Proverbs 26:28 ¶ A lying tongue hateth those that are
afflicted by it; and a flattering mouth worketh ruin.
Christians are told not to lie to each other;
Colossians 3:9 Lie not one to another, seeing
that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;
Ephesians 4:25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his
neighbour: for we are members one of another.
And by extension to other people as
well as we are to always try to maintain a good reputation before the world.
Liars are not acceptable to God. Look at the company liars keep here.
1 Timothy 1:9 Knowing this, that the law is
not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the
ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and
murderers of mothers, for manslayers, 10 For whoremongers, for them that defile
themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and
if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine; 11 According to
the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.
The liar has nothing but contempt for the people
he or she is deceiving. An example would be the swindler, Bernie Madoff. A
closer example would be the person who deceives those around them. We have
politicians, scientists, religious leaders, teachers, and people from all walks
of life who have been caught in lies. All of us know at least one person who is
a pathological liar.
Jesus said that the Devil was the father of
lies.
John 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil,
and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning,
and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh
a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
There are fewer more clear-cut
commands for the Christian in the Bible than the admonition against lying.
Don’t distort the truth. Don’t exaggerate it. Don’t change it to suit your
agenda. Your testimony should be such that you don’t even need to underscore
your statements with an oath. When you confess, declare, or swear to something
as true it should not be “by” anything.
Matthew 5:33 ¶ Again, ye have heard that it
hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt
perform unto the Lord thine oaths: 34 But I say unto you, Swear not at all;
neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne: 35 Nor by the earth; for it is his
footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. 36
Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair
white or black. 37 But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for
whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.
The liar will often get what he or she wants by
flattery and deceit. They destroy and ruin others, cheating and defrauding
them. Beware of these people. Don’t be so keen on hearing good things about
yourself. That sets you up for the phony who will play you like a violin to get
what they want. A liar is afraid of the truth. It’s not good enough for them to
get what they’re looking for, whether it be approval or something you have that
they want, like your money. A Christian should never be afraid of the truth nor
should he or she be willing to entertain the lies that people tell. It’s an old
saying that it’s hard to con an honest man. When you lie to me, I know you hate
me. When you flatter me, I assume you are setting me up. All we need is an
“attaboy” or a pat on the back sometimes but we all know the difference between
that and flattery that works ruin.
Proverbs, chapter 27
Proverbs 27:1 ¶ Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou
knowest not what a day may bring forth.
At other times God has said;
Luke 12:16 And he spake a parable unto them,
saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: 17 And he
thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where
to bestow my fruits? 18 And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns,
and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. 19 And I
will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take
thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. 20 But God said unto him, Thou fool, this
night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be,
which thou hast provided? 21 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and
is not rich toward God.
James 4:13 Go to now, ye that say, To day or
to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and
sell, and get gain: 14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For
what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and
then vanisheth away. 15 For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall
live, and do this, or that.
We should not boast about what great things we
will accomplish tomorrow, next week, or next month. We only have today. Life
can turn on a dime and you can be alive one second and the next be in eternity.
All boasting is foolishness anyway.
This Proverb is not against preparing for
tomorrow, for doing things that will afford oneself or one’s family a better
life, or some temporal security which, within our power, it is prudent to do.
It is about bragging on the great plans we have, all plans of which are
completely in God’s hands. He may not allow us a tomorrow.
Another thing that can be said is to not put off
any needful thing until another day, a day which you might not have. When the
Holy Spirit directs you to witness to someone, to do some thing to tell others
of Christ, don’t put it off as you don’t know what the day will bring, for you
or them.
Finally, save your words of vanity. If you knew
that this would be your last day, what would you do? If you knew that tomorrow
you would be in Heaven or in Hell what would change about your plans? I would
hope that if you haven’t trusted Christ yet that you would declare your faith
in Him now. There may not be a tomorrow in which to do it.
All that is required to have eternal life is to believe on
Jesus Christ and to trust in His righteousness, not your own, to get to Heaven.
Give up all of those things that you think about yourself and how good you
think you are. Just follow the literal statements in the Bible in order to be
saved right now. Don’t let any TV preacher or religious celebrity fool you. The
answer is found right in God’s word.
Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with
thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised
him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth
unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Paul told the Philippian jailer;
Acts 16:31 And they said, Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.
Jesus Himself said;
John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way,
the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
And Peter admonished us;
Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name
under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
If anyone adds any words to those verses reject
what they say.
It is the simplest thing in the world and yet
it’s the hardest. You haven’t done it yet, have you? Pray for Christ’s
salvation and God will send His Holy Spirit into you to live and dwell there
until He calls you home to Him. Once you have spoken and prayed that belief to
Christ then read His Bible and pray about what you read, asking for guidance.
At some point you should unite with a body of
believers, even if it’s only two or three who believe and will discuss the
Bible with you and pray and worship Christ with you but a good church family is
a blessing and will help you in your spiritual walk, believe me. Notice I
didn’t say you had to accept someone’s political or economic beliefs, to deny
your family, to quit your job, or to sell all your possessions and home and
move to a compound. I didn’t tell you to beat your children black and blue or
wear a Moslem Burkha. You should avoid angry, paranoid, and hateful Christians,
as well as preachers with ANY political agenda or jingoistic, hyperpatriotic or
any masochistic, America hating ideology. Just believe and trust in Christ and
let His words have their way with you. God wants to use you to save others
right where you are and He wants you to grow in grace and grow in Him. You’ll
be amazed at what can happen in your life.
I know you’re thinking you have time to think
about eternity later, that you have your own spirituality now, that you’re a
good person. But, there is no tomorrow for you. Don’t boast of it. You don’t
know what the day will bring.
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