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Okay, please sign the Bibles to Acts chapter 5, Acts chapter 5, and starting in verse 1, Acts chapter 5, 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? Whilst 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. And 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. And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people. And they were all with one accord in Solomon's porch. And of the rest, thus no man joined himself to them, but the people magnified them. And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women, insomuch that they brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them on the beds and couches, that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them. There came also a multitude out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks and them which were vexed with unclean spirits, and they were healed every one. Then the high priest rose up, and all they that were with him, which is the sect of the Sadducees, and were filled with indignation, and laid their hands on the apostles, and put them in the common prison. But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought them forth, and said, Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life. And when they heard that, they entered into the temple early in the morning, and taught. But the high priest came, and they that were with him, and called the council together, and all the senate of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison to them, to have them brought. But when the officers came, and found them not in the prison, they returned, and told, saying, The prison truly found we shut with all safety, and the keepers standing without before the doors. But when we had opened, we found no man within. Now when the high priest, and the captain of the temple, and the chief priests heard these things, they doubted of them whereunto this would grow. Then came one, and told them, saying, Behold, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple, and teaching the people. Then went the captain with the officers, and brought them without violence, for they feared the people, lest they should have been stoned. And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest asked them, saying, Did not we straightly command you that you should not teach in this name? And behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man's blood upon us. Then Peter, with the other apostles, answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath got exalted with his right hand to be a prince and a savior, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. And we are his witnesses of these things, and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him. When they heard that, they were cut to the heart, and took counsel to slay them. Then stood up one in the council, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, had in reputation among all the people, and commanded to put the apostles forth a little space, and said unto them, You men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what you intend to do as touching these men. For before these days rose up, Thedas, boasting himself to be somebody, to whom a number of men about four hundred joined themselves, he was slain, and all, as many as obeyed him, were scattered and brought to naught. After this man rose up Judas of Galilee in the days of the taxing, and drew many much people after him, he also perished, and all, even as many as obeyed him, were dispersed. And now I say unto you, refrain from these men, and let them alone, for if this council or this work be of men, it will come to naught. But if it be of God, you cannot overthrow it, lest haply ye be found even to fight against God. And to him they agreed, and when they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. And daily in the temple, and in every house, they seized naught to teach and preach Jesus Christ. Brother Bennet, would you mind us praying for the sabbaths? Dear Heavenly Father, thank you, thank you for Brother Dan, thank you for the reading of your word, Lord. Thank you, that is a powerful Lord. I pray your blessing upon us today, as we meet here and we study and think for your word, and I pray a blessing upon Brother Dan that you give a boldness to preach your word. In Jesus Christ's name we pray. Amen. Okay guys, if you just turn back briefly, because there's a section I want to focus on, it starts in chapter 4 in fact. It's kind of the lead up to it. So if we start chapter 4, verse 32. So chapter 4, verse 32. ...sold them and brought the price of the things that were sold, and laid them down at the apostles' feet, and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need. And Joseph, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, which is being interpreted the son of consolation, a Levite of the country of Cyprus, having land, sold it and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet. And chapter 5. 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. And Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost and to keep back part of the price of the land? Whilst it remained, was it not thine own? And after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? Why has 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 a young man arose, wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him. 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 you sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much. And Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the spirit of the law? 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 a young man 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. And the title of my sermon today is, Lying is Still a Wicked Sin. Lying is Still a Wicked Sin. And we live in a very dishonest society. I remember when I was younger, one of my dad's kind of little phrases, if ever you challenged him on anything, would be, My word is my bond. And I don't hear that. I actually heard that for the first time in ages the other day, someone say this. But you don't really hear that sort of thing. It doesn't have to be the same as that. And I'm not saying he necessarily was, you know, the honest person that he wanted to be. But there was, I believe, not even that long ago when I was a youngster, lying had a lot more of a sort of, it was a lot more of an issue than it is now. I believe society has really changed with that more recently. And I was thinking about why has that happened? And obviously, you know, yeah, sin increases anyway. But why is it that our society, and how is it that it's got to this point where I believe that lying is pretty socially acceptable now? And I was thinking about this. I was thinking about movies, movies with, you know, so often the dishonest characters are the heroes of the movies. If you think about, you know, and obviously I don't know what's really going on with the more modern ones now, but I remember when I was young, you know, the secret agents, the James Bond type stuff, the con artists, they were all big movies. And these people were people to look up to, to want to be like for young kids. Sports stars. I don't know if anyone's watched the Premier League game of football recently, even highlights. It's just unbelievable. It's just, they're encouraged to lie, to cheat. And it's pretty wicked. Now, you know, I've, I once, a little while ago, I was trying to show Jack. So Jack was playing football and I thought, look, he doesn't really watch anything. He doesn't really watch games. He kind of needs to have an idea of what he's trying to do, you know? So I'd just like to show him the odd highlights and stuff. And, and again, these, these guys, they're just diving here. They're doing this and I haven't watched a full game for a while. And we, you know, we couldn't believe it. Even more so, what I couldn't believe was the fact that the team we're watching were wearing rainbow coloured armbands and shoelaces. And they actually have, and then I looked into this cause this got me a bit vexed. Yes. I looked into this and they have, they have, I'm laughing just cause that's all you can really do, but it's, it's terrible really. But they have a training team to come into the club and train the youngsters in the academies in tolerance of things like the LGBTQ+, whatever it is, communities, et cetera. And they're actually going in and brainwashing young kids in football academies. Why on earth would you ever want your kids in anything like that? Okay. So music as well. Music again, just dishonesty is kind of promoted, cheating, lying, et cetera, hustling. Politicians. When I was younger, it was a big deal. When a politician was proven to lie, that was a big deal. Now, it's just what I want to offer ducks back, isn't it? It just was a politician. They lie. Now I know we kind of knew that anyway. And I'm thinking if you go back to maybe my parents' generation before that, you know, yeah, they they accepted there was lies, but it was hard. You know, it wasn't as blatant. They'll just say one thing on one hand and another thing on another. You can even show the comparison. It's barely even mentioned anymore. And of course there are compulsive lies. Lots. You've probably known a lot over the years. If you think back, I've known a lot of compulsive lies. People who just cannot, can just, just lie, lie, lie. It's embarrassing, isn't it? And where does that come from? I think it's a slippery slope. Now, okay, we are obviously in the end times. 2 Timothy 3.13 says, but evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. So, yeah, things are going to get worse. There's going to be more and more deception. And of course, some of that's talking about people in power as well. Young children, you know, I'm talking about the influences here and the brainwashing and the encouragement, but you know, us parents here, we know that you're not teaching your kids to lie, I hope you're not. And from a young age, you're having to pull them up on lying, aren't you? So there's something innate obviously there as well, but it's definitely encouraged. Now, I think we can all be a bit of a victim of this. We know, yeah, we know we shouldn't be lying. And we know that it's wicked. If you've read the Bible through, you're going to see what God thinks about lying. But I know myself, when I give the Gospel to people, and I'm going through maybe Revelation 21.8, and I've heard people, and I've done this myself, a lot of the time you'll say, even a lie, won't you? Just a lie, even a lie, just, you know, is punishable. And okay, we're trying to appeal to them. But it's not even a lie, is it? Because a lie, as we'll see in a minute, is a wicked sin. And you know, we talk about white lies, and even just a little white lie, a lie is a lie. Now, okay, Acts 4, you've got this early church growing, you've got this community under persecution. They're bringing the money from land and houses that they're selling. Just, you know, to make clear, they're not commanded to do that. This isn't a command, we're not going to, you know, I'm not going to start any of the kind of, you know, secret communist lovers here or anything. We're not going to try and encourage that. But, you know, it's a different situation. It's the first New Testament church, and they're growing this, they're under persecution, they're coming, and all is one. They start bringing the money to be able to share out. Okay, so we see in verses 36, 37, Barnabas, you know, great example there. Okay, now Acts 5, just quickly, I'm just going to read again verses 1 to 4. 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 fee. But Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost and to keep back part of the price of the land? Was it remained? Was it not thine own? And after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? Why has thou conceived this thing in thine heart? Thou has not lied unto men, but unto God. Okay, so in verse 2, you see that him and his wife have both concocted this lie. So this is a preconceived lie, isn't it? So it says here that his wife was privy to it, so she was aware she was part of this. Okay, verse 3, we see that Peter rumbles him, doesn't he? Now, Peter, I don't know if he's just a human lie detector there, or it's the Holy Spirit in him, or maybe, like, I don't know, you guys, you know when people lie to you, you just know, don't you? Especially when your kids lie to you, you know, and you get those people that just because you're not, that you can't prove they're lying, they just keep lying, it's so annoying, because you just know, and some people, they just, you know, and something like this, I can imagine, Peter's just looking at him, looking at him in the eye, just, you're lying, yeah, and Peter knows, and he's convicted of this. Okay, but he says, he says in verse 3, why has Satan filled thine heart? Okay, but then in verse 4, okay, and by the way, in verse 4, it's showing here, it wasn't, they didn't have to do this, it wasn't, well, I've been forced to sell this land, he's saying, whilst it remained, was it not thine own, and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? Then he says, why has thou conceived this thing in thine heart? So, we've got in verse 3, I'm talking about Satan filling his heart, and then in verse 4, he's conceived it in his heart. Okay, so, point number 1, is why do we lie? Why do we lie? Was it Satan or Ananias here that lied, or was there a reason for this lie? Well, if you turn to James 1, so, James chapter 1, James chapter 1, and verse 14, so, book of James chapter 1, verse 14, but every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin, and sin when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Okay, so, let's look at that again. Every man is tempted, so, he's tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. So, it's his own lust that draws him away, he's enticed. So, enticed here, it's incited, this particular use of the word is instigated through evil, seduced by promises or persuasions, persuaded or allured. So, there, that enticing, I see that there as by, that could be where Satan comes in. Now, that could be spiritually, we know there are, you know, there are millions and millions of devils out there, or it could be, like I said before, the influences in the world there. So, he's tempted, he's drawn away of his own lust and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, now conceived is framed in the mind, devised, imagined, understood. Okay, so, now, he's then starting to come up with the idea himself of what he's going to do, it bringeth forth sin, and sin when it is finished bringeth forth death. So, basically, it was Ananias, then Satan, then Ananias. It was his own lust, then he was enticed, then it was conceived in his mind. Okay, so, why his own lust? Why his own lust? Why, and its causes of lies, and sometimes it's just that lie itself which is the lust. Well, turn to Romans 7 while I read Jeremiah 17, 9. So, if you turn to Romans 7, Jeremiah 17, 9 says, the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can know it? The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can know it? And we are innately sinful. Romans 7 from verse 14, a classic bit of scripture here, for we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do I allow not, for what I would, that do I not, but what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I could sent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing, for to will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not, but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law that when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man, but I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. A wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death. I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord, so then with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. So where does the lust come from? That first lust is our sinful flesh. Okay, but how are we enticed? So our sinful flesh, we know we're sinful don't we and we have that battle, that daily battle, that's Paul talking about that battle. How are we enticed? Now there's spiritual, like I said, but also we know the Bible says that the devil is the god of this world, okay, and like I talked about before there are a lot of influences in this world. If you turn to Matthew 4, actually turn to Matthew 4, and again another really, really well-known bit of scripture and there's just a couple of verses here that really stand out to me when I think about this subject. So Matthew 4 verse 1, then was Jesus led up to the spirit, sorry, of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil and when he had fasted forty days or forty nights he was afterward and hungered and when a tempter came to him he said, if thou be the son of God command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said it is written man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple and saith unto him, if thou be the son of God cast thyself down for it is written he shall give his angels charge concerning thee and in their hands they shall bear thee up lest at any time thou dash thy foot against the stone. Jesus said unto him, it is written again, thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Again the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world, just listen to this for a sec, and the glory of them and saith unto him, all these things will I give thee if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, get thee hence Satan for it is written, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil leaveth him and behold angels came and ministered unto him. Okay so verse 9 yeah, all these things will I give thee if thou wilt fall down and worship me, and he's showing him all the kingdoms of the world, and Jesus doesn't turn around and say get thee hence Satan you don't run that you can't give me these, you're not able to, no he says worship the Lord thy God. He doesn't argue with his point here which is that the devil does have the ability to give kingdoms, the devil is the God small g of this world, and you know it never ceases to amaze me, people that still get sucked into this politics stuff, like somehow you know it all depends on that individual person, and you know that this kind of crazy ridiculous false left right paradigm, and this you know where we're kind of led to believe that somehow you know this politician is just going to suddenly change things, and we've seen it recently with the voting in America, and yeah there's going to be little changes, but you know it's all different shades of the same filth really isn't it, and it might be a different angle, but it's all going the same way, because the devil does have these kingdoms to give to people, and he does give it to people, I don't believe he gives it to politicians, I don't honestly I don't believe they have any more power than well maybe not you and I, but they don't have much power yeah, because you know there's so the money that even when you look into it the influence through for example pharmaceutical injuries, mass media bands, banking industries, like it is massive, if anyone thinks that these people have just gone into a some sort of you know well I just want a career in politics somehow just ended up at number 10 Downing Street or in the White House, it's beyond ridiculous, but we just it's still easy again you're getting brainwashed by this all the time, but the point being that then when you look at the power and you look at what we're being fed all the time through right now we obviously TV internet, before it was it was a printing press as well, and before that you know you know we don't have to look at oh well back then though how did the devil influence through these ways through through the world through owning kingdoms well you think Greek and Roman culture wasn't influenced by the devil, I mean it sure was I mean some of that that popular culture there they still had I don't know if it was plays gladiatorial stuff they had mock-up they still had literature etc that people were were getting to know you some maybe couldn't read some were being narrated things and at the least the influences anyway when the devil's a god this world of people are worshipping him through different false religions then again that influence that dishonesty can affect us now in it go to 2 Corinthians 4 and just to kind of hammer home that point a little bit 2 Corinthians 4 verse 3 says but if our gospel be hid it is hid to them that are lost in whom the God of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ who is the image of God should shine unto them so again the God of this world he's blinded the minds of them which believe not and there is different ways he does that and there are spiritual ways he does that as well but I mean anyway if you ever watch you put on animal documentaries anything it's just constantly trying to hammer home that there is no God you know right now it's a big evolution scam isn't it the big kind of big bang stuff but but there's many different ways aren't there or trying to lead you into all different false religions you know Mother Nature worship whatever it is and and the God of this world is behind this and again it you know when we look at real power where that is it's on it's in positions which can shape society so he promotes sin doesn't he including dishonesty and and the triggers for that there are sinful triggers for lying here so like I said he he was he's always been an influence in the world now what was the desire of Ananias so what was it that that made Ananias in back in acts what was his lust what was it that made him want to lie there was possibly some greed there like I said he wasn't instructed that he had to do it but he still wanted to keep back some of that money so there's greed greed of money we know the land was in his own power pride pride I'm to exhort himself he didn't have to he could have turned up and just said I've sold some land here's part of the money but there was he wanted to try and be something he wasn't and just before that you know where I read before in in in acts for we see Barnabas doing the right thing doing doing this great thing where Barnabas from Cyprus now that's quite a long way you know it's a boat journey and I'm sure he could have got away with keeping what he'd wanted from it you know and again he didn't have to bring it all but Barnabas has come he sold his land in Cyprus and brought the money and put it before their feet and now we see straight after Ananias and Sephira just coming up with their own kind of little lie and wanting to appear to be like Barnabas so there's a pride issue with lying as well okay maybe there's a fear of what as well fear of what people would think about them wanting to keep some fear of what your fellow man thinks of you could they could have said like we said I could have said oh well we actually wanted to keep some for this reason or that but they wanted to appear to be something they're not maybe they were afraid of what people would think of them so why do we lie and and we all lie don't we we we try our best not to a hope you know but we all lie and we're influenced as well we have the sinful flesh but there are reasons and I think there are similar reasons as well okay maybe none of us are selling land but as with Ananias greed greed of money can be a reason to lie and you might be thinking well you know I wouldn't do that I would come to church or you might not but maybe what about maybe on your tax return those of us who do tax returns maybe you could be a bit dishonest about that maybe about second jobs cash work things like that tithing to a church we know we I think we've probably heard a lot of preaching on tithing and again oh this isn't a church we're not we're not asking for tithes here but you should be tithing are you tithing somewhere CVS who's gone for jobs recently trying to get promotions whatever else lying on your CV pretending that you've got a bit more experience than you have you're a bit more of a this person or that person we'll do it we've all done it kids dishonest bunch aren't you kids with kids with with I mean I think about this in terms of greed I mean maybe not maybe all you a bit young to get to money obsessed I hope you don't get money obsessed but but maybe with maybe with food food can be one little lie here and there you know pretend you haven't eaten what you have you haven't had as much as something kids it because of that greed and and you know as we know we see it in the outer world I mean the media for example just unbelievable just lie lie lie lies like I just talked about any announcements that the lying with all these rules and they're used as a lying spokesperson to then you know make a secret laws or rules or laws and first everything 610 you don't have to turn this is you all know this scripture for the love of money is a root of all evil which while some coveted after they have earned from the faith and pierce themselves through with many sorrows and again you know that that made me talk about false prophets and false prophets as well why do they lie filthy Luca yeah that's what we're told filthy Luca and and there's a way they want to try and get money out of us out of people okay and we see you know with that there's a kind of combination sometimes with envy or covetousness that makes people false witnesses and I hope none of us here but but we probably all be guilty of this at some time or another and again a lot of the time that might come from a money thing or something similar and you know and obviously there are just wicked people are there wicked people full of deceit the Romans one talks about those talks about reprobates full of deceit and of course there's none of those here but so greed pride what about pride save face you know save face not get too embarrassed so I didn't say that you know I wouldn't say that I didn't do that you know when we're caught out for something and it's not just kids that do this and I'm like my daughter is Chuckie at the front here but but you know they will we've all done it I'm sure I'm sure everyone is a little little lie here and there just just to make ourselves seem a bit better than we are not to get embarrassed by something the automatic lie that people do in that as well don't they just automatic lie straight away oh we are wicked are we and and oh well I would never do that you know that old one you know when someone talks about someone I wouldn't do something like that we're deep down you know maybe there's a possibility you would do something like that to exhort ourselves you know oh I knew that you know yeah yeah oh yeah I know where that is in the Bible yeah or or yeah I know this one off by heart you know you don't really I know a few words of it exaggerating wealth see that I don't know if there's anyone here that's really into that but a lot of people do don't they try and appear to be wealthier than they are appear to be more successful and it's just a little bit of dishonesty a little bit of deceit say the right thing mention the right kind of possession at the right time and again if you've got the possess you got the possession but when you're trying to you know you're trying to deceive people you're trying to make them think you're something you're not intelligence as well people love to try and act like they're more intelligent than they are and again it's to see isn't it a lot of the time now and ability ability as well in things you know sporting ability or ability in in you know our DIY skills or whatever else and again I'm not you know boasting is I know this overlaps with both a little bit but people can be dishonest with this and I've I'm not talking about you guys but people we know people I come into contact with the lying is rife and when you think about this so just remember these compulsive lies they do get in a vicious circle and again I don't think there's any compulsive lies here but they do get in a vicious circle with insecurity don't they where they start lying more because it's so insecure cuz deep down I know that they're just a liar you know so then they start lying more and more to try and make themselves something they're not and that's a sad state to get into and I've known people like that and it's pretty it's embarrassing really okay problems 29 23 says a man's pride shall bring him low but honor shall uphold the humble in spirit okay so pride will bring you low and and when you're lying for pride it'll bring you know but honor shall uphold the humble in spirit okay what about fear fear as a reason to life fear of being unpopular that might be something to do that and I say I don't know again we can pretend to be someone we're not can't we and it might not be a pride reason it's more of a fear that people won't like you fear that you won't be accepted fear of maybe disapproving the pastor at the church or friends or family members even if they find out maybe something you've done or something that you're trying to cover something up being a bit dishonest about things spouse even you know fear that they'll kind of you know realize that something you said or did so we start lying and start digging that hole fear of persecution again that that comes and and we're seeing some stuff right now where we're going to talk about this in a minute faith doctrines you know well I'm a Christian I look like one of those extreme ones you know you know those real extreme Christians are not one of those oh yeah yeah you know I just just you know hate the sin love the sinner you know yeah you know queers you know just just hate the same no I've got no problem with anyone you know but really you're watching on repeat pastor Anderson sermons on the reprobate doctrine you know cursing at the screen but then when you're in front of people are you lying about that you lying about what you really believe what your real beliefs are Peter we see that denying Jesus don't we and he's denying knowing him denying having just said that he would never deny him and there's many examples in the Bible okay fear of trouble or harm how about that how about fear of fear of maybe I was only going 70 mile per hour officer when you've just been pulled over going 80 or 90 or maybe even higher fear of your boss at work maybe you're lying about you know maybe a little lie here and there just to pretend you were a bit more productive than you were that something happened that didn't really the reason you were late are terrible traffic well it wasn't really was it you actually left it 10 minutes 20 minutes late you just couldn't make up the time going 80 the whole way yeah yeah got stuck behind a learner the whole way no it was maybe five seconds of the journey you know and a lot of time lies are based on some truth aren't they fear of the lifestyle changes from not getting a vaccine is that going to lead people to lie lie and pretend that they've that they that they got it or like try and find a doctor and and you know it these are my this is my opinion on this I don't know if there's a way around it without sinning but finding someone that you can convince to lie and then you lie and pretend you've had a vaccine that you've haven't because you paid them enough you know that's what some people are starting to think about now that I've heard I don't know I'd you know I'd be interested if someone's you know got some scriptural reasons why that would that be okay the Bible says it John 14 27 let not your heart be troubled neither let it be afraid we shouldn't be afraid we shouldn't be fearful of what's going to happen in the future and we shouldn't be fearful of making a stand for God okay so number one why do people lie okay we're sinful we know that yeah we know about the flesh but greed pride fear okay point number two what are the consequences of lying so what are the consequences of lying okay so if you just read verse 5 of Acts 5 and an anise hearing these words fell down and gave up the ghost and great fear came on all them that heard these things okay God's wrath God's wrath and God you know this is an example to us all this is example to saved Christians yes he doesn't strike down everyone that lies but he struck down an anise here for for us to learn from this this it should be an example to us okay if you turn to Proverbs 6 while I read Proverbs 19 5 Proverbs 19 verse 5 says a false witness shall not be unpunished and he that speaketh lies shall not escape so we will be punished for being a false witness and speaking lies you won't escape punishment of some degree it might not be that you're struck dead like an anise but God clearly feels feels strongly about this and and in Proverbs 6 and I think it's verse 16 these six things that the Lord hate yea seven are an abomination to him they're an abomination a proud look a lying tongue and hands that shed innocent blood and heart that deviseth wicked imaginations feet that be swift in running to mischief a false witness that speaketh lies and he that soweth discord among brethren and he he hates it so much he mentions lying twice here and it's an abomination to him so it's an object of extreme hatred that's an abomination God hates it he hates it it's not just a little white lie it's not well it's okay and this he hates it he hates it and we will get chastised and we you know we talk about chastisement most of us probably in our soul winning presentations you know my son despise not that they'll chase you of the Lord now nor faint when art rebuked of him for whom the Lord loveth he chaseneth and scourgeth every Sunday we receive with him and we we should we should be aware of that and be aware that when things aren't going well and when we're having problems and we're lying and constantly lying about things we're most likely being chastised and maybe speaking to you now and through his word here I mean there's so much about lying in the Bible okay so we know that yeah we know that we get chastised we know there's God's wrath and that should be enough for us and we see a great example of that okay what about sorry what about hurting our loved ones we hurt our loved ones through lying can't we okay let's go back to Acts 5 and verse 6 here and keep your finger in Acts 5 so I should have said before because we're going to be going regularly to Acts 5 okay from verse 6 Acts 5 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 straight way 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 okay now Sephira was clearly wrong wasn't she she should have obeyed the higher power she shouldn't have carried on she shouldn't have continued this and lied and I think she's given a chance here you know when Peter said unto her you know tell me whether ye sold the land for so much you know at this point that was her chance wasn't it and she's dealt with here um but still she's been influenced I assume maybe it was the other way around by her husband um now verse 29 Peter you know famous famous verse Peter and the apostles are clear we ought to obey God rather than men so you know I don't think it's a coincidence that's in the same chapter there in case people are just thinking well you know she just did what her husband said no we ought to obey God rather than men and she should have obeyed God rather than her husband then um but what a position he put he likely um again it might have been her one of them maybe they were just both equally as wicked but you'd assume one probably started off this this lust was conceived in one of their minds first and they've put the other one in this position now um verse seven um she didn't know what was done did she so she could have at this point gone in when she was asked but imagine what position she's in now she's asked by Peter so did you sell it for this much is she going to stitch up her husband now so so he's already told this lie now she's in front of Peter she doesn't know what's happened she doesn't know he's dead she doesn't know that he's that he's been found out and she she chooses to lie um right so even when we're protecting others the bible's clear here it's wrong yeah it's wrong even a wife obeying her husband here is wrong yeah lying we should not do but what a responsibility we have as men as leaders here turn to Ephesians 5 Ephesians 5 22 famous verses that we all read to our wives on a daily basis wives wives submit yourselves unto your own husbands as unto the Lord for the husband is ahead of the wife even as Christ is ahead of the church and he is the savior of the body therefore as a church is subject unto Christ so let the wives be to their own husbands and everything husbands love your wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it that he might sanctify and cleanse it with a washing of water by the word that he might present it to himself a glorious church not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing but that it should be holy and without blemish okay so submission yeah we the bible's clear yeah we yeah the bible's clear you should be submitting to your husband's wives yeah there is no ifs and buts you should be submitting to your husbands apart from when it's disobeying God apart from when it's disobeying God but if we love our wives we shouldn't be putting them in positions where they should be sinning or they they now have to make that choice to sin to to obey us or not and and we shouldn't we we we we should sorry we should be trying to make them as pure and holy as possible that is one of our jobs there it's clear there and and we we can sometimes can't we can focus on the submitting part a lot and not on the other part and you know whether whether whether God blesses and chastises you is going to affect your wife isn't it and and even if you're not encouraging to sin what you do the decisions you make so when we go out and we we choose whether or not we're going to sin in this way or other or like that's going to affect us and our whole family and it affects those around around you and and the other way around like i said maybe sephira persuaded him which you shouldn't have done obviously but we affect each other and wives you affect your husbands as well if you're like oh just you know oh tell them i'm not home or can you just uh you know can we just cancel that thing tell them this tell them that or whatever it is and they're just things that come to mind there's probably a hundred different ways and probably thousands that we've all done in our lives and ways and reasons that we've justified or encouraged lying amongst people and we shouldn't do it um and they're preconceived lies by the way when you're saying to each other just say this just do that just just mention that i don't mention this it's a preconceived lie exactly what they were doing here um okay your children too so it affects your children turn to genesis 26 genesis 26 okay genesis 26 and from verse one and there was a famine in the land beside the first famine that was in the days of abraham and isaac went unto abimelech king of the philistines unto gira and the lord appeared unto him and said go not down into egypt dwell in the land which i should tell you of so journey in this land and i will be with thee and will bless thee for unto thee and unto thy seed i will give all these countries and i will perform the oath which i swear unto abraham my father and i will make thy seed to multiply the stars of heaven and will give unto thy seed all these countries and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed because that abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge my commandments my statutes and my laws and isaac dwelt in gira and the men of the place asked him of his wife and he said she is my sister for he feared to say she is my wife lest said he the men of the place should kill me for rebecca because she was fair to look upon and it came to pass when he had been there a long time that abimelech king of the philistines looked out a window and saw and behold isaac was sporty with rebecca his wife and abimelech called isaac and said behold of a surety she is our wife and how said she is my sister and isaac said unto her because i said lest i die for her and abimelech said what is this that thou has done unto us one of the people might one of the people might lightly have lined with thy wife and now shouldest have brought guiltiness upon us and abimelech charged all his people saying he that touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death okay and we see a deterioration after if you know that story that deterioration their relationship after the next thing you know the wells are being filled up with mud and stuff of isaac's that is which abraham had had dug but invert if you again those who've read genesis probably everyone here knows nosy stories and this rings a bell that abraham did exactly this in genesis 12 and genesis 20 and in genesis 20 it's with abimelech okay and again it's because of fear and he and he's lied and pretended that sarah's um sarah's his sister not his wife now we've just seen isaac do this but he's just been promised blessings so he's just been promised his blessings earlier um and then next thing you know he's lying and and where did he get that from why is he doing repeating this lie so he's either heard the story or or he's just he's just for whatever reason his father's influenced him in this um maybe maybe purposely or not um and kids do pick up things don't they and yeah they might start off with that sinful flesh you might think i haven't taught them lying but they don't half pick things up and we are a massive influence on our children and if they're seeing us purposely lying and going about our days lies preconceived lies talking about how i'll just say this or do that you might think it's for a justified reason you're just you're just telling your kids it's okay to lie um i was thinking about a kid that i used to coach um and his his dad was was a right liar yeah and he's you know he was a nice enough friendly enough guy um he was quite a westernized muslim this fella and and um his son you know i've been coaching for a while and doing a lot of one-on-ones and i was really trying and i used to coach his younger brother sometimes as well and and you know and i've been giving him the gospel as well and you know kind of got got a bit nice relationship going with this kid but it was really awkward because his dad would regularly just you know it'd be a lie about the scholarship for example that he pretended his son didn't have at the private school he's sending him to so his son's telling me he's on a scholarship well his dad's telling me the fees are however many thousand pound a term you know and just silly things but but it's always coming out his dad would cancel a session uh for an excuse and then the kid would come in and i'd ask him oh you weren't well last week oh no i was all right no my dad couldn't make it because he had this and it was just constant but how embarrassing and what what no surprise that i'm coaching this kid and kind of a you know i'll be coaching for a few years in the end and um and then his dad rung me like i'm in a real problem uh basically he's been found to be lying about this lying about that he got in trouble at school he'd been smoking weed and the toilets or whatever it no in fact i think it was that bedroom window sitting on the roof or something whatever it was but he'd got in all this trouble and there was lie after lie after lie they had no idea about any of it and and you know is is it any surprise is it any surprise and it was embarrassing as well because sometimes his dad would be telling me a lie and i would be glancing at this kid while his dad's telling me a blatant lie and the kid's just a bit shifty just looking a bit uncomfortable because he knows he's lying you know that's just lying to me in front of the kid and the kid knows he's like it's just it's terrible isn't it but we do we influence our kids and we might not be as bad as that but i mean that there was a there was obviously some bad results to that to to that situation it also affects the church so if you read um ax five go back to ax five and verse six ax five six and the young men arose wound him up and carried him out and buried him in verse 10 as well verse 10 then fell she down straight away at his feet this is sephira now and yielded up the ghost and the young men came in and found her dead and carrying her forth buried her by her husband those poor young men did you ever read that and think that i was just reading through this for this to sink you those poor guys you know they're probably thinking i didn't sign up for this come to go to church you know i'm learning i want to give out the gospel and suddenly i'm picking up dead bodies and having to wrap them up imagine if we had to do this here you know you'd just be thinking this is that weren't part of the deal i mean alex you know i've asked him to be an usher on the door brother alex there and probably be thinking wait a second like i didn't include wrapping up their bodies we were i was thinking this the other day um we were in a shop and this porn you should really upset there was it was a meat that obviously had a problem with the fridge elo and i were kind of thinking oh the poor lady this this young girl is having to mop up all this blood and it's just everywhere it's come out all the packets where they've obviously defrosted or whatever else they've had some leakages and she's clean and you're just thinking i bet she didn't imagine she was going to be doing that when she went for that job at waitrose you know and in the same way these guys they're having to carry out dead bodies they're wrapping up dead bodies i don't think you know these young men were were necessarily undertakers um even even you know even not just the having a deal with that you know the results of that sin um but just seeing our brothers and sisters suffering you know seeing them you know when maybe they're being chastised and thinking well they're pretty righteous you know and praying for them you know praying for each other with things that maybe could have been avoided if you actually have been trying to live more righteously more honestly um and yeah obviously bearing false witness we know that hurts people that hurts many people when you start doing that okay so what about being a bad influence as well not just on our kids on those around us you could be a bad influence you can when you're just a bit dishonest it's contagious all this stuff is contained all sin is contagious isn't it when you're around people that just a little lie because you know you know a lot of time people are lying and it starts to make it a bit more okay doesn't it and yeah we're all sinners we know that we're all sinners but we should be trying shouldn't we we should be trying trying our best and not to be a bad influence on others proverbs 13 20 says he that walketh with wise men shall be wise but a companion of fools shall be destroyed and we want to make sure that that we're walking with wise men and we should all try and be wise people here and and and what part of that is not just being full of dishonesty and deceit okay um point next point on that is it lying can hinder salvations lying can hinder salvations if you turn to first peter two first peter two a verse 12 of first peter two says having your conversation honest among the gentiles that whereas they speak against you as evildoers they may buy your good works which they shall behold glorify god in a day of visitation so the conversation is not just you're talking the conversation is behavior okay so having your behavior honest among the gentiles so we should have honest behavior we should be known to be honest because they will speak against as evildoers and they do don't they they'll speak against as evildoers but we want them to notice our good works and notice our honesty now the day of visitation here um it's it's called it's in the bible you see the day of visitation the time of visitation and a year of visitation and in every time it's basically a time of afflictions and distresses but in this life so it's not necessarily you know it's not judgment day or anything you know when that's it you're dead and you're in front of god it's talking about it's talking about um when bad times okay and they do come bad times come and in in that time we know don't we when people are going through hard times a lot of the time that's when they're more open to the gospel more ready for salvation in that day we want them to to behold our good works behold our honesty and in that day of visitation think about that and think about wow you know god really you can see god working that life and part of that is the honesty and you know and people do notice it believe me when you're when you know especially if you're in business you're working whether you're self-employed or not and if you're clearly just honest year after year you know do your utmost be honest people will notice it and it will change things for them maybe in the future now if you turn to matthew 5 turn to matthew 5 and from verse 13 from matthew 5 13 ye are the salt of the earth but if the salt of lost is savour wherewith shall it be salted it is henceforth good for nothing but to be cast out and to be trodden under for to men ye are the light of the world a city that is set on a hill cannot be hid neither the men light a candle and put it under a bushel but on a candlestick and it giveth light unto all that are in the house let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your god which is in heaven okay so we talk a lot about being a shining light but part of that is being an honest person isn't it being known for your honesty an unsafe family unsaved old friends people you care about we want them to see us see our behavior see how we behave see our honesty and and think about that when it comes to the hopefully that time when the holy spirits may be moving upon them maybe not maybe just they're in a bad time and they just you know then and we want them to think about us don't we want us to be that shining light what about out soul winning as well so we want to be filled with spirit don't we you all know you've all been soul winning long enough when you're filled with the spirit soul winning is generally a lot more successful i believe anyway um i think i think most people would agree with that and if you're just full of lies you're constantly just deceiving people you've just come off the the most recent lie to someone wife family whatever it is it's going to affect your soul you're going to affect people getting saved um okay so why do people like greed pride fear are three obvious reasons and there are other reasons i'm sure as well what are the consequences of lying god's wrath hurting our loved ones and hindering of salvations are three big consequences and again there are other consequences as well um number three what are some practical ways to stop lying then because i think everyone here probably at some it's one way or another is going to be guilty of this sin this is a this is a big sin in fact we all know we're guilty because the bible says that god be true at every man a liar and and we've all lied and probably all do it in some way or another okay so acts 5 verse 11 go back to acts 5 verse 11 says and great fear came upon all the church and upon as many as heard these things okay so the first thing the first practical way is get some healthy fear of the lord fear the lord yeah um we should be fearing his his his punishment for lying we should be fearing him and i think a problem a problem that we're all again an issue that we're all affected by is this brainwash of this queer effeminate hippie type jesus character not the real jesus the jesus that the media portrays the jesus which almost every kid's bible type book coloring in thing will have and and we you know our kids our kids have you know i've recently just been getting rid of that stuff because i've got my kids you know they're given stuff people mean well jesus coloring books stuff like that and they're just coloring in this dress wearing long-haired hippie jesus yeah who is not the he's not the jesus of the bible and and it's going to influence them it's going to change their perception and this kind of hey peace peace or the morgan freeman god from all the old movies that i've ever seen with with god in them who's just kind of this cool sky daddy who's just yeah just all come into heaven yeah you know it's just uh we're just everyone no that's not that's not the jesus of the bible is it and i i you know for me it's clearly that's clearly some brainwash there even more recent movies there's some people i mean i've seen like stuff go up like youtube stuff where you know people are like really well meaning you know christian independent baptists and they're kind of using clips from certain movies you know to try and make a point of of some bible verse whatever it is they're making on their video and they're using again this long-haired sort of effeminate jesus that is in pretty much every movie isn't it of of any sort of whether it's made by so-called christians or not and i think that we need to fear the lord we need to cut that junk out really we need to stop stop thinking oh well it's okay your kids are just getting brainwashed into thinking that that's the jesus you know and people will admit when they when you say to who do you what sort of image do you think of when you think of jesus and a lot of people will think of a skirt-wearing long-haired hippie let's be honest that that's what they might picture now hopefully they're probably not picturing but they will we should be picturing that that white hair flaming eyes that's what we should be picturing if anything the only descriptions were given in the bible not the junk that that is pushed on us and came from some effeminate catholic painter i think it was in michelangelo um started off with this junk and and we need to get rid of that junk we need to fear god um leviticus 1911 says and you don't turn it says you shall not still neither deal falsely neither lie one to another remember it's a commander we take serious a command i hope that thou shalt not steal it's right next to stealing there let let's let's think about that command let's fear god about lying okay if you turn to first peter chapter three first peter chapter three verse nine says not rendering evil for evil or railing for rain but contrary wise blessing knowing that you're there unto called that you should inherit a blessing for he that will love life and see good days let him refrain his tongue from evil and his lips that they speak no guile let him askew evil and do good let him seek peace and ensue it for the eyes of the lord are over the righteous and his ears are opened unto their prayers but the face of the lord is against them that do evil okay it says if you want to love life and see good good days and guile is deceit verse 12 it says the face of the lord is against them that do we don't want the face of the lord against us you don't want that in life so let's try and you've got to try your utmost get get down your knees you know ask god to help you with this if it's a problem of yours um so what about more particular reasons for lying if maybe it's money maybe it's that greed if it's taxes tithing whatever it is something maybe hit maybe something struck a chord with that for for some people here put put honesty above money all right you've got to get those priorities right honesty is what you should be putting way above seeking money keeping your own money whatever it is um we need to get our priorities right turn back to acts and acts 4 36 and 37 we see and joses who by the apostles was surname barnabas which is being interpreted the son of consolation of levi and of the country of cyprus having land sold it and brought the money and laid it at the apostles feet what a great example there and like i said he was out in cyprus you know i'm sure he you know he could have he could have probably got away with half of that not even that he could have done what he wanted in fact he wasn't under a commandment anyway but you know he's got the right priority there um if you turn to proverbs 19 there's some good proverbs alive out in my last few servers i keep turning to proverbs i think you can tell i'll read the book of proverbs at all but um a lot of stuff just comes in your head from proverbs and um proverbs 19 verse 1 says a better is the poor that walketh in his integrity than he that is perverse in his lips and is a fool so give me a poor honest man above a lying fool any day yeah there's nothing wrong with being poor just make sure that you walk in your integrity verse 22 of proverbs 19 says the desire of a man is his kindness and a poor man is better than a liar you're better than a liar a poor man is better than a liar if it's money if it's issues with that trying to boast the wealth trying to trying to keep money trying to you know if that's an issue for you remember that a poor man is better than a liar um lying is wicked okay chapter 20 of proverbs chapter 20 just over the page for some verse 17 says bread of deceit is sweet to a man but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel okay now we kind of saw that almost literally with ananias poured ananias there but um what's it talking about here bread of deceit is sweet to a man but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel um i believe that when you're dishonestly making money or dishonesty keeping money that that should be going to the lord or whatever else it is um we quickly lose money now i've i've experienced this when i've been through phases of not tithing for whatever reason i've tried to justify and it's been hard with certain churches where you're like i'm giving money for literally like they're not even doing anything with it you know borrowing having a social club but still when i'm not giving money to the lord i have seen just expenses coming that i just wear on earth cars broken down for the 10th time you know it's cost even more and just things breaking in the house just money money that we can't do without you know and money will go and your mouth will eventually be filled with gravel instead of bread you know you're going to end up you're going to end up in financial trouble if you're robbing from the lord but but that goes that's that dishonesty isn't it that dishonesty about money um and i'm sure if you guys think about it and there's been times like that in your lives you might look back and be like wow yeah actually i can see that and i i was reflecting on this recently um about times in the past with tithing and just wow yeah times were hard then you know and i should have just been given the first fruits of my labour um if it's if it's pride what about if it's pride so if it's if we just said there sorry earlier we've just said you know if it's about if it's about money yeah we should be putting money uh sorry uh we should be putting honesty above lying above pretty honestly above money if it's pride we should be focusing on pleasing god shouldn't we it's not about it doesn't matter what people think we should be focusing on pleasing god not man so in acts 5 29. famous verse here then peter and the other apostles answered and said we ought to obey god rather than men and their focus is on obeying god not pleasing appeasing impressing men because they've just been told that you know they've been threatened and told not to not to preach the gospel um okay proverbs 12 22 says lying lips are abomination to the lord but they that deal truly are his delight you can like if you deal truly you're honest yeah imagine like god is delighted in you that's something to aim towards we want to please god don't we excuse me there um we should we should want to delight delight god he died for us you know he said he's only begotten son and died on a cross for us so we should be wanting to please him not some whoever it is our buddy at church or whoever you're trying to you're trying to impress you're trying to impress by by a little lie about this or that trying to you know whatever it is to do with pride get rid of that try and try and please god um okay if you turn to acts 24 and in acts 24 Paul is before Felix here the governor giving his defense and in verse 10 he says and Paul after that the governor had beckoned unto him to speak answered for as much as I know that thou has been of many years a judge unto this nation I do the more cheerfully answer for myself because that thou mayest understand that there are yet but 12 days since I went up to Jerusalem for to worship and they neither found me in a temple disputed with any man neither raised up the people neither in the synagogues nor in the city neither can they prove the things where have they now accused me but this I confess unto thee that after the way which they called call heresy so worshiped by the god of my fathers believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets and have hope toward god which they themselves also allow that there shall be a resurrection of the dead both of the just and unjust and herein do I exercise myself to have always a conscience to have always a conscience void of offense toward god and toward men okay so what's a conscience void of offense towards god there and um you know what what a great way to live about how we should be looking to live we should be looking to please god to delight god um proverbs 16 13 says righteous lips are the delight of kings and they love him that speaketh right we're talking about the king of kings here and it's a delight of his when we have righteous lips so good reasons good things I think to focus on um what about lying due to fear I'm going to hurry up here last couple of bits lying due to fear proverbs 29 25 says the fear of man bringeth a snare but whoso puteth his trust in the lord shall be safe okay we we know don't we know we shouldn't be fearing men that's pretty clear um and it is a snare it's a trap because the snare the trap is you start fearing men fearing people feeling what they think fear what they might do and the result is sin such as lying um so the answer is trust him we should trust god um turn to psalm 56 in psalm 56 verses 1-4 be merciful unto me oh god for man would swallow me up he fighting daily oppresseth me mine enemies would daily swallow me up for they be many that fight against me oh thou most high what time I am afraid I will trust in thee in god I will praise his word in god I have put my trust I will not fear what flesh can do unto me okay now the fear of persecution is probably rising in a lot of people right now um and we I mean yeah go to Acts sorry go to Acts 5 Acts 5 says verse 40 we see unto him they agreed and when they called the apostles and beat them they commanded them that they should not speak in the name of Jesus and let them go and they departed from the presence of the council rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name and daily in the temple and at every house they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ so they've been beaten they've been threatened I don't think any of us have had that yet but daily in the temple and in every house they just continued so again back to sort of you know people are worried you know vaccines the persecution that might come with that I don't know where that's going to go I'm not trying to get everyone in fear because we shouldn't fear it um you know you might well you don't understand yeah I wouldn't be able to travel unless I lied and found a way to deceive people into thinking I've had this maybe you've got family in in other countries maybe you're stuck here you know there's there are people in situations um but things do work out like god god trust god trust god to make things work out we don't have to sin um turn to first corinthians 10 this is the last bit guys first corinthians 10 first corinthians 10 and verse 13 says there has no temptation take you but such as is common to man but god is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you're able but will with the temptation also make a way to escape that you may be able to bear it there's always a way that doesn't involve sinning jesus showed us that yeah we I'm not saying we're going to mirror jesus's life we can all we can all be sinless but we should be trying our best to we should be planning to sin there's always a way there is a way to escape it the the what if you know I've heard this before when I used to read around um when I was first saying well you know is it okay to lie what if you were in the war in nazi germany and you had uh you know you had some some jews hiding in your house they said do you have anyone in this house then you would lie well yeah but you're taking god out of the picture god's not going to put you in a situation where you I believe where where sitting is your only answer and I think that verse tells me that that's not going to happen god is going to give you away there is a way that it says there he will not suffer you to be tempted above that year able but will with the temptation also make a way to escape there is a way to escape and that's without sinning so then you think well then what do I do what do I do if if we're you know persecution gets worse here you know all these restrictions rules you know what do I do um okay turn to proverbs three and again like I said we're nearly done well I read proverbs 11 3 okay proverbs 11 3 says the integrity of the upright shall guide them but the perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them so according to the bible the integrity will guide you your integrity will guide you and that should be our guidance we should be seeking options seeking ways out of things which involve keeping our integrity um okay and you know I was thinking about this recently the rules with the churches you know now I was tempted and I could have just started you know with this for example and again we're not a church but we are a religious organization we're meeting together for worship okay we come under the these guidelines now I could have just okay well we've got to sneak okay everyone parked down the road we sneak in you know one at a time um you know and again you know is that lying maybe that's not but we you know it's deceptive isn't it and we could do a lot and you know you might be thinking well the stickers and stuff well you know nothing wrong with having some stickers on the floor and and but but we could have we could have you know started trying to find all little ways out and everything else now I personally believe I believe that that God has worked a way where when you've actually looked into it and try to find an honest way to deal with it there is an honest way there and I'm not saying I'll get it right all the time and maybe maybe you know some some of the things that we do and don't do might not be right but I think that God does give us away and it might be no that yeah then we have to to obey God and not man and maybe then you know we know that that there are certain things that we're told to do but at this point there is a way and we should always be looking for that for that way which which includes integrity now Proverbs 3 and last bit Proverbs 3 covers I believe all these points fear the Lord put honesty above money focus on pleasing God and lastly trust him and just in verses 1 to 10 you see all these points come up Proverbs 3 1 to 10 my son forget not my law but let thine heart keep my commandments for length of days and long life and peace shall they add to thee let not mercy and truth forsake thee bind them about thy neck write them upon the table of thine heart so shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding in all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths be not wise in thine own eyes fear the Lord and depart from evil it shall be health to thine navel and marrow to thy bones honour the Lord with thy substance with the first fruits of all thine increase so shall thy barns be filled with plenty and thy presses shall burst out with new wine so we see verse seven fearing the Lord verse three and nine about the money and honesty truth bound above about our neck verse four about pleasing God and verse five about trusting him and I'm not saying you know it's all going to go fine for us and there are times where we're going to have to make stands there's times where we're going to have to just do what God says and you know and pray that that we don't receive the persecution maybe we'll get that persecution but what I am saying is that we should have truth bound about our necks that we should be doing our utmost to be honest we should be doing our utmost not to sin in any way and and when we have that heart for the Lord I think God will work things out through us and I don't think we need to be sitting and plotting and planning how we can dishonestly find a way out of certain situations okay so last bit why do people lie greed pride and fear are three big reasons what are some consequences of lying God's wrath hurting our loved ones hindering salvation is a number three what are some practical ways to stop lying fear the Lord put honesty above money and focus on pleasing God and trust him and with that let's pray heavenly father thank you for your word thank you for your truth the ultimate truth please help us to listen to your word listen to what you've got to say not to just come up with our own ideas our own preconceived ways of dealing with things and and do things the way you want us to do it with honesty at the at the top of everything we do um I pray that you'll just just help us all now help us with the rest of the day help us to be honest witnesses of of yours out out there preaching the gospel boldly trusting in you um and ask all these things in Jesus Christ holy and precious name amen