CENTRAL THOUGHT
Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD. (Prov. 12:22a).
HYMN: WHEN WE WALK WITH THE LORD
TEXT: Prov. 6:16-19, Acts 5:1-11, Eph. 4:25
INTRODUCTION
Lying can be defined as an expression of an untrue state of a matter. It can also mean giving false impression about a matter in order to mislead. Satan is the father of lies (John 8:44). The first act of lying Satan practiced with man was in the Garden of Eden, when he misled Adam to disobey God. Lying is a grievous offence before God, and He hates it (Prov. 6:16-19). Lying is the foundation of every evil activity. Unfortunately, it has become the most common practice among human race. Every crime begins with telling a lie. Satan has so much polluted human mind that people now tell lies freely as if it is a way of life. Some people trivialize it, describing it with terms such as “white lie”, “black lie”, “hard lie” or, “a soft lie”. A lie is a lie and lying is sin. The Bible says that the punishment for the sin of lying is destruction (Prov. 19:9). Just as the sin of murder can lead a man to hell, so lying can. Consider the case of Ananias and Saphira. They died for telling a lie.
The characteristic of a lie is such that is does not stand alone. When a lie is told, it quickly attracts several of its association to make it stand as if it is the truth. It is so dangerous that is can easily entangle anyone who collaborates with it. It seeks to gratify the desires of the flesh, so it has become a societal norm, and only very few people can recognize the danger of being involved in it.
The opposite of the lie is truth. While lie gives a false impression about a thing in order to mislead, truth presents a factual existence of reality, sincerity in action, character and utterance. Only a regenerated man who lives in obedience to the Spirit of God that dwells in him can avoid lying.
In this study we shall be focusing on the dangers of lying and how one can be delivered from lying spirit.
LESSON OBJECTIVES
The objectives of this study are:
- To examine Ananias & Sapphira as a case study.
- To discuss the common lies and their consequences as they relate to:
- Politics
- Trading/business
- Church leaders and the led,
- Relationships and marriages
- To explain and discuss the dangers of lying
- To examine how someone can be delivered from lying spirit.
BIBLE TRUTH
Q1. USING THE LIFE OF ANANIAS AND SAPPHIRA, DISCISS THE CONSEQUENCES OF LYING? ACTS 5:1-11
Ananias and Sapphira were husband and wife, who were members of the early church. The Bible recorded that both of them (husband and wife) died on the same day, within three-hour intervals because of a lie. They sold part of their possessions and brought a portion of the proceeds to the Apostles to be distributed among the brethren. They wanted to be like Barnabas, who had earlier sold his piece of land and surrendered the entire proceeds to the Apostles, out of a genuine love for the brethren. When Ananias and Saphira were asked by Peter whether the amount they brought was the price for the possession sold, they answered in the affirmative, and they died one after the other.
The first thing to note here is that Ananias & Sapphira only wanted to be recognized as some special couple in the church and perhaps be accorded great honor, like Barnabas. The act was only a show off. It was neither out of love for the brethren now for God. Secondly, they were not under any obligation to sell their possession neither were they under any obligation to give the total proceed to the church. Their hypocrisy however was revealed to Peter, who then said to Ananias: “But Peter said, “Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things. And the young men arose, wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him. And it was about the space of three hours after, when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in. And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much. Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out. Then fell she down straightway at his feet, and yielded up the ghost: and the young men came in, and found her dead, and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband.” (vs 3-10).
They were therefore judged for their hypocrisy and lying before God, and not because of their decision to retain part of the money for themselves. The severity of the punishment to some, for such a “small offence” may seem intolerant and graceless. This typifies the consequence and gravity of lying.
Q2. WHAT ARE THE COMMON LIES AND THEIR CONSEQUENCES AS THEY RELATE TO THE FOLLOWING?
Politics and politicians
Politics involve matters concerned with acquiring or exercising power within a group or an organization, and those involved (politicians) usually indulge in many lies to win the support of their followers. It is said that power corrupts, and corruption is built on the foundation of lies. Politicians always get to leadership positions by telling all manner of lies. In the process of some of them make promises they do not have the ability or resources or intention to fulfill. When eventually they are voted into power, when they are finally elected, their pre-election lies become apparent in that they busy themselves with their personal gains rather than the campaign promises. This trend of politics based on lies must stop.
Trading and Business
The general purpose of engaging in any business venture is to earn a living for one’s needs. This can be done decently and with integrity. But for many in businesses they aim at acquiring as much wealth as possible in order to become famous; as a result, they sometimes engage in all forms of falsehood and deceit, to enable them achieve their goals. They lie to their customers about the cost price of their goods or products in order to sell them at a higher price, cheating their customers, yet telling them that they sold at such a price for the sake of the particular customer. Some traders engage in false measurements. Some others tell their customers that their products/services are the best in town, while indeed theirs are the most inferior products. It is common knowledge that some businessmen/women, especially contractors, use inferior materials to carry out construction work but tell their clients that they have used the best quality or original materials. Some traders use the containers of good quality products to package inferior goods and sell them as original. These have resulted in collapsed buildings, poor performance of some household and office equipment, resulting in damage to other good ones, and even loss of lives.
Church leaders and the led.
Church leaders are shepherds of the flock of Christ. It is required of such leaders to be called of God; hence some of them are referred to as Men/Servants of God. It is an exalted position and commands a lot of respect, but some self-centered members have craftily worked their ways into leadership positions in the church. These are not called by God; they are “wolves in sheep clothing”, serving their own selfish purpose. Such leaders tell lies to their followers in order to retain their positions. Some declare their desires and thoughts of their hearts as prophesies from God. They say “thus says the Lord”, when God has not said anything; lying, distorting the word of God, and deceiving their members with a view to acquire wealth, achieve cheap popularity and fame. The consequence of these is that their members are misled into error and the leaders themselves will face God’s judgement and eternal destruction.
Relationships and Marriages
Many relationships are known to be in great problems today as a result of lies, deceit and falsehood between the persons involved. Common among them are situations where a young man would be in relationship with two or more different ladies at the same time and tell each of them “You are the only one in my life” and vice versa. Some may have had children before meeting their spouses, some of which remain concealed until they are accidentally discovered. Some people tell lies to their friends to avoid rendering assistance to them in times of need. Whenever these lies are discovered, they lead to broken relationships. Some couples are known to have divorced or separated from each other as a result of some of these common lies. Some unfaithful couples would be having extramarital affairs, but when confronted by their spouse they deny it with dozens of lies. Some lie about their income, even the cost of items purchased for house use. Many broken relationships would have been sustained if these common lies were avoided or put away.
Q3. DISCUSS HOW PEOPLE TELL LIES WITH MODERN COMMUNICATION DEVICES. WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS?
Cell phone is a facility that enable one to discuss business, exchange pleasantries and send short messages in place of letter writing, or personal visits. It is a portable equipment for easy communication by the possessor, at anytime and anywhere he or she may be. It has been seen to be very useful when properly used. It helps to reduce a lot of inconveniences and difficulties encountered by businessmen; with it they can transact businesses even from their bedrooms. Unfortunately, some people see it as an instrument for lies and deception. People who would not want to meet up with an obligation would call their colleagues or business partners to say that they are out of town, while they are within the neighborhood, or even in their houses. Some unfaithful men call their wives to inform them that they would be home late from the office because of a board meeting or an official assignment, while they would be messing up themselves with strange women. As one cannot easily detect the position from where a call is made, the wicked people have turned this technological provision which should have been a relief to man, into a deceitful instrument. Closely related to this, is the internet facility. Rather than using it to transact genuine business and communicate useful information, people now use it to commit fraud, send false information to prospective businessmen, project immoral materials, place on the website businesses that do not exist and use it to extort money from the unsuspecting public. The most commonly used is Facebook. The implications of all these are that people are deceived to believe what is not true, some are corrupted, and many suffer different types of losses. Those who misuse these facilities should repent or else they would one day face the law of the land or ultimately God’s judgement.
Q4. SUGGEST HOW SOMEONE CAN BE SET FREE FROM A LYING SPIRIT?
Lying spirit is an offspring of Satan (John 8:44). He is a liar and the father of lies. We tell lies when we allow or accommodate the suggestions of the devil to lie.
To be free from telling lies:
(i) we must “resist the devil and he will flee” from us (James 4:7). Yielding to the evil desires the devil brings to our mind gives way to the lying spirit into our heart, but with the help of the Holy Spirit, we can resist him and he will flee from us.
(ii) Freedom from lying spirit comes also from godliness with contentment. Contentment removes the urge to do the untoward (in order to) make it.
(iii) Another cure for evil desires is humility. We can be released from self-centeredness by humbling ourselves before God.
(iv) We should also note that the greatest weapon against the devil is the Truth. The word of God is TRUTH. We must allow the word of God dwell in our heart richly always. (Psalm 119:9-11; Col. 3:16).
(v) We must also guide our tongue and diligently keep our heart so that we don’t say the unnecessary. (Prov. 4:23,24; 10:9). We must bridle our tongue and avoid multitude of words (James 1:26).
DAILY LIVING APPLICATION
Any time one lies he gives Satan a piece of his heart. The more he tells lies, the more he gives place in his heart to Satan’s lying spirit. Unless he drastically checks it, he may find it difficult to stop lying. Therefore, as children of God, we must not allow the seed of lying take root in our life. “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump”.
MEMORY VERSE:
Ephesians 4:25
“Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor: for we are members one of another”.
DAILY DEVOTIONAL GUIDE
Monday: Lying is an abomination to God.
Prov. 12:22, 16:16-17
Tuesday: Lying hinders prayers.
Isaiah 59:1-3
Wednesday: Lying attracts punishment.
Prov. 19:5, 21:6
Thursday: Resist the devil.
James 4:7-8
Friday: Consequences of lying.
Rev. 21:8
Saturday: Remedy to lying spirit.
James 1:19 & 21