Honestly?

HONESTLY?

Lies come in a lot of forms; half truths, "white" lies, blatant lies.  We lie to ourselves as much as we do others, some a little more one way than the other, but every day we seem to have to deal with a lie.  Any wonder some people would enjoy being a hermit.  Some of the worst lies are from people you know; friends are bad, and family are even worse!  Consider a man I know of who loved people and wasn't afraid to show it.  He married a gal with special needs, she was handicapped.  Some family members of hers actually were wagering how long before he would divorce her, but it didn't happen.  When he visited some of her family, though, he had a way of hugging, lifting them off their feet when he did.  He meant nothing wrong or carnal about it, but some sowed this in their heart that he did, and made an innocent man bad.  In their sinfulness they lied to themselves that he was carnal in thought, judging against him without real cause.  He never had inappropriate relations with anyone, yet some of them made him a womanizer, even a child molester in their minds.  Then one day, it was made known that a different member of the family had molested an underage girl in the family, and certain ones in the family even heightened the evil in their hearts toward the innocent man, even though he had not done the deed.  The molested one even had projected her experience on the innocent man, and her brother even condemned him and denied he was related to the innocent man, yet claimed his wife as a relative.  He rationalized evil onto the innocent man that was unfounded, with no physical proof or even verbage from the innocent man to be condemned with; talk about being hated without cause!  One day the innocent man visited his wife's sister, and finally the evil, twisted lies about him were revealed to him.  He had not done anything carnal or evil, yet a number of his in-laws already had him convicted in their hearts.  What a tragedy for the innocent man.  Their hearts lied to them about him to make him evil as to bring him to the level of wickedness that was in their own hearts.  Honestly!  Condemned for the way he hugged!  Let's explore this situation and where it came from, and of other examples of lying and false witness.

"Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made.  And he said unto the woman, 'Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?'" (Gen. 3:1)  The devil is able to plant a seed of doubt about everything, including what God tells us.  Ever hear the ditty, 'Believe none of what you hear, and only half of what you see"?  The devil suggested here that God was not telling Eve and Adam the truth, and he was also tempting Eve to rebel against God and eat the fruit against God's law.  The innocent man's in-laws, whether saved or not, obviously have been ignorant for quite some time not to judge (Matt. 7:1-2), and not to bear false witness (Exod. 20:16, Deut. 5:20).

So where does all this evil of the innocent man's in-laws come from?  Even the evil that all of us have done at some time, of which lying and bearing false witness are only a facet of?  "But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.  For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man:" (Matt. 15:18 - 20)  Jesus, our perfect Teacher, He has said it comes from the heart.  Whether one lies to themselves or to other people about an innocent person, it starts in their hearts.  Think not that lying and bearing false witness are not common afflictions of man, because they are.  The bible has a number of people who have lied, even some of His chosen have not told the truth in some way.  Let's look at a few.

"And Pharaoh called Abram, and said, 'What is this that thou hast done unto me?  Why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife?  Why saidst thou, "She is my sister?"  So I might have taken her to me to wife: now therefore behold thy wife, take her, and go thy way.'" (Gen. 12:18 - 19)  Abraham, who started life as Abram, told a half-truth to the Pharaoh.  "And yet indeed she is my sister; she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife." (Gen. 20:12)  While Abraham gave excuses for his deception to Abimelech, yet God kept safe the mother of the promised Seed, for Jesus would be of the line of Abraham.  Abram's lie had the consequence of all the wombs of Pharaoh's house to close up until Abram prayed for God to heal them.  No lie or false witness goes without consequence.

"And the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab, saying, 'Bring forth the men that are come to thee, which are entered into thine house: for they be come to search out all the country.'  And the woman took the two men, and hid them, and said thus, 'There came men unto me, but I wist not whence they were: And it came to pass about the time of shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the men went out: whither the men went I wot not: pursue after them quickly; for ye shall overtake them.'  But she had brought them up to the roof of the house, and hid them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order upon the roof.  And the men pursued after them the way to Jordan unto the fords: and as soon as they which pursued after them were gone out, they shut the gate." (Josh. 2:3 - 7)  Rahab lied.  Flat-out lied.  To her king, no less.  But she recognized a greater king, the King of creation, and her loyalty to God, though a lie for demonstration, included her in the Messianic lineage.  As to the consequence, well; we all know what happened to Jericho, those of us who read the bible!

From Exod. 8:8 to 10:27, the Pharaoh lied to Moses that he would let the people go after each plague was dissolved.  Why?  "But the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, so that he would not let the children of Israel go." (Exod. 10:20)  Because Pharaoh's heart was hardened!  Here again we see that lies, like other evils done by man, come from the heart.

We know also now that even Peter lied, and three times!  "Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, 'I know not the man.'  And immediately the cock crew.  And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, 'Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.'  And he went out, and wept bitterly." (Matt. 26:74 - 75)  Now this is a unique lie.  It is unique in that Peter was the only person in the bible to commit a forewarned lie.  He was warned that he would do it three times before the cock crowed, and even though he found himself in a situation where the temptation was too great to lie, he did so indeed.  But let's consider the temptation, because although Peter said he would die with Christ, he did not, because just like the average human, we fear death, as he did, and so, even with Christ as his teacher and role model, he caved in to fear and lied.  Who among us would not do the same?  Remembering Jesus' warning, he cried bitterly, realizing who he denied, and probably feeling hypocritical that he didn't do what he said he would.

It is not good to practice lying and bearing false witness.  First of all, the tragedy begins in that the liar must then repent for a long time so that his or her reputation can be restored to a position of reputed honesty, that they might be judged trustworthy again.  Secondly, the lie(s) will have most likely produced consequences that may or may not be repairable.  Lastly, if a person practice lying to the death, Jesus may judge him or her in this manner: "But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death." (Rev. 21:8)  If their lives are like this in entirety, it is proof enough of being an unbeliever in Christ, and thus the punishment fits their crimes.

So if you know of someone who is like this, who bears false witness or lies as a habit, or as though a casual occurrence, there are a number of things you can do for them; also if a person read this and find themselves in this problem snare, there is something for that person, too.  "Hide Thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.  Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.  Cast me not away from Thy presence; and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me.  Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation; and uphold me with Thy free Spirit." (Psa. 51:9 - 12)  Pray to God!  Yes, ask Him like this example, it's perfect for the sinful liar and false witness.  "Ye have heard that it hath been said, 'Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.'  But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." (Matt. 5:43 - 45)  When someone bears false witness against you, they are your enemy.  They are your enemy against your reputation, for the least part, let alone whatever other evil is conjured up in their wicked heart.  Jesus here tells us to love them, pray for them, bless them, and do good to them.  Even me, I pray for my enemies.  I pray that God turn them from children of perdition to children of God, that they may no longer be called my enemies, but my brothers and sisters in Christ.  I think it's a perfect prayer for enemies, myself, because they are not wished evil upon them, but rather good, and on top of that, if they become saved, they can no longer be my enemies!  I do indeed pray to God every night that my enemies be blessed by Him, and so should we all.  I pray for the good as well; God bless you all and your families, and abundantly!