OCTOBER 22, 2018 BY EMMANUEL-SUNNY OJEAGBASE
Lie is the weapon that the devil used to disrupt the good plan that GOD had in mind when He planted the Garden of Eden and put man in it.We are told inGenesis 2:8-17:
“The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food.
“The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil….Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it.
“And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die’.”
That was what our Father desired for us: a good life. He created us so that we would be fellowshipping with Him and serve Him.
And when He discovered that Adam, the first sole occupier of the Garden, was showing signs of loneliness when our Father was not with him, He created Eve, a woman, to keep him company. And the couple were having a great time, basking in the opulence that GOD lavished on them.
Satan watched this couple from the distance. “Why,” he thought devilishly,“would GOD create this beautiful garden and fill it with everything a man’s heart could desire: no sickness, no worries, no death, and put this couple in it, having a great time of their life?”
The devil got envious of the couple. And out of jealousy of the privileges they had, he came up with a crazy plan that only a twisted mind like satan’s could conjure.He manufactured the first lie ever known to man!
Let’s pick up the narration of how it happened from the Bible. “Now the serpent (akasatan or the devil) was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made,” Genesis 3:1-7begins.“And he said to the woman, ‘Has God indeed said, “You shall not eat of every tree of the garden”?’
“And the woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, “You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die”.’
“Then the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die.’(Pay attention to that statement. It was the very first lie ever told as recorded in the Bible!). And it came with a consequence you and I are still battling with its effect until this very day!).
Satan was relentless. He continued to pester Eve: ‘… For God knows that in the day you eat of it (the forbidden fruit) your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’
“So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.
“Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.”
You can read the rest ofGenesis 3 to see the devastating impact of that first lie. Our Father was so pissed off by that cheap lie that in every book of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, you will notice that He never at any point stopped warning us to avoid lies like a plague.
In fact, in Revelation 22, the very last chapter of the Bible, our Father still warned us against lying. That tells me that lying is a dangerous game, I should do everything to avoid it like a poison.
Verse 10 of that chapter begins: “And he said to me,‘Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand. He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still.
“And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to everyone according to his work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.
“Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter through the gates into the city. But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.
“I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.”
“And the Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.
“For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.He who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming quickly’.”
The last sentence of the verses we have just read declares: “Surely, I am coming quickly.” Who is coming quickly? Obviously, it is our Lord and Savior. Our Redeemer. Our Salvation. Our Strengthener.
Do you believe Jesus Christ is coming back?
I absolutely believe He is coming back. What about you? If you believe He is, as I strongly do, does it not make sense to pay close attention to His warnings in the passages we just read together?
Consider the following passages before answering that question.Jesus speaking, He said to those disputing with Him, in John 8:42-47,“If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me.
“Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.
“But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me. Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me? He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore, you do not hear, because you are not of God.”
Now, let me rephrase that question before you answer it: in view of what you know about telling lies and who the father of lies is, does it not make sense to avoid it by all means, especially as you’re convinced that Master Jesus is coming back and will judge “whoever loves and practices a lie?”
“I perfectly understand what you’re driving at,” Brother Emmanuel Sunny, someone says. “But you know, it is sometimes difficult to avoid telling lies.”
Yes, I know. In fact, I perfectly understand. But that does not sound like a strong defence when we are standing face to face with Master Jesus on the Day of Judgement, especially as the Bible has given us clues as to how to avoid the impending disaster.
The master key to escaping from being judged harshly by our Lord and Savior is to walk in OBEDIENCE to the Word of GOD. Without doing that, we will always find that we are falling short of what our Father wants us to do.
And obedience is what you practice not what you jump up one day and start doing perfectly. For example, if you believe GOD and His Word, you will agree with Him that He is watching what goes on in your heart.
Read the following Scriptures to establish that truth in your heart. If you do that, you will see the futility of telling lies. You will discover that whereas your fellow man does not know what is going on in your heart but GOD, who will judge you in the Day of Judgement, knows every secret of your heart.
Jeremiah 17:9
The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?
Jeremiah 17:10
I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings.
Jeremiah 20:12
But, O Lord of hosts, You who test the righteous, and see the mind and heart, let me see Your vengeance on them; for I have pleaded my cause before You.
Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
1 Chronicles 28:9
“As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind; for the Lord searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever.
Psalm 44:21
Would not God search this out? For He knows the secrets of the heart.
All these Scriptures support one truth: GOD searches our heart. Nothing we do is ever hidden from Him. And GOD proves it in Genesis 20 when Abraham lied to Abimelech, king of Gerar,that Sarah, his wife, was his sister to ensure he was not killed, and his pretty wife taken from him.
Abimelech, who innocently took Sarah to be his wife because Abraham said she was his sister, protested when GOD intervened and threatened to kill him for taking Abraham’s wife:
“Did he not say to me, ‘She is my sister’?” Abimelech protested.‘And she, even she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ In the integrity of my heart and innocence of my hands I have done this.” (Genesis 20:5)
Our Father agreed with him.‘Yes, I know that you did this in the integrity of your heart. For I also withheld you from sinning against Me; therefore, I did not let you touch her.” (Genesis 20:6).
How did our Father know? Because He always knows what is going on in our heart as those Scriptures we read earlier confirms. And if we know that He does, why do we still tell lies?
I know the answer: we don’t believe that our Father will always do whatever He says to us that He will do.
Yes, we may claim that He is Who He says He is. But our actions don’t support what we profess. Yet, the Almighty GOD has proved Himself to us as a GOD of justice in every way possible from Genesis to Revelation and even unto this very day.
Think about it for a moment. What is the point in telling lies to somebody because they may never find out the truth but ignore the One who tells you plainly that He is taking record of those lies and will judge you one day?
The moment you have that understanding, telling lies will lose all its appeal to you, especially as it’s from your enemy, the devil!
Ask the Holy Spirit for help and, purpose in your heart that you will distance yourself from telling lies from today. In Jesus Precious Name. Amen.
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