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Lying |
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Today,
many people are in the habit of lying, therefore they have a bad habit. But you,
brothers, must not fall into this bad habit, for you must say the truth
always, as it is written: “Therefore, putting away lying, let each one of you
speak truth with his neighbor, for we are members of one another” (Ephesians
4:25 – NKJV). |
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Remember that
Ananias and Sapphira his wife were put to death (by God) because they lied to
the Holy Spirit. Here is what Luke wrote: “But a certain man named Ananias,
with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, And kept back part of the price,
his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at
the apostles' feet. 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. And great fear came upon all the church,
and upon as many as heard these things” (Acts 5:1-11). |
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Brothers,
we all are often tempted by the devil to tell lies. What should we do then? Let
us resist the devil and speak truthfully to our neighbor. Let us remember
that “lying lips are an abomination to the Lord” (Proverbs |
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To
conclude, I want to say one last thing; since we must have no fellowship with
the unfruitful works of darkness, we are not allowed to lie in order to help
someone. For instance, those who work as a secretary sometimes are commanded
by their boss to tell those who ask by phone to speak with him that he is not
in the office. How should a believer conduct himself in such circumstances?
Should he/she obey his or her boss, and thus say that his or her boss is not
in the office (even though he/she knows that the boss is in the office and
does not want to be disturbed), or refuse to obey such an order? He/she must
refuse to tell lies, and therefore he/she must say to his/her boss that
he/she will say the truth, thus if the boss is in the office he/she will say
that he is in the office, while if the boss is not in the office he/she will
say that he is not in the office. |