In Proverbs chapter 6, the part that I wanted to focus on is beginning in verse number 16.
Now, as a preacher, I try to preach the basics because I feel like so many preachers today,
they're looking for some cute little sermon or some fancy message or something,
when in reality, we're neglecting some of the fundamental things,
some of the most basic things that we ought to be learning when preaching in church.
And so I preach a lot of basic sermons, and this is one of those basic things that seems very basic,
but I think we need to talk about it.
And there's so many applications that's in the Bible in so many different directions.
This sermon was extremely long, I have to keep track of it now,
because the Bible talks so much about the subject that I'm going to talk about right now,
and that subject is lying.
Look at Proverbs 6, 16.
The Bible reads,
These six things doth the Lord hate.
His seven are an abomination unto him.
He says, A proud look, and then what's the second thing on this?
A lying tongue.
And then he mentions some other things,
of hands that shed innocent blood,
a heart that devises wicked imaginations,
feet that be swift in running to mischief,
and then look at this one,
of false witness that speaketh lies,
and he that soweth discord among brethren.
So really, lying gets a double mention here in this list of things that God just really hates.
And so sometimes lying is something that we think of as not a big deal,
and we think it's a small sin,
and obviously there are things that are much worse than lying,
but still God does hate lying.
And part of the reason why God hates lying is because God is the truth.
I mean, Jesus said, I am the truth.
And so lying basically goes against everything that is God,
everything that is the Bible.
Let's look at some other verses in Proverbs before we get into it.
Let's look at chapter 12, verse 22.
Let's flip a few pages over in the Bible.
Proverbs 12, verse 22.
The Bible reads,
Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord,
but they that deal truly are his delight.
Look at chapter 17.
Proverbs 17, verse 4.
A wicked doer giveth heed to false lips.
Okay, this is talking about someone listening to lies, right?
A wicked doer giveth heed to false lips,
and a liar giveth ear to a naughty tongue, right?
So people who tell lies and people who argue with lies are really many times one and the same.
We're going to get into that a little later in the sermon.
But look at chapter 21.
Proverbs 21, verse 6.
The Bible reads,
The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a vanity
tossed to and fro of them that seek death.
Look at chapter 26, verse 28.
Proverbs 26, 28.
The Bible says,
A lying tongue hateth those that are afflicted by it,
and a flattering mouth worketh ruin.
So basically, when you love someone,
God's saying, you're going to tell them the truth.
And lying to someone is a hateful act.
He says, a lying tongue hateth those who are afflicted by it,
who could be, number one, the person that you're lying to,
or it could be the person that you're lying about,
you know, they're being afflicted by your lies, and so forth.
Colossians 3, you don't have to turn there.
Turn to Acts 5 in the New Testament.
Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts.
Fifth book in the New Testament, the book of Acts.
Colossians 3, 9 says,
Lie not one to another,
seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds.
Let me show you a story in the New Testament about lying.
This is in Acts chapter 5.
Look at Acts 5, we're going to see a story in the Bible
about people who told a really big lie.
Acts 5, 1, the Bible reads,
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?
Now watch verse 4.
Walls have remained, was it not thine own?
And after it was sold, was it not of thine own power?
Why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart?
Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.
He's saying to him, look,
you don't have to give us any money, right?
He's saying, you didn't have to sell this land
and give the money to church.
He's saying, when you sold it,
you could have done whatever you wanted with the money.
He said, walls have remained, was it not thine own?
He's saying, it's your land, it's in your power,
but why lie about it?
Because what he had done was,
he sold his land, and he said,
I'm selling this land, I'm giving all the money to church, right?
Because he was trying to look really good,
like trying to give money in front of everybody
to be the big hero,
when in reality, he just sold the land
and just gave part of it to church.
Now he didn't even have to give any of the money,
but why lie about it?
And lie, such a hypocritical lie,
to make yourself look good,
to lift yourself up and glorify yourself.
He said, you haven't just lied unto men,
he said, you lied to God,
you're lying in church.
He said, it's even worse.
And Ananias, hearing those words,
fell down and gave up the ghost.
So basically, this guy just drops dead,
when he gets confronted with this, okay?
It says, and the young men arose,
and well it says, and great fear came on,
all them that heard it, he said,
yeah, that would be a little scary.
Somebody gets caught in the line and fall over dead,
everybody else is scared,
like, oh man, what's going on here?
Have I been telling the truth?
It says, and the young men arose,
wound him up, 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.
He said, why did his wife come three hours later?
Because women take long to get ready, you know?
So, he was there all the time.
You know, she's three hours late,
and she had to get her hair right, or, no, I'm just kidding.
But anyway, I gotta take a sip of this,
I'm losing my voice.
So, she shows up, you know, three hours later,
she doesn't know what happened,
and Peter answered under her,
tell me whether you sold the land for so much, right?
So, he basically gives this dollar amount,
and it said, in the first verse of the chapter,
it said, with Sapphira his wife,
and then look at verse two of chapter five, it says,
kept that part of the price,
but his wife also being privy to it.
So, they had basically conspired together to do this.
So, he asked her, tell me whether you sold the land for so much,
and she said, yeah, for so much.
Then Peter said under,
how is it that you've 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 fell straight away at his feet,
and yielded up the ghost,
and the young men came in and found it.
So, this is a miracle that God did,
where he basically struck these people dead,
because this lie that he told us, it was a wicked lie.
And so, God does not take lying lightly.
And this was a really bad lie,
because it was a lie that was intended to lift himself up,
and make them the big heroes in the church,
and try to give money to make themselves look good.
It reminds me of this verse,
1 Timothy 4, you don't have to turn there.
Speaking lies in hypocrisy,
having their conscience seared with a hot iron.
They don't even feel bad about telling lies
in a hypocritical fashion to lift themselves up.
You see, whenever we lie,
you've got to stop and think,
what is our motive for lying?
The only purpose for lying
is because of what other people think.
Because God knows the truth.
So, whether we lie or not,
God is not going to be fooled by our lie.
We know that God knows everything,
and that God knows the truth.
So, if I lie to you,
I'm basically saying,
I care more about what you think about me
than what God thinks about me.
Because God already knows whether I'm guilty or innocent.
And so, when I lie,
I'm basically saying,
I don't care as much what God thinks
as what this person thinks right now, right now.
So, I'm going to disobey God.
I'm going to do wrong in the sight of God
in order to make this person
think more highly of me, okay?
That's basically what you're doing when you're lying.
Now, turn, if you would, back to...
Well, let's look at John chapter 8.
And while you're turning there,
I want to explain something to you.
God cannot lie.
God can't lie.
This is several times in the Bible.
Let me give you some scriptures on this
while you're turning to John 8.
Romans chapter 3, 4.
God forbid,
yea, let God be true,
but every man a liar.
You know, for everybody has lied
at one point or another in their life.
Everybody has done it.
But it's not something that ought to
characterize who we are.
And just because we all do it from time to time,
that doesn't make it right.
I mean, we've all sinned.
We all come short of the glory of God.
There's none righteous, no, not one.
There's not a just man upon the earth
to do with good and sin if not.
But hey, we need to say
that, you know,
we're going to do our best.
We're going to strive to be truthful
and honest in our lives.
But look at this.
Let me read this for you.
Let God be true, but every man a liar.
Hebrews 6, 18.
Here in John 8.
That by two immutable things,
listen to this phrase,
in which it was impossible for God to lie.
That's John, that's Hebrews 6, 18.
He says it's impossible for God to lie.
We might have a strong consolation
who have fled for refuge
to lay hold upon the hopes set before us.
Listen to Titus 1, 2.
In hope of eternal life,
which God that cannot lie
promised before the world began.
You say, how did He promise anything
before the world began?
Because in the beginning was the Word
and the Word was with God
and the Word was God.
And so He promised us eternal life
before the world even began.
Look down at John chapter 8.
We're talking about the fact that God cannot lie.
John 8, 44.
The Bible reads,
Year of your father the devil.
This is Jesus talking to the Pharisees,
the Jews at that time
who were rejecting Him
who had their own false religion,
which is the same false religion
that Judaism is today.
Don't tell me that Judaism,
don't call me Judeo-Christian.
I'm not Judeo-Christian
because Judaism teaches
that Jesus Christ is not the Messiah.
And the Bible says,
who is a liar?
Oh, I'm preaching about lies.
Who is a liar?
But he that denyeth
that Jesus is the Christ,
He is Antichrist
that denyeth the Father and the Son.
So let me tell you something.
The biggest lie in the entire world
according to the Bible
is that Jesus is not the Messiah.
Is that Jesus is not the...
That is the number one lie.
He said,
who is a liar?
But he that denyeth the Jesus...
I mean if anybody is a liar,
it's somebody who says
that there is a Messiah
and that it's not Jesus.
What religion is that?
Judaism.
And so Judaism is a religion of Antichrist.
They think the Messiah is still coming.
And guess what?
Their Messiah is coming.
It's called the Antichrist
and he's on his way.
And they will receive him
according to the Bible.
John 8 44 said to the Pharisees,
year of your father the devil
and the lust of your father you will do.
He was a murderer from the beginning
and abode not in the truth
because there is no truth in him.
So the devil according to the Bible
has no truth in him.
He says,
when he speaketh a lie,
he speaketh of his own.
I mean it's just natural
for the devil to lie.
For he is a liar
and the father of it.
So the devil is the father of lies, right?
The devil is basically...
God is truth.
The devil is the father of lies.
When he speaketh a lie,
he speaketh of his own.
For he's a liar and the father of it.
I mean it just comes naturally
for him to always lie.
And so the devil has no truth in him.
He's constantly lying.
Look at chapter 8 verse 55.
Same chapter, go down 11 verses.
John 8 and 5.
Yet ye have not known him.
Talking about the father.
But I know him.
And if I should say I know him not,
I shall be a liar like unto you.
But I know him, and he is the same.
So Jesus is saying,
I'm not a liar like you are.
That's because Jesus said in John 14 says,
I am the way,
the truth,
and the life.
No man cometh unto the father,
but by me.
John 17, 17,
sanctify them through thy truth.
Thy word is truth.
Look if you look back at Psalm 101.
Psalm 101,
this is right in the middle of your Bible.
If you just let it fall over in the middle,
you'll find the book of Psalms.
Psalm 101.
Now, it's interesting because
this may seem like a negative sermon,
but good night.
Preaching on lying is pretty basic.
You know, lying is something
that we need to hear preaching on.
Children that are in the room today,
need to learn at a young age,
the virtue of telling the truth,
of not lying.
We live in a day where people lie
and they don't even care.
They don't even think about it.
You know, I mean,
there's so many lies that people tell,
and it's funny because,
you know,
this incident that happened to me
three weeks ago with the Border Patrol,
you know,
we got all the reports yesterday in the mail,
which was basically their side of the story,
you know,
of every single Border Patrol agent involved,
all the officers,
and I read through it,
and you know,
most of it was,
a lot of it was pretty accurate.
I mean,
you know,
they left out a lot of really important things,
and that's deceptive.
Even if you're not lying,
when you say,
I'm going to tell the story,
then you leave out things,
you know,
without really saying one way or the other.
You know,
your intention is to deceive, obviously.
But I was reading through it,
and it pretty much,
everything in these reports,
basically just substantiated exactly
what I said in my original video.
I mean,
that the same chain of events was there,
was exactly the same,
but there were certain lies found in these reports
that were just,
I couldn't even understand.
They're just unnecessary.
Where they just said,
oh,
and then we did this,
and it just,
it didn't happen.
I mean,
I've got a video camcorder where I taped it,
and there were surveillance guys.
I mean,
it's eventually going to be proven
that those things didn't happen,
but people just lie.
You know,
and what do you do when there's a lie?
You know,
when it's just your word against somebody else, right?
Who's telling the truth, right?
You know,
lying is bad.
We ought to just decide
that even if we're never going to get caught,
we ought to tell the truth
because it's the right thing to do.
If it makes us look bad,
makes someone else look bad,
hey,
we should tell the truth because it's right.
And that's what Christianity should stand for.
Be truthful and honest.
But,
we talked about telling lies,
and I briefly read a scripture
that kind of touched on listening to lies.
You know,
hearkening to lies.
And it said,
you know,
people who hearken to a lot of lies
are usually a liar themselves,
when they believe lies,
okay?
Well,
let me read a verse for you.
You're in Psalm 101,
but Proverbs 29 12 says,
if a ruler hearkens to lies,
all his servants are wicked.
So, we shouldn't serve an evil ruler,
number one.
And number two,
if a ruler hearkens to lies,
he's wicked,
and all his servants are wicked.
But listen to this.
Hosea chapter 7,
you don't have to turn there,
but,
when I would have healed Israel,
then the iniquity of Ephraim was discovered
in the wickedness of Samaria.
For they commit falsehood,
and the thief cometh in,
and the troop of robbers spoiled without,
and they consider not in their hearts
that I remember all their wickedness.
This is God speaking.
Now their own doings have beset them
about their before my face.
They make the king glad
with their wickedness,
and the princes with their lies.
So, let's talk about a ruler hearkening to lies.
He's saying,
look,
some king,
some ruler,
some authority figures,
they like to be lied to.
It makes them glad
when somebody lies to them,
hearkening to lies.
Look at Psalm 101.
This is a famous psalm.
It says in verse 1,
I will sing of mercy and judgment
unto thee, O Lord of the lies of pain.
I will behave myself wisely
in a perfect way.
O when will thou come unto me?
I will walk within my house
with a perfect heart.
This is talking about when nobody's around.
When you're all by yourself, right?
You're in the house.
He's saying,
I will walk within my house
with a perfect heart.
I will set no wicked thing
before mine eyes.
I hate the work of them that turn aside.
It shall not cleave to me.
A froward heart shall depart from me.
I will not know a wicked person
who so privily slandered his neighbor.
Him will I cut off.
Him that hath a high look and a proud heart
will I not suffer.
Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land
that they may dwell with me.
He that walketh in a perfect way
he shall serve me.
Look at verse 7.
He that worketh deceit
shall not dwell within my house.
He that telleth lies
shall not tarry in my sight.
I will really destroy all the wicked of the land
that I may cut off
all the wicked doers
from the city of the Lord.
Think about this now.
In Psalm 101,
what we're talking about,
the eyes mentioned all throughout this chapter,
did you notice that?
I'll set no wicked thing before mine eyes.
He that telleth lies
will not tarry in my sight.
We all have that,
not we, thank God,
because I don't,
but you know, in America,
the majority have this machine in their house
that what it ought to be called,
instead of the television,
it ought to be called the tell-lie-vision.
Okay.
Because that's what it is, right?
The tell-lie-vision.
Because it's in a lie to you.
And David is saying,
look, I'm not going to set something wicked
before my eyes,
number one.
Number two, he said,
I'm not going to put my eyes upon wicked people.
He said, my eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land.
Now tell me, are the people
who populate the screen of your television
the faithful of the land?
I mean, all the sodomites
and whores and whoremongers of Hollywood,
are those the faithful of the land?
They're wicked people.
I mean, they're promoting everything
that is against God.
I mean, look,
I haven't watched TV in like six years or something,
but let me ask you something,
has it gotten better?
Because I remember it as being horrible.
Can somebody raise their hand and say,
you know what, they've really cleaned up TV
in the last six years.
All right.
One, okay.
You know, they've really cleaned up TV
in the last six years, right?
And oh, the radical homosexual agenda,
that's not on TV at all, right?
I mean, look, think about it now.
You know, the sodomite, the homosexual,
the queers in this country,
they make up a small percentage, my friend.
And yet if you watch TV,
you'd think it's every other person.
And they're brainwashing you
to think that it's normal,
to think it's everybody.
And it's not, it's an abomination, it's vile,
it's disgusting, is what the Bible calls it.
And so the TV is something that will lie to you.
And I've heard so many Christians say,
well, I don't watch all the filthy programming,
you know, I don't watch all the people
going to bed on the first date,
which is basically what a lot of TV is, you know.
People go on a date and they go to bed together
and watch all this smut and show it to your children.
Yeah, I don't watch that stuff.
I just watch the news.
That's like the worst thing
you could be watching on TV.
Because you're being brainwashed.
Think about it, I mean,
oh, I just watch the news
because there's no nudity, there's no smut.
Yeah, but everything you're watching on the news
is pretty much a lie, okay.
You're being brainwashed with a left-wing agenda.
Or if you listen to your, you know,
conservative talk radio,
you're getting brainwashed with an agenda of,
you know, torture is fine, torture is wonderful.
I heard a statistic, listen to this.
I heard a statistic on Friday in the newspaper.
It said that if you go to church,
you're 10% more likely to think
that torture is okay.
I'm not kidding.
Did anybody else hear that?
It said people who think the American government
should be torturing people, okay.
54% of people who go to church said yes.
And, you know, 40% of people
who didn't go to church said yes.
You know, what's wrong with Christians today, huh?
I'll tell you what, they've got their heads so far
on TV or whether it's Fox News
or conservative talk radio
or the liberal left-wing communist news network
or whatever it is,
and they actually think that our government
and that human beings should be torturing other people.
Show me that in the Bible.
Show me King David when he fought all his wars,
torturing someone.
Somebody came to him out of the camp with the enemy.
He said, if you tell us, you know,
the secrets of the enemy, we'll let you live.
You know, we'll take care of you.
He didn't say, let me torture you until you tell us.
You're not going to show me that in the Bible.
It's not in the Bible.
But people who are Christians today,
they are being brainwashed by the tell-lie vision
and they get their views of the world,
their views of the news, their views of politics.
You say, oh, you know,
I just watched, you know, Little House on the Prairie.
You know what's so bad about Little House on the Prairie?
That creature on Little House on the Prairie,
Reverend Alden.
That guy is so watered down.
He sets a panty.
He doesn't preach the Bible.
You know, he's this little sissy
and church is made to look on TV like it's sissies,
like it's pansies, like it's this little girly man
with his collar turned around backwards
like a Catholic priest.
You know, he's closing the preacher, you know.
And Michael Landon needs a haircut anyway
because the Bible says it's a shame
for a man to have long hair.
And he said, oh, man, I can't believe you said that.
That's what the Bible says.
I didn't say that.
Jesus has short hair.
Read your Bible.
Quit looking at all those paintings by Michelangelo, okay?
And so I'm not going to lie to you.
Now, you say, I don't like this kind of preaching.
Do you like to be lied to?
Because I'm telling you the truth
and you can look up every single thing I just said
and find it in the Bible.
And so we ought not bring liars into our house.
If you're watching TV
and you know what's being said is a lie,
why don't you turn off the TV?
And then I wouldn't even turn off
because I don't think there's any truth
coming out of that stupid thing anymore.
And so I choose not to watch TV.
You say, well, I want to watch TV.
You can go ahead and watch TV.
I'm not going to tell you what to do,
but you know what?
I'm not going to have somebody who tells lies
tarried in my sight.
My eyes will be on the faithful of lamb.
And so I'm not interested in what Hollywood
wants to spoon feed me this week,
you know, on the tell life issue.
But look if you would at 2 Peter 3.
This is toward the very end of your Bible,
2 Peter 3.
And we're talking about listening to lies,
believing lies,
hearkening to lies.
And by the way,
if you hear something over and over again,
you will begin to believe it
no matter who you are.
You know, we sometimes think that we're above that.
You know, oh, we're above,
you know, we're smart enough
to separate the truth from the lie.
Well, maybe the first hundred times.
But if you hear something over and over
and over and over again,
you will begin to believe it.
It's true.
And so there have been so many things in my life
that I have believed.
Just because I heard them over and over again,
growing up,
heard them in church,
heard them from parents.
You hear things on TV again and again.
And it took me years and years to realize,
wait, that's not true, you know.
But I'd heard it so many times,
I just thought it was true.
That's the danger of listening to lies.
And so we ought to try to listen to the truth.
You know, this is your source of truth right here.
If you're reading the Bible every day,
that's going to help you keep a firm grasp
on the truth.
You know, there's so many things,
people are saying this,
people are saying that.
This is your foundation right here.
This is your foothold
where you can anchor yourself
and say, wait a minute,
there's this opinion,
there's that opinion.
Let's go to the Bible
and get a truth test here, okay.
And so we spend more time reading the Bible
than listening to anything,
whether it be radio, TV, you know,
what other people are saying.
If we get most of our information from the Bible,
that's going to keep us on track
with what's true and right.
Where did I have you turn?
What's happened?
It says in 2 Peter 3, okay.
Look at verse number 3.
Knowing this,
that there shall come in the last days
scoffers walking after their own lusts
and saying, where is the promise of this coming?
For since the fathers fell asleep,
all things continue as they were
from the beginning of the creation.
Now watch the next phrase in verse 5.
For this they are willingly ignorant of.
You see, some people are willingly ignorant.
They want to be deceived and to believe a lie.
They don't care about the truth.
They don't even care what's real.
They say they are willingly ignorant.
It's not just an accident
that nobody's ever taken the time to tell them.
No, they're choosing to be ignorant of what?
That by the word of God,
the heavens were at hold.
And the earth standing out of the water
and in the water,
whereby the world that then was
being overflowed with water perished.
What is this saying?
It's saying that people walk after their own lusts
and say, where is the promise of this coming?
Where is the second coming of Christ?
And this is what they say,
all things continue as they were
from the beginning of creation.
Now we believe creation was 6,000 years ago
in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve.
But the people in this world who don't believe the Bible,
who scoff at the Bible,
they believe in the Big Bang, right?
That's their creation, you know.
They believe that this world was created
by an explosion of matter or just an accident, nothing.
Okay, they think that things have just continued
as they were since then, right?
Evolution for millions and billions of years,
when in reality this earth could not exist
for hundreds of millions of years.
It's not possible.
The earth is dying, you know.
The earth is going through a process of life here.
The sun is going through a process.
I mean, stars have a lifespan.
They're born, they live, they die.
And yet they want you to believe
that this world has been here for four billion years,
when in reality that's not even possible.
The sun is running out of fuel.
I mean, there are layers of dust.
There are things that have eroded.
I mean, you can look at the world and prove the fact
this world is not billions of years old.
Cannot happen, cannot work.
It's not true. It's a lie.
But they're willfully ignorant of the fact
that it was God's word that created this world.
So they believe this lie that, you know,
dog begets cat, you know, that fish begets lizard, you know.
And I'm wondering, how did it go
from being a fish to a lizard, you know?
Was it, I mean, stop and think about this.
A single-celled organism has like 30 parts.
Where'd that come from?
It all started with just a little single-celled organism.
Where'd that come from?
Evolution can't explain it.
They can try to make up something
how the single cell became a human being.
The real question is where did life begin?
And they can't make life in the laboratory even to this day.
They cannot do it. I mean, they could have it.
You give them all the chemicals they want,
they can't bring something to life.
You could give them something that's dead
and say, make it live.
And it won't live, even if it's just a tiny organism.
Can't do it.
And so, it's a lie. You know, evolution's a lie.
I'm not going to go into that in this sermon.
It's a different sermon than itself.
But people willfully choose to believe evolution.
They choose to believe in the Big Bang
because they're walking according to their own lusts,
is what it says.
So because they want to live this life of
if it feels good, do it.
Then it gets very convenient to believe that we're all animals, right?
And we're all just evolved animals,
and so if it feels good, do it.
Let's be willfully ignorant of the truth
that God created the world
and also that He flooded this world in the days of Noah,
which there's all kinds of evidence for that as well.
But they don't want to believe in creation.
They don't want to believe that God destroyed this world with a flood
because to acknowledge that God destroyed this world with a flood
is to acknowledge that He's going to destroy this world a second time with fire.
Look at the next verse.
It says in verse 6,
whereby the world within was being overflowed, water perished,
but the heavens and the earth, which are now by the same word,
are kept in store,
reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungod.
You know, one day, God's going to destroy this world.
Heaven and earth shall pass away,
but my word shall not pass away, Jesus said,
and there will be a new heaven and a new earth.
That's another sermon.
But we see people willfully ignorant.
Choosing not to believe what's right because it fits their agenda.
They'd rather believe a lie.
It's more convenient to believe a lie
and to just live a life of lust, you know, and self-gratification.
Look at Romans chapter 1 along the same lines.
Romans chapter 1 verse 17.
This is the sixth book in the New Testament.
Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans.
About halfway through the New Testament,
you'll find Romans chapter 1 verse 17.
The Bible reads in Romans 1 17,
For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith,
as it is written,
The just shall live by faith.
What are we saved by? Faith.
Not of works, the same answer both.
But to him that worketh not, the Bible says, no works,
but believeth on him that justifieth it not.
His faith is kind of worse.
I mean, a person can be a wicked sinner.
In our eyes say, oh, man, well, this, you know,
this guy is on drugs and he's, you know, an adulterer,
but if he believes on Christ, his sins are forgiven, man.
But another person who's maybe, you know, self-righteous
and they live a pretty good life,
if they don't believe on Christ, they will not be saved.
Because it's all based on faith.
We're saved by grace through faith,
and that not of yourselves is the gift of God,
not of works, the same answer both, right?
It's whosoever believeth, come on,
the most famous verse in the whole Bible, John 3 16,
whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
but have everlasting life.
I mean, it's whosoever believeth, is that true or not?
Oh, is there some people who believe
who aren't going to be saved?
No, whosoever believeth will be saved.
Those who do not believe will be damned before the Bible.
Now, in Romans chapter one,
we talk about some people who go too far with God
and they no longer have the opportunity to be saved
and they become very wicked where they cross line.
You know, there are unpardonable sins,
believe it or not, it's what the Bible teaches.
Revelation 22 says, if you change God's word,
if you remove or take away and pervert God's word,
you have lost your opportunity to ever be saved.
Same thing in Romans chapter one here, it's described,
but look at Romans 1 17.
For therein is the righteousness of God
revealed from faith to faith, as it is written,
the just shall live by faith.
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven
against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men,
who hold the truth in unrighteousness,
because that which may be known of God
is manifest in them, for God has showed them that.
For the invisible things of Him,
talking about the invisible things of God,
from the creation of the world are clearly seen,
being understood by the things that are made,
even as eternal power and Godhead,
so that they are without excuse.
He's saying, you can look at the natural world
and see God's glory.
The heavens declare the glory of God.
You know, you can look up at the stars,
you can look at the trees,
and see God created this marvelous world that we live in.
He says, nobody has an excuse not to believe in God.
Verse 21, because that when they knew God,
means that they were exposed to God,
I mean they were familiar with God,
not saying they were saved, they didn't believe on Him,
they just knew Him.
Like I know brother David, you know,
it doesn't mean he's my savior, okay?
But I know him.
They knew God, they glorified Him not as God.
So they rejected Him, okay?
They glorified Him not as God.
Neither were thankful,
but became vain in their imaginations,
and their foolish heart was darkened.
Professing themselves to be wise,
they became fools,
and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God
into an image.
I'm just talking about idolatry,
like making statues, and pictures,
and saying it represents God.
Changed the glory of the uncorruptible God
into an image made like the corruptible man,
and to birds, and four-footed beasts,
and creeping things that were worshiping animals.
He says, wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness,
through the lusts of their own hearts,
to dishonor their own bodies between themselves.
I'm just talking about people lustfully going out,
and, you know, adultery, fornication, and so forth.
He says, who changed the truth of God into a lie.
Notice that.
Who changed the truth of God into a lie.
Because we're talking about lying here.
It says, and worshiped and served the creature
more than the creator,
who is blessed forever.
Amen.
So here's somebody twisting the truth of God.
You know, thy word is truth,
is what God said about the Bible.
Taking God's word,
taking God's truth,
taking true religion, you know,
God's teachings,
and changing it into a lie.
Worshipping the animal kingdom.
You know, worshipping images,
statues of wood, or stone, or metal.
Worshipping human beings.
Worshipping man.
He said, you know, worshipping man,
or worshipping four-footed beasts,
or worshipping birds, or whatever the case.
He says, when they did that,
he says,
Therefore, he said in verse 26,
because they twisted God's word,
because they changed the truth,
they twisted the Gospel,
and they're teaching people this
false lies about God and about religion.
He says, for this cause,
God gave them up.
See, God never gives up on anybody.
Well, that's what it said.
God gave them up.
Unto vile affections.
What does vile mean?
Discussion.
Vile affections.
For even their women did change the natural use
into that which is against nature,
and likewise also the men,
leaving the natural use of the woman,
burned in their lusts one toward another,
men with men.
What's that talking about?
Homosexuality.
It says, men with men,
working that which is unseemly
and receiving in themselves
that recompense of their error,
which is me.
Here's the key verse, verse 28.
And even as they did not like
to retain God in their knowledge,
God gave them over to a reprobate mind,
to do those things which are not convenient,
to do these disgusting things,
these vile things.
He says, God gave them up.
God gave them over,
and they became like an animal.
They became like a beast
and did these vile actions
that we see today.
Now look,
the Bible is saying here
that lying,
hearkening to lies,
can be the hallmark of a very wicked person.
It starts out just a lie.
It starts out just believing a lie, right?
But as we read through Romans 1,
it's like a downward spiral.
First, it's just a lie of,
well, you know,
God doesn't exist.
You know, there are a lot of people
who believe that lie,
but then later,
they ended up getting saved
and believing on Jesus Christ.
I mean, I know many people who were saved
and there was a time in their life
when they were an atheist, you know?
They didn't believe in God, you know?
Maybe they just looked at the fact
that Christians, you know,
thought it was okay to torture people and stuff,
and they thought,
well, man, you know,
maybe Christianity is not right,
or maybe they looked at the Catholic Church
executing people throughout the Middle Ages
and torturing people,
and the Crusades,
and the Inquisition,
and all the atrocities,
but look,
that doesn't change back to the Bible's true,
and that God is real,
and Jesus Christ is the Son of God, okay?
But then later, they got saved,
but what happens is
when people persist in that idea
that there is no God,
and they reject God,
and people give them the Gospel,
and they reject it,
then they get into this animal worship,
this human body worship, you know?
And today, people, you know,
they worship the body,
they worship the human body,
or they worship animals,
and they, you know,
a lot of what our environmentalism is,
it's like the worship of animals,
like lifting up animals above humankind,
and say, you know,
if we could just learn from the dolphins,
you know,
then our society would be so much better,
you know what I mean?
If we could somehow learn to be like a dolphin,
you know,
and dolphins, not the Bible,
we don't need the Bible,
you know,
we need to understand,
you know,
the panda,
he lays on his back all day,
and he chews bamboo 20 hours per day,
isn't that something like that?
I mean, you know,
I was reading some statistics,
sleep and eat,
that's all pandas do or something,
they just like lay there, you know?
You know, like you see them at the zoo, you know?
There are some animals we can learn from.
God told us in the Bible,
do you remember,
did you notice that in the Bible it says,
he said,
go to the ant, now slugger,
consider her ways and be wise,
he said,
having no guy,
no overseer,
you know,
still does all the work,
still,
you know,
of course,
our government thinks we need like a guy and an overseer
in every area of our life,
or everything's just going to fall apart, right?
They need to look at Manfield,
and understand that it's,
you know,
people can still function without,
you know,
somebody striking with a whip,
telling them what to do,
okay?
But that's the sermon of itself.
But look,
they begin to lift up animals and say,
nature is God.
And you know,
there are people who believe this,
nature is God,
you know,
God is in the tree,
and he's in the,
he's in the animals,
and the,
you know,
in India,
look at it,
look in India,
the sacred cow,
worshipping a cow.
Now look,
God created the cow,
but we ought to worship and serve the creator,
we ought to admire his marvelous creation,
we ought to look at the ants and say,
what an amazing creation,
what a hard-working animal.
There are other animals that God tells us not to be like,
he tells us not to be like the ostrich,
in the book of Job,
he tells us not to be like the sloth,
okay?
But when we look at the ant and we look at the cow,
we shouldn't say,
oh cow,
oh ant farm,
teach me,
ant hill,
you know,
teach me how to work,
oh ant,
spirit of the ant,
come into me,
so that I can succeed at my job,
and work as hard as an ant.
I want to be able to carry 60 times my weight,
or whatever,
okay?
No!
We should look at the ant,
and say,
God is trying to teach me something.
God has created this.
The Bible teaches me these things,
okay?
And instead of worshiping the creature,
worship the creator.
But this downward spiral,
we believe a lie,
people come and tell us the truth,
they open the Bible,
try to tell us the truth,
tell us the truth,
we believe a lie,
then we take God's word,
we change it into a lie.
So we're like,
let's say I'm going to change it.
What happens pretty soon,
God gives up.
I mean,
that's what it said three different times in the chapter,
God gave him up,
God gave him over,
God gave him up,
God gives up.
And then that's when you see people become really,
really wicked.
And you know,
if you're not naive,
there are people in this world who there's no hope for.
There are evil people,
there are wicked people.
And I mean,
think of the Jeffrey Dahmers,
you know what I mean?
The John Wayne Gacy,
the Ted Bundy.
I mean,
these people who are just so sick and evil,
you say,
how could a human being be that way?
Because God gave them up.
God just totally removes any conscience,
you know,
and just says,
I'm done with you.
And then that's where you see these people that are wicked.
If that concept is taught throughout the Bible,
it's emphasized in Romans chapter one.
But we see here
that
these people,
you say,
who would change the Bible?
Who would change God's Word?
It's happening every day in America.
There is a new Bible version coming out almost every day,
a new version of the Bible.
But here's what you got to understand about Bible versions.
Just hear me out for a second.
Bible versions are copyrighted
because it's a financial business, obviously.
You know,
they print a Bible,
they sell it for money.
And in fact,
you can go to the Bible bookstore,
and I'd love for you to do this and see what I'm saying.
You can find the exact same Bible,
okay?
And I'm talking about the same letter,
the same paper,
the same brand name,
the same quality.
One in the King James Version
and one in the
NIV New America Senate.
The NIV costs a dollar more.
Always.
And you'll find all the different versions.
I'm talking about the identical packaging,
identical leather,
identical quality.
The NIV is $1 more,
but the King James is $1 less.
The only Bible you can ever find in a 99-cent store
is the King James Encouragement Board.
And let me tell you why.
Because that dollar is the royalties.
You know,
you're not even allowed,
it's illegal,
literally illegal,
to take one of these modern Bibles,
put it on Xerox machines,
copy the page,
and hand it to somebody.
Because you've just infringed upon the copyright.
You must get permission from the author to do that.
Okay?
King James Version has no copyright,
therefore it costs a dollar less.
You know,
it's five bucks,
six bucks.
Okay?
And you say,
well,
so what if it's copyrighted?
Well,
here's the thing about copyrights.
In order for me to copyright something,
it has to be at least 4% different than anything else.
Okay.
So I can't just change one word in the Bible,
copyright it,
and call it the Steven Anderson Version,
or change one word in the NIV and say,
well,
this isn't the NIV,
this is the Steven Anderson Version.
It's just like the NIV except one word's different.
They say,
no,
you are infringing upon the copyright of the NIV.
There must be a 4% change.
Now think about this.
If you've got like 400 different versions in English,
which is what there are on the market today,
and they're all 4% different from one another,
none of them are within 4% of each other?
That's a scary thought.
Okay.
God is not the author of confusion, right?
That is confusion.
When you have 400 different Bibles
that are all 4% different from one another,
that's a pretty scary thought.
And see,
if you think about it politically,
like the Constitution,
what if we had 400 different versions of the Constitution?
Right?
People already argue about how to interpret the Constitution.
People argue about how to interpret the Bible.
Then you combine that with 400 different Bibles.
I've literally sat in the Bible saying when I was a teenager,
where everybody had a different Bible.
I had a King James,
this guy had the NIV,
this guy had the Living Bible,
this guy had the New American Standard.
And the guy who was leading the Bible said something,
and people are saying,
my bubble doesn't say anything like that.
My bubble says I'm completely different.
You know, and I mean, you could,
you know, I've done whole sermons on this.
I'm not going to do it now.
But I've done whole sermons
where I just compared the King James with the NIV,
which is the most popular in Bibles.
And really, the NIV and New American Standard,
there's not really much difference.
They all agree with each other.
This one's kind of the oddball out,
the King James version, okay?
And it's funny, if you compare them,
you don't even have to be an archaeologist
to tell which one's true and which one's wrong.
When I was a teenager,
nobody ever taught me anything about this.
I read a King James, I read an NIV,
I was like, King James.
Because I noticed that what the NIV was doing
had an agenda behind it.
I mean, it was, it takes out the word sodomite, ever.
Okay?
Sodomite, meaning, you know,
that's a derogatory term that the Bible uses
for somebody who's a homosexual.
Completely gone from the NIV.
The NIV removes the word hell
every single time it occurs in the Old Testament.
Gone.
So you will be 81% into the Bible
when you read the word hell for the first time in the NIV.
So it almost takes away all the references to hell.
Takes out the word damnation completely.
Takes out God's name, Jehovah, completely.
Okay?
And so there's so many different things.
But I mean, you don't have to be a genius
to tell that this book is not right.
Like, it's funny, let me just show you a couple things.
Look at Romans chapter 13.
Romans chapter 13.
I'm not going where you think I'm going.
In Cold War's business.
But anyway, you know, Romans 13, okay?
I'm just going to a totally different part of this chapter,
to be honest.
I didn't even think about that.
But look at Romans 13, let me show you a change here.
It's just, this is like a Freudian slip of the NIV.
Look at verse 9 of Romans 13.
In Romans 13, 9, you're looking down at your King James Bible,
you know, hopefully, and I'm looking at the NIV.
Tell me what's missing.
See if you can find it.
We'll all read the King James verse.
For this, thou shalt not commit adultery,
thou shalt not kill,
thou shalt not steal,
thou shalt not bear false witness,
thou shalt not covet,
and if there be any other commandment
that is greatly comprehended in this saying,
namely, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, okay?
Listen to the NIV, you look down at the King James,
see if you can catch the difference.
The commandments.
Do not commit adultery,
do not murder,
do not steal,
do not covet,
and whatsoever other commandment there may be,
are summed up in this one rule,
love your neighbor as yourself.
What's missing?
False witness.
Okay, he's listing,
because there's five 10 commandments that deal with God,
and five 10 commandments that deal with man.
He's listing the five that deal with man,
and saying you can really sum them up as
love your neighbor as yourself,
you wouldn't be doing these things to your neighbor.
But instead of listing all five like the King James does,
it leaves out one,
thou shalt not bear false witness,
which is the one about lying, okay?
So the NIV just leaves out the one about lying, okay?
Here's another funny one,
look at 1 Corinthians chapter 2.
1 Corinthians chapter 2.
1 Corinthians or 2 Corinthians?
Amen, 2 Corinthians.
Somebody turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 2.
What is this thing?
No idea.
It's 2 Corinthians 2, sorry about that.
2 Corinthians chapter 2.
While you're turning there,
I'll read you another little gem
from this wonderful translation of the NIV.
Here's another little gem.
Here's something to put up on the wall.
Maybe you can put this special verse from the NIV.
Maybe you can frame it in calligraphy,
put it on your wall,
next to your door in your house,
because it's such a sweet verse from the NIV.
Listen to this.
No, I beat my body and make it my slave.
What?
That's what the NIV says in 1 Corinthians 9.27.
Telling you to beat your own body.
This is disgusting.
It's satanic, it's wrong.
Beating yourself is a sin.
You say, who beats themselves?
Millions of Roman Catholics in the Philippines
once a year beat themselves with a whip?
Okay?
It's wrong.
And did you know that in 17th century,
or no, I'm sorry, 16th century England,
Henry VIII,
when he kicked out the Roman Catholic Church
and started the Anglican Church,
made a law against beating yourself.
Self-flagellation became illegal.
They said, well, take the Catholics out
and beating yourself is going out with it.
You know?
Now, whoever thought they'd have to have a law
against beating yourself?
But I'm telling you what.
Satan,
listen to me now,
Satan wants people to destroy themselves.
And people who are satanic are self-destructive.
People who are demon-possessed,
you know what they do?
They cut themselves.
Don't tell me you don't know about this
because I grew up,
when I was in high school,
there were all kinds of girls in high school
who cut themselves.
And they're listening to Nine Inch Nails.
They're listening to Marilyn Manson.
They go and they cut themselves.
Why?
It's the devil.
The devil wants you to be self-destructive.
Look at all the rock stars
who committed suicide.
You know, they're suicidal.
They're cutting themselves.
They're beating themselves.
And yet, this is in the name of religion
in the Catholic Church and in the NIV.
Institutionalized self-beating.
Okay.
So, no, now I close my Bible.
All right.
So, you're in 2 Corinthians 2.17.
So, first of all, we saw that the NIV
just happened to leave out that commandment
about not lying.
No.
But listen to this one.
2 Corinthians 2.17.
For we are not as many which corrupt the Word of God.
That's talking about people corrupting it,
changing it, altering it.
What is corruption?
It's when things alter state
in a form of decay.
They alter for the worse.
That is corruption.
Impurity.
For we are not as many which corrupt the Word of God
but as of sincerity, but as of God,
and the sight of God speak with Christ.
So, there are people out there in this world
who want to corrupt and change and twist
and decay the Word of God.
That's exactly what this book is doing, the NIV.
Listen to what the NIV changes the verse.
Unlike so many,
we do not peddle the Word of God for profit.
Now, wait a minute.
They took out the verse that said,
don't corrupt it.
And they changed it with a verse saying,
we don't sell it.
Did you catch that?
You know what it means to peddle?
Peddling things is selling.
You know, being a street peddler, you're selling things.
We are not as many.
We do not peddle the Word of God for profit.
Now, the answer, who's peddling it for profit?
The NIV or the King James?
The King James.
You see, when you buy a King James Bible,
you're not buying the words.
You're buying the leather.
You're buying the paper.
You're buying the ink.
You're buying the book off the shelf.
But when you're buying the NIV,
you're spending $5 for the book off the shelf
and $1 for the words.
Because that's the royalties to the author.
And that's why,
let me make a prediction right now.
The NIV will be off the market in 20 years.
You say, why?
Because copyrights only last 50 years.
And that's why they have to keep changing it.
And the NIV, the New Testament came out in 1973.
The Old Testament came out in 1980.
So they can only copyright the NIV until when?
2030.
And then they're going to have to come out with a new one.
That's why the revised standard version, the RSV,
came out in 1950.
You can't buy it anymore.
You can buy the new RSV,
which is 4% different than the RSV.
You can buy the new American standard version.
Do you understand where this is going?
You can't buy it.
Why can't you buy an American standard version?
Because it's more than 50 years old,
the copyright is expired,
you can't make any money off of it.
So you got to get the new American standard version,
the new revised standard version.
And I don't know if it's going to be the new,
new international version or not.
The revised new international version.
And they're already experimenting.
They've come out with three new NIVs
that they're experimenting with.
Just throwing them out there,
seeing which one catches on,
because they've got to make that money
because they're peddling the word of God for money.
They're adding that to the Bible.
We don't peddle the word of God for money.
That's exactly what they're doing.
And so I have whole sermons about that.
You say, why are you talking about it?
Because we're talking about lying.
And we're talking about the worst lies that there are.
The worst lies to say Jesus isn't the Messiah.
The worst lies when you start changing the Bible
and lying about what God said.
The worst lies are when you lie,
listen to me,
to lift up yourself and make people think
like Ananias and Sapphira did.
But let me tell you something,
all lying is hard.
I have to close the sermon for the sake of time.
Don't get in the habit of lying
because lying takes you on a downward spiral.
The worst lie is the hardest lie to tell.
Oh, what a tangled web we weave
when at first we practice to deceive.
You tell a lie
and then you got to tell another lie to cover that lie.
You got to tell another lie to cover that lie.
And you start telling lies.
And what happens is
when you first lie
and if you don't lie that often,
you tell a lie and you're like,
Oh man, why did I say that?
Right?
You know, who's ever been there?
You know, you lie...
No worries man.
Anyway, you know,
you tell a lie
and you feel bad about it.
You're like,
Oh man, you know, why did I do that?
I should have just told the truth.
But you know, the next time
it's going to be a little easier
and when you get to where you're telling lies
on a daily basis,
pretty soon lies are just rolling off your tongue
like nothing.
And I've literally known people who lied
but there was no reason to lie.
Like they weren't even in any kind of trouble.
There was no reason to lie.
They just lied because it's just natural
to lie.
Don't become that kind of person.
If you want to be like Jesus,
if you want to be Christ's light,
the one attribute that really sums him up
more than everything
is the truth.
He said, I am the truth.
God cannot lie.
Jesus said, I cannot lie.
Abraham Lincoln said
that I've already lied before.
And so I'm saying here,
hey, the truth,
learn to love the truth.
Not only you tell the truth,
but learn to hate lies.
When you hear somebody lying,
you know what?
You ought to not listen to it.
And when, you know,
when you hear the TV lying
or the radio lying
or preachers that lie,
it ought to make you upset.
You ought to not say,
well, he's lying but who cares?
Sounds good.
Fix my agenda.
Makes me feel good.
No, you ought to be the type of person
who's seeking the truth in your life.
You love the truth.
You want to know the truth.
The truth will make you free,
the Bible says.
Jesus said, I'm the truth.
And he said, these seven things
are an abomination.
Lying lips,
false witness that speak lies.
He said, I hate lying.
Sorry, it's not a word of prayer.
God, please help us not to lie.
You know, we've all done it.
We've all lied before.
But God, help us not to fall
into the trap of becoming a brazen liar.
Help us not to just keep lying
and lying and lying and lying.
And you know, we've lied
in the past dear God.
And maybe there are people,
you know, who've become a habitual liar.
And I've known some people
that I felt like were good people
but they just got into this thing of just lying.
God, please just help us all,
every single one of us to speak the truth.
And the next time we're tempted to lie,
help us to think about some of these scriptures,
think about these verses.
Next time someone's lying to us,
help us to stop and think about it
and say, you know what,
I'm just going to tell the truth
and let the chips fall where they may be.
Father, we love you and thank you
in Jesus' name we pray, amen.