Bad Stuff Happens Series

Bad Stuff Happens

Today we are adding another foundation stone to Christian basics. For several weeks we looked at how many Christians and Christian churches exhibit Atheistic tendencies.

Some of you may be relieved that we have moves on to another topic this morning.

I am afraid that you may be disappointed.

My core thinking is based on a statement I have heard about the devil all of my life.

I have heard that the devil is a liar. Has anyone else heard that one?

I thought so. Instead of just saying it, I decided to look it up in THE BOOK, The Bible, myself. As far as I am concerned there is enough evidence in scripture to state that the devil is a liar is a fact.

So, I don’t see the need to prove that point to you. I will offer you one verse I used to base my decision.

Jesus is speaking to a group of Pharisees ( a group of Religious men.) and identifying their condition and also describes the character of the devil.

It comes from John 8 Verse 44,

You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

So, that description settles it for me. That means that if the devil comes over and speaks to me, I know better than to believe anything he says.

I don’t know about you but that definition helps me in making daily decisions!

But there is a problem. I don’t think that the devil appears to us looking bright red with a cape and pitch fork to personally tell us lies.

I believe it is much more subtle, much more indirect.

I fear that we hear people say spiritual sounding things, things we often have used as key components of our faith but, they are technically lies….

Most people have a scale when it comes to what a lie is. Sometime we will say something is a little lie or a white lie. So, as I often do I looked up the term.

A lie is a known untruth expressed as truth. A lie is a type of deception in the form of an untruthful statement, especially with the intention to deceive others, often with the further intention to maintain a secret or reputation, protect someone's feelings or to avoid a punishment or repercussion for one's actions. To lie is to state something that one knows to be false or that one does not honestly believe to be true with the intention that a person will take it for the truth.

-- Today we are not talking about lying as a general topic.

We are addressing ways that Christians aid the devil in spreading lies without even knowing it.

There are lots of things that I have heard Christians say that are half truths, they are statements that have an element of truth but not the whole truth.

They are often things that Christians believe to be true but we are simply restating phrases we have heard and blindly accepted as truth.

I don’t like to think that we are more gullible that other people. I guess in a way we believe satan’s lies because, we don’t know we are being lied to. There are several statements that are often spoken to us and by us as Christians that are by definition lies. Lies that are intended as something to support faith.

Let’s look at the first one.

God will not put more on you than you can handle!

It sounds Biblical. Most of us have heard that phrase from all kinds of trusted people in our lives. It is comforting.

Good and even great Christians and even we have offered the statement to aid a person dealing with trouble in life.

But there is a problem.

That is not what the Bible says! In fact, I could not find that general phrase, at least the way we normally use it in scripture anywhere.

Some of you are thinking, well what about 1 Corinthians 10:13

No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

Unfortunately, the word used was tempted in every translation I examined. It was not burdens, it was not problems, or pain, or loss…..

This scripture is specifically talking about temptation to sin.

The same man (Paul) that we like to miss-quote in 1 Corinthians, describes his situation in 2 Corinthians 1 : 8-9