ILL. The story is told of Joe the Butcher who had crafty ways of selling his chickens. He had one chicken left, and he didn’t want to keep it over the weekend. The priest of his church came into the store. He said: “my wife sent me to buy a good size chicken to roast for dinner. We’re having my boys come back home from college”.
Joe said: “I have just what you need”. He went to the freezer and brought out the last chicken, the one nobody wanted, and put it on the scale. Joe said, "This one is 2 pounds 3 ounces." The priest said, "It looks sort of small, do you have anything else?"
Joe took the chicken back into the freezer and came back with the same chicken, the only one he had. He put it on the scale and this time said, "this one is 3 pounds and five ounces. But since you’re a man of God, I’m going to let you have it for the same price."
The priest said, "well thank you, but come to think of it, the way my boys eat. Just go ahead and give me both of the chickens and I’ll pay the higher price for them both”.
Just when he least expected it, Joe had been caught in a lie. When was the last time when you, like Joe, last time when you was caught in a lie? Although we don’t want to admit it, lying is one of the most common sins practiced by so called Christians… Are you one of them?
We are getting near the end of our series on the 10 C – Law and Grace... It has amazed me just how little mankind has changed over the centuries. All of the Cs we have looked still as relevant to us today as they were when they were first passed down to Moses.
The 9th C - is another one that hits us where we live. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. Exodus 20:16
God considers laying a very serious matter regardless of whether the consequences of that lie are immediate and deadly or not. Prov. 6:16-19 READ
Yet as much as God hates lying, I doubt that there are only few people that we may label them as liars... May I suggest that many of us have probably already lied to someone this morning?
For example, when someone asked this Sabbath morning how you are doing, we said “Fine”. We answer, “I’m just fine” even though our life may be falling apart. Why is that? Reflex? Habit? Maybe we’re scared that no one cares, that no one has the time, or that someone would reject us if they really knew what was going on inside our hearts.
The Bible doesn’t speak of church as a place where perfect people come to congratulate one another on how perfect they are. It talks about church as a place where hurting people come to admit their hurt and find healing for their hurt. “Confess your faults one to another” so that you might be healed. (James 5:16) The church family should be the place where we are the most free to be ourselves and admit our weakness.
That’s why we’ve come here today – to admit our weakness before a holy God, to praise Him for His holiness and strength and to ask His power to sin no more, to change, to transform something radical in our lives by beholding Jesus… This “how are you - I’m fine” is just something mechanical, but they are other things who are, by consequences, aggravating… It’s a light lie… because in our sinfulness, we began to classify the lies: different levels: light, medium, heavy… Like in sports. But a lie, even a light one who don’t seem to hurt somebody else, still sin.
Mark Twain was right when he said, “The difference between a person who tells the truth and tells a lie is that the liar’s got to have a better memory.” But truth frees you to enjoy all the benefits and promises that God has offered to you. When you are truthful about your sin, the truth frees you to enjoy God’s forgiveness. Truth frees, according to John 8:32 – “You will know that truth, and the truth will set you free.” lies enslave…
First lie in the world history - “God is out to stop your fun!” – (Gen. 2:25-3:8)
- 2:25 – “naked . . . no shame” honest; nothing to hide; how would you like to live in a world like that? Not necessarily naked physically, but a place where you could be totally naked emotionally and even spiritually with no fear of how anyone is going to react. That’s the kind of world that they enjoyed. Then Satan came along.
- 3:1 – “Did causing her to doubt God who is the Truth-teller, God . . .” - 3:4 – “eyes God is holding out on you; God is out to stop your fun … If you eat, if you go over what God said, your eyes will be opened . . . like God . . .“ !
God wants to keep all the fun for Himself! One thing that Satan didn’t tell them was the consequences of their actions…. 3: 10 – “naked . . . coverings [masks] . . . hid from the Lord God . . . afraid because I was naked. When Adam and Eve listened to a lie, their immediate reaction was to hide, to cover up their vulnerability – to put masks on. That’s really what lies are – an attempt to cover up our feelings or our actions so that we are not vulnerable to the attacks of others.
Satan’s lie and their response to that lie separated them from one another and from God. When they hide behind clothing and behind the trees, they became liars themselves because they could no longer be totally open and honest with themselves or with God.
Satan tells the same lie today. He tells people that the only way that they are going to have any fun and really enjoy life is to leave God and His way behind. Or at least to do it in private…
Oh… the sin is so good, but, because I want to keep my status of high regard among my friends/family, I put a mask when I am in public…
Jesus said, “I am come that they may have life, and that they may have it to the full.” (John 10:10) Not just some crumbs. Life at its fullness. God’s desire is that we enjoy life, but He knows the only way that is going to happen is as we live it in relationship with Him. And no masks…
Lie #2 “What people think you are is more important than what you are.” In the early church people did an amazing thing: selling their goods and giving the money to meet the needs of everyone else in the community.
Acts 4:36-37 - Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.
Joseph or Barnabas, a Levite from the country of Cyprus… Setting a good example. Barnabus had made quite a generous donation, and many would have been impressed. He didn’t give it for praise, but inevitably word gets out.
Acts 5:1-2 - Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet.
Ananias and Sapphira were bitten by the green-eyed monster of jealousy and invented a plan of their own… They sold a property. And they went home carrying a bulky bag of money…And dumped it on the living room floor.
It’s evening and in the light of the candle, the golden coins are shining more beautiful… What a sight! Money does funny things to people. The Bible calls it a snare/trap.
“If I had a million dollars I’d give it to the church” [they don’t even tithe]. Silly because money doesn’t tend to make greedy people unselfish, it has a tendency to make greedy people more greedy! The more you have the more you want.
Ananias and Sapphira facing their lifetime test. I picture in my mind them looking at all that money the rest of the evening saying: hey, we haven’t saved anything for retirement [took out part, set it aside]. Kid’s college…Hawaii Vacation…A new car……
- “Wow, look at it… It’s a lot of money. Honey, I would like to remind you that my actual car is just not representing me and my personality… We nned to buy another one. We gave already so much to the church… They are others who can give… We promise, OK, we will give… some…
- “This is our business, isn’t it? Nobody knows about the transaction, the price of that property”…They look at that stack and look qt each other, and look back at the shiny golden coins: “It will be a great day at church this Sabbath… tomorrow”. They also planted some leaks to spread the word!”
Phone calls: Hello Sister Tabitha, are you going to be tomorrow for the church? Just asking… we sold the property and we will give all the money to the church. I thing you qualify to be helped… so don’t miss the opportunity. And tell your sister in law also… Good night…”
Little they know that night it was their last night… By Sabbath they had half the money in the bag and half under their mattress. Brought it to church and gave it: “We have an important announcement to make. This is what we got from selling our property – all we got from it. And we give all to the church…!
Was it wrong for them to only bring part to church? No! There was no record of God telling them to do it. And that’s the point Peter makes in v. 4…
Nothing wrong with any of the above. The problem was not their giving only part of the money …the problem was that they SAID they were giving it all. They intentionally lied/deceived to lift themselves up! They pretended to be something that they were not.
Hypocrisy! If they had come and said, we sold the property for 100k and we feel led to give half and keep half…that would have been fine… but they just had to try to keep up w/ the Jones – in their case the Jones was Barnabas.
That lie cost them so much… They died in the same hour. Both. Wow… If you believe in two kinds of Gods, a merciless OT God who said “an eye for an eye”, and a loving and forgiving NT God, who don’t punish but forgive every wrong doing… I’ll invite you to revise this wrong perception.
God is one, and is right and love in the same time. His Law & His Love are always together… Ananias and Sapphira died because it was a crucial moment in the history of Salvation. Everybody knew after that God is serious keeping up the discipline…
The organized church represent God’s holiness and He cannot tolerate such a lie, such an attitude of unfair competition – who is going to give more in order to receive more praises and more applauses… The Holy Spirit revealed what was going on, consequently the lie exposed and the punishment for undermining the Salvation message was made obvious…
Do you know that Jesus never got angry at those who admitted their own sinfulness. You’ll never find a place where He got angry at a prostitute, a thief, a swindler, a murderer, or an adulterer.
But Jesus did angry at hypocrites – those who were more concerned with what people thought of them than they were concerned about actually being right in God’s sight. (Mat 23:13 NIV) "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.
Are there exceptions? Are there times when we are allowed not to be forthright and honest? In the Bible we have a few examples of God allowing a person to be less than honest when a life was on the line. For example were the Christians who lied about keeping Jews hidden during the war wrong? No. They were saving lives.
We have a few examples from the Scriptures. I will mention just one. In 1 Samuel 16 God tells Samuel the prophet to tell a half-truth. When God rejected Saul as King He sent Samuel out to anoint a new one who would replace Saul at some point. Samuel feared for his life. Look at 1 Samuel 16:1-2 (READ). Samuel’s assignment was to anoint a new King, not to sacrifice a heifer. God did it to protect Samuel’s life.
This is the exception, not the rule. Life is important to protect. Jesus never used a lie in order to protect Himself. Remember the scene? In the Garden, in the night when He was betrayed, the mob approached him in the semi-obscurity with torches and swords…
And Jesus, knowing their brutality, came forth. John 18:7-8 -"Who is it you want?" And they said, "Jesus of Nazareth." "I told you that I am he," Jesus answered. "If you are looking for me, then let these men go." …He didn’t lie. Ever… And because of that He not just our example of honesty, but also our power to tame the tongue, to tame the mind, to conquer this powerful temptation of dishonesty.
INVITATION. When you asked Jesus to be your savior, you promised Him your life. But you’ve taken it back so many times. Why don’t you come and bring it to the foot of the cross this today?
Maybe you have been lied to so many times that you have trouble trusting Jesus. Remember, Jesus is not like us. It is impossible for Him to lie. He has kept every promise to you that He ever made.
He promises salvation to those who will call upon Him – admit their own sinfulness, believe that He died to pay for their sins and rose again back to life, and commit their whole life into His hands. He promises forgiveness if we will confess our sins to Him.
We have failed over and over again in our attempts to keep our promises to Jesus, but He has never failed to keep one single promise to us. Ask for His forgiveness today, and He will give it.
