morning, your wife asks how you like the new dress she just bought. You hate the dress, but you say, "It looks beautiful" so as to not hurt her feelings.
II. WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO TELL THE TRUTH?
• Telling the truth gives evidence of a change in your life (Col. 3:9, 10). Lies give evidence that you are still a liar. In John 14:7, Jesus referred to the Holy Spirit as the "Spirit of Truth." When you accepted Jesus as your Savior, you received the Holy Spirit who now lives within you and will help guide your conduct.
• Truth provides protection for you (Phil. 4:8; Eph. 6:14; Isa. 28:15).
• Truth shields you from further lies. Many times one lie leads to another, but the truth guards you from evil and keeps you safe.
• Truth identifies you with the Father (John 14:6; Heb. 6:8). What if God could lie? What if all His promises were lies? You may have had persons who made promises to you but broke their promises because they were weak human beings. God is not like that. God cannot lie (Num. 23:19). The greatest promise God ever made was that He would send a Savior to pay the debt for man’s sins. What a promise! When I fulfill my promises, when I tell the truth regardless of the cost, I glorify God. I am a “truthteller,” a “promise-keeper.”
• Truth creates a spirit of trust (Ps. 31:5, 6). Lies create a spirit of deceit and hypocrisy, but when you consistently tell the truth, it is easier to remain honest. On the other hand, it is hard to be friends with a hypocrite because you never know what he or she is saying behind your back.
• Truth exposes danger to be avoided (1 Tim. 2:4). Lies open you up to destruction. The more truthful you are, the more hardships you can avoid. Lying only leads to havoc and ruin. You may think you are getting away with a lie, but in reality, you are causing a lot of pain down the road.
• Truth sets a good pattern for your life. Lies set an evil pattern for your life. Jesus gave us a principle that applies here: the one who is faithful in small things will be faithful over great things (Matt. 25:23). If you are faithful in telling the truth about small issues, you are establishing a pattern that will enable you to tell the truth on the big issues, too.
• Truth frees (John 8:32). Lies enslave. Mark Twain was right when he said, “The difference between a person who tells the truth and one who tells a lie is that the liar’s got to have a better memory.” Lies trap you because you have to live in the false world you have created. You can’t allow anyone to see the true you. You have to keep pretending.
CONCLUSION
If you were to ask Jesus, “How do I look?” what would He say? What sign(s) would He hang around your neck: “Liar,” “Hypocrite,” “Cheat”? We all carry those signs to some extent. You’ve broken promises to your family and to your friends; you’ve broken promises to God. When you asked Jesus to be your Savior, you promised Him your life.
Maybe you have been lied to so many times that not only do you have trouble trusting others, you have trouble trusting Jesus. Remember, Jesus is not like us. It is impossible for Him to lie. He has kept every promise to you that He has ever made. He promises salvation to those who call on Him. He is honest and true. He is our example. Let us, with His help, become honest, truthful, sincere followers of the One who is Truth.
General Conference Ministerial Association
