WHO CAN YOU TRUST? ~ TRUTH OR (LYING) CONSEQUENCES – A Bible Study
Now, listen to me carefully because this is so important. How many times recently have you heard an authority figure speak as though they are “people of faith” or mention God’s name repeatedly? Some would say, “Well, look, they acknowledge God so I can support them.” But ‘to acknowledge God’ literally means ‘to have God in knowledge’. Epignōsis means to have a precise and correct knowledge of God. It’s the same word used in Romans 10:2—
For I testify about them that they have
a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge.
This discounts the
masses who profess Christianity, but who have no understanding of biblical
truth, who never even attempt to try to understand what Scripture teaches about
God. Ephesians 1:17, 4:13, Philippians 1:9, Colossians 1:9-10, 2:2, 3:10, 1
Timothy 2:4, 2 Timothy 2:25, 2 Timothy 3:7, Titus 1:1, 2 Peter 1:2, 3, 8, and
2 Peter 2:20 are all verses that use this same Greek word and support
the fact that true believers acknowledge God according to true knowledge, His
revelation of Himself in Scripture. We do not have to walk around wringing our
hands in a state of fear and confusion wondering who is telling us the truth.
We can rest in a sovereign God who is truth. Isaiah 26:3 says:
The steadfast of mind You will keep in
perfect peace, because he trusts in You.
Christian, how many
people do you know who claim to be Christian but have no idea what that means?
How many people do you know who confess Christ but support a homosexual agenda,
abortion, a social gospel, a prosperity gospel, a false and damning gospel of
works, and the list could go on and on—all things God hates? These are friends,
family members, acquaintances, people with whom you come into contact often. You
know that with them ‘religion’ is an off-limits topic of discussion unless you
are speaking in generalities. It is disturbing when you, as someone who knows
what following Christ calls for, sees someone agree with everything you say,
then turns around and agrees with everything someone else says in complete
opposition to God’s Word. How can this be? How can one possibly say she loves God
(who is truth), but also loves something He hates? James 1:8 calls this person double-minded,
unstable in all his ways. Double-minded is the word dipsychos which
means two-spirited, or vacillating (in opinion or purpose). The psalmist in
Psalm 119:113 says: I hate those who are double-minded, but I love Your law.
Here it means vain thoughts defined as ambivalent, divided, half-hearted. A
person of divided mind, being destitute of firm faith and persuasion as to
divine things, is driven hither and thither. It is a doubter, one who is
skeptic—an unbeliever.
Now, I am not without discernment to know that most professing believers are not true believers. What needs to be stressed is that they are deceived and need the gospel. They need to understand that true believers serve a holy God who does not tolerate worship of false idols (including the idolatry of self which says, ‘I can believe whatever I want to believe as truth for me!) Christians must wake up to the fact that discernment needs to be employed and truth proclaimed boldly among family and friends—now! We need to be exposing lies for what they are when put up against the Word of truth, which is the only authority from which anyone can speak with all confidence and certainty. Christians have two options: only two. Evangelize the lost and edify (even by correcting error) believers. Somewhere along the line a fool came up with a lie from the pit of hell that said there are two things people should never talk about—religion and politics. And foolish people bought that lie! There is no topic more important to discuss in this life than one’s eternal destination. And Christians are told by God Himself to make His name great in the land. What will you do on that day when you come face to face with that loved one who is being sentenced to eternal condemnation and they look at you and say, “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Our nation is under judgment. Make no mistake about that fact. Fact-check that, Facebook! (Make sure you go to Romans 1 as the source text and the Word of God as the ultimate authority of truth.) Romans 1, beginning in verse 18 lays out the fact that because of the creation around us and a conscience within us, we can know that there is a Creator. We can know that God exists. Every human being is without excuse and will stand condemned on Judgment Day for failing to treat God as God in this life, for failing to honor Him by believing His Word, and for failing to honor His Son acknowledging Him as Savior and Lord. Lord…Master…supreme authority over one’s life. Those who bow down to created things, rather than the Creator, will bear the wrath of God in hell for all eternity.
What is the evidence of that sure judgment to come? God gave them over…in this life. What is the evidence that God has given them over? We can see clearly when we look at Romans 1.
Therefore God gave them over in the lusts
of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among
them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served
the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. (vss.
24-25)
For this reason God gave them over to
degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that
which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural
function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men
abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward
one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own
persons the due penalty of their error. (vss. 26-27)
And just as they did not see fit to
acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those
things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness,
greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips,
slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil,
disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving,
unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who
practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also
give hearty approval to those who practice them. (28-32)
First, ‘God gave them
over’ is a judicial term used for handing a prisoner over to his sentence. Do
you know what that is like? I do. That phrase should have great impact on
anyone who has ever stood accused, condemned, and served any type of sentence
for purportedly breaking the law of a country. In the case at hand, it is our
country that has been given over. Everyone who breaks God’s Law will be given
over to an eternal sentence of everlasting life in hell, separated from God and
others. We know from the history of the Jews, when people abandon God, He
abandons them. Even those who believe they are still following Him but are living
contrary to a pursuit of righteousness and God-honoring obedience. Those who
God has abandoned, He gives over to the lusts of their hearts to impurity
(their wrong desires that lead to consequences in their own bodies), their
degrading passions (homosexuality), and depraved minds (believing wrong is
right and right is wrong).
God gives people over in judgment to the lusts of their own hearts to impurity. Lusts are desires. In this context it means desires that are forbidden. Impurity, in a general sense, means something that is decaying just like that of a corpse. Used here means in a moral sense, the impurity of lustful, profligate, or licentious living. It is clearly speaking of what God deems sexual immorality which starts in the heart and ends up defiling the physical body. And it all begins with believing a lie just like it did in the Garden. Why does God give men over to judgment? ‘For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever.’ In the following two passages we see this word for lusts.
Ephesians 2:1-3 tells us of our spiritual status before God before we were saved:
And you were dead (spiritually) in your
trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of
this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that
is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly
lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and
of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.
Ephesians 4:17-25 says Christians are
no longer to walk as unbelievers but in the likeness of God—
…in the futility of their mind, being
darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the
ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they,
having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the
practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. Paul goes on to say: “But
you (true believers) did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you have heard
Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, that, in reference
to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being
corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be
renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the
likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.
Therefore, laying aside falsehood, SPEAK TRUTH EACH ONE of you WITH HIS
NEIGHBOR, for we are members of one another.”
Why is abortion such a big issue in all political elections? Because abortion is murder. Those who support it have done everything imaginable to justify it as a neutral issue. But it is sin; to support it in any way is sin. John MacArthur has rightly said, “If you’re a Christian, you cannot vote for a person or party that slays babies in the womb.” But those who claim to follow Christ have done just that. And those same people will be held accountable for their actions. There are always consequences for sin.
We can stand against those who profess Christ but live like Satan and be judged as intolerant and unloving, or we can stand before holy God one day and try to give a reasonable explanation for why we dishonored Him and His Word by turning a blind eye to sin. It is time for the Church—true believers—to be the salt and Light in this world she is intended to be. 1 Peter 4:17—For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?
We want to make
America great again. That’s a good thing. But that will never happen until we
make God’s name great again in this country. Christians, we must be the first
ones on our faces before God repenting for our sin against Him in not making
His name great among our people, the neighbors He has called us to love with
the truth.
I am often reminded of a simple story a young believer told me regarding an encounter he had while shopping in a local dollar store. The woman in front of him in line was berating the young cashier in an unusually rude way. My friend said to the woman, “Excuse me, ma’am, but are you a Christian?” Somewhat taken back, she replied, “Yes, I am!” He responded, “Does your behavior honor Christ?” The woman huffed off in a huff, but God was honored in that humble rebuke. Simple, yet what a profound thing to do.
See that no one deceives you with empty
words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of
disobedience. Therefore do not become partners with them; for you were once
darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light (for the
fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), as you
try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Do not participate in the useless
deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; for it is disgraceful even to
speak of the things which are done by them in secret. But all things become
visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible
is light. (Ephesians 5:6-13)
I saw no temple in it (the New
Jerusalem), for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. And the
city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God
has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light,
and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. In the daytime (for
there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed; and they will
bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it; and nothing unclean, and
no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but
only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life. (Revelation
21:22-27)
“Behold, I am coming quickly, and My
reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done. I am
the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” Blessed
are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of
life, and may enter by the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers
and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolators, and everyone who loves
and practices lying. (Revelation 22:12-14)
Does that passage in Revelation 22 encourage your heart, Beloved? It should! Lying, as all sin, comes from the heart. It is a heart issue. If the root of the tree is rotten, so too will the fruit be rotten. Just like the Fall in the Garden began with a lie, we can see from Revelation that liars will have no place in the New Jerusalem. And all will have a right to the tree of life found there.
Everyone
who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness. (1
John 3:4)
Little
children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is
righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who practices sin is of the devil;
for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this
purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. No one who is born of God practices
sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin (habitual sinning),
because he is born of God. By this the children of God and the children of the
devil are obvious; anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God,
nor the one who does not love his brother. (1 John 3:7-10)
If one can be characterized as a liar, the consequences of his lying heart is certain. Woe to he that is found to be a liar.
Truth or consequences? What will it be?
Then I saw a new heaven and a new
earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no
longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of
heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a
loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among the
people, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God
Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes;
and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or
crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” And He who sits on the
throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for
these words are faithful and true.” Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the
Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give water to the one
who thirsts from the spring of the water of life, without cost. The one who
overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My
son. But for the cowardly, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and
sexually immoral persons, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, their
part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the
second death.” (Revelation 21:1-8)
What do you learn from the following Scriptures regarding the sin of lying:
John 8:44
John 18:17
Acts 5:4
Colossians 3:9
2 Thessalonians 2:11
1 Timothy 4:1-2
1 Peter 3:10-12
Proverbs 4:24, 6:12,
17-19, 10:18, 12:13, 19-20, 22, 13:5, 14:5, 25, 17:7, 19:5, 9, 22, 20:17, 21:6,
25:14, 26:28, 30:7-9
Isaiah 59:13-14
Some verses on deception
include:
Acts 13:10
Romans 16:18
2 Corinthians 11:3, 13-15
2 Thessalonians 2:3, 9-10
1 Timothy 4:1-2
THIS WEEK’S CHALLENGE: Be bold in telling at least one loved one the truth about who God is, even and especially when correcting lies they believe about Him.
Prayer: Father, help me to be faithful to be salt and light in this dark world. You have called me, as one who represents You, to lay aside all falsehood and speak truth to my neighbor. Forgive me when I have so often failed to do that by keeping my mouth closed in the name of tolerance and “peace”. May Your Spirit grant me the courage to boldly fight the good fight of faith using the sword of Your Word to destroy fortresses Satan has built in the minds of the unbelieving. Help me understand the urgency and give me a burden for destroying arguments and all arrogance raised up against the knowledge of who You are by taking every lie captive to the obedience of Christ, first in myself, then in the world. Help me to teach my children diligently who You are when they rise up and when they lie down, so they might know You and eternal life. Lord, You are faithful and true and can be trusted in whatever my heart fears today, and I praise You. Thank You for Your goodness to me as You draw me to Yourself through the study of Your Word. Amen.
As you can see that I have decided to do the Blog in a new Bible study-type of format. Because I have a hard time saying anything in a page or two, I have decided to do one longer Blog a week so that the reader may use it as a mini Bible study if she so chooses. Please feel free to use these in your ladies’ Bible studies or at home when teaching your children. They are short enough that they could be printed out the week before for your women to use during their week-day devotions. Then, when you meet again, you can discuss what was learned. My passion is for women to know truth. God wants us to know Him, therefore, we must have a biblically sound theology. My heart’s passion is for Christian women everywhere to go deep into the Word with an insatiable hunger and thirst for Him that only truth can satisfy and to have sound resources available to them to whet their appetites.
I also want to apologize for my absence from this Blog for the past six weeks. I have been working diligently to get my book ready for release. Writing the book has been a far easier process for me than getting it ready for market. Who knew? I am grateful for all I have learned and pray the next time around (Lord willing); I will be able to implement any wisdom gained from this somewhat tedious process. I would appreciate your prayers that this book, Living Beneath the Tapestry and Within the Veil, God’s Sanctifying Work in the Lives of His Suffering Saints, will be available by the end of November, in time for Christmas. Blessings! Karla
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