Proverbs 6:16 These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him.
Ah Friends, it’s another beautiful day on God’s great earth! Praise the Lord! So just enjoy it; live it as though it’s your last, for it may very well be. Tomorrow you might wake up and see your name and picture in the Obits. (smile) That means you shouldn’t waste this one, not even one iota of it. Just get out there and be the best you can be; fulfill your Christian faith and mission with zeal and unconditional LOVE, so that if the Lord happens to call you home later today, He will at least be pleased with your last earthly efforts and greet you with a warm bear hug, while saying, ‘Welcome, thou good and faithful servant.’ In truth though Friends, that’s the way we ought to live every day, so anytime He calls us we’ll be ready. But it certainly won’t work that way if we insist on living sinful lives, perpetrating any number of those seven deadly sins that Cousin Sol talks of. Yesterday we talked about the first one; ‘a proud look.’ Today we’ll look at the second; ‘a lying tongue.’ Unfortunately my people, lying has become somewhat endemic in our society, almost like a societal pastime. In this supposed age of information, so much information is floating around that one can hardly tell the truth from the lies. Our politicians and leaders seldom speak the truth, as do the wealthy and greedy business people. The salespeople who operate on commissions have no incentive to tell the truth because if they don’t sell they don’t eat, so they will tell you anything to make a sale. And don’t even mention the news media, for they now publish more untrue stuff than ever before, since in their mad rush to break news first they pick up and cull their information from any source, worthwhile or not. Once upon a time what you read in the papers or heard on the news was as close to gospel as you could get because they used tried and trusted sources and also verified stuff before making it public. Hn! But that’s no longer true. You have to take everything you hear or read now with a couple grains of salt since it’s often not verified and also trivialized. And we won’t forget the tabloids or the celebrity gossip mongers who even make up sensational stuff to sell their products. Interpersonal relationships are also fraught with untruths because the trustworthiness of our entire society has plummeted to rock bottom, and the honour we once had, re speaking the truth, has sadly disappeared. Lies, dreadful ones too, permeate every level, every strata of our society. It’s even in the church too, where false preachers preach false gospel and doctrine, only interested in their self-aggrandizement rather than teaching the true Word of God. But as two famous trite but true sayings expound: ‘what goes around, comes around, and whatever is done in darkness always comes to light.’ So too do our lies eventually come back to haunt us. Now let’s see what the Good Book says about lying and/or a lying tongue. Oh Friends, there is so much scripture that deals with the tongue and lies that I had to whittle them down to a handful. Our mouths play such a large part in the workings of our society, especially our faith, that James saw it fit to warn us. ‘If any man among you seem to be (thinks he is) religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain.’ (James 1:26) But the problem though my Friends is that our little tongue is so powerful. James likens it to the small rudder that turns around big ships. ‘Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold how great a matter (forest) a little fire kindleth (sets on fire). And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell…But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.’ (James 3:5-6, 8) Yes my people, that’s our tongue, and in today’s society where we talk a whole lot more than is necessary, you can imagine how many problems that little tongue causes, especially if it’s speaking lies, because unlike truth, lies have a way of rapidly multiplying and replicating themselves, like an amoeba, as they move from one source to the next. Consequently, we have to be very careful of what we say and also to whom. But the first thing is to ensure that we take Bruh David’s advice: ‘Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile (deceit).’ (Ps.34:13) That’s very important mih breddren because the Lord says: ‘He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house: he that telleth lies shall not tarry (continue, be established) in my sight.’ (Ps.101:7) No wonder in Psalm 120, a haunting prayer for deliverance from lying lips, the psalmist woefully cries out: ‘Deliver my soul, O Lord from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue.’ (Ps.120:2) But the next two verses are really interesting. ‘What shall be given unto thee? Or what shall be done unto thee, thou false (deceitful) tongue? Sharp arrows of the mighty (warrior) with coals of juniper (the broom tree).’ (Ps.120:3-4) Now that might just be a very good solution to the lying lips and tongues that are currently running amok in our world. Now hear some more words of wisdom from Cousin Sol. ‘Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that LOVE it shall eat the fruit thereof.’ (Prov.18:21) Oh Friends that’s the living truth! We all know someone, might even be us, who has the paid the price for an unruly tongue, because it does come back to haunt you. All the gossip mongers and liars get their comeuppance eventually. Again, the wisdom of Sol shines through when he declares: ‘Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue, keepeth his soul from troubles.’ (Prov.21:23) That’s also true mih people! The quiet beings don’t have as many trials and tribulations as the talkative ones, because their excessive mouthing just causes them more problems than are really necessary. Jeremiah had this to say on the subject. ‘And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith the Lord.’ (Jer.9:3) And for once Bruh Paul, when talking about the new life in Christ, said it simply: ‘Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds. And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him.’ (Col.3:9-10) Oh Friends, we’d better learn to do that, or else…and this is the clincher; re the New Jerusalem, the Good Book says, unequivocally: ‘And there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.’ (Rev.21:27) Yes my people, that’s the fate of abominable liars, so consider yourself told, and live your lives accordingly. Much LOVE!…liar, liar…pants on fire…
Ah Friends, it’s another beautiful day on God’s great earth! Praise the Lord! So just enjoy it; live it as though it’s your last, for it may very well be. Tomorrow you might wake up and see your name and picture in the Obits. (smile) That means you shouldn’t waste this one, not even one iota of it. Just get out there and be the best you can be; fulfill your Christian faith and mission with zeal and unconditional LOVE, so that if the Lord happens to call you home later today, He will at least be pleased with your last earthly efforts and greet you with a warm bear hug, while saying, ‘Welcome, thou good and faithful servant.’ In truth though Friends, that’s the way we ought to live every day, so anytime He calls us we’ll be ready. But it certainly won’t work that way if we insist on living sinful lives, perpetrating any number of those seven deadly sins that Cousin Sol talks of. Yesterday we talked about the first one; ‘a proud look.’ Today we’ll look at the second; ‘a lying tongue.’ Unfortunately my people, lying has become somewhat endemic in our society, almost like a societal pastime. In this supposed age of information, so much information is floating around that one can hardly tell the truth from the lies. Our politicians and leaders seldom speak the truth, as do the wealthy and greedy business people. The salespeople who operate on commissions have no incentive to tell the truth because if they don’t sell they don’t eat, so they will tell you anything to make a sale. And don’t even mention the news media, for they now publish more untrue stuff than ever before, since in their mad rush to break news first they pick up and cull their information from any source, worthwhile or not. Once upon a time what you read in the papers or heard on the news was as close to gospel as you could get because they used tried and trusted sources and also verified stuff before making it public. Hn! But that’s no longer true. You have to take everything you hear or read now with a couple grains of salt since it’s often not verified and also trivialized. And we won’t forget the tabloids or the celebrity gossip mongers who even make up sensational stuff to sell their products. Interpersonal relationships are also fraught with untruths because the trustworthiness of our entire society has plummeted to rock bottom, and the honour we once had, re speaking the truth, has sadly disappeared. Lies, dreadful ones too, permeate every level, every strata of our society. It’s even in the church too, where false preachers preach false gospel and doctrine, only interested in their self-aggrandizement rather than teaching the true Word of God. But as two famous trite but true sayings expound: ‘what goes around, comes around, and whatever is done in darkness always comes to light.’ So too do our lies eventually come back to haunt us. Now let’s see what the Good Book says about lying and/or a lying tongue. Oh Friends, there is so much scripture that deals with the tongue and lies that I had to whittle them down to a handful. Our mouths play such a large part in the workings of our society, especially our faith, that James saw it fit to warn us. ‘If any man among you seem to be (thinks he is) religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain.’ (James 1:26) But the problem though my Friends is that our little tongue is so powerful. James likens it to the small rudder that turns around big ships. ‘Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold how great a matter (forest) a little fire kindleth (sets on fire). And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell…But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.’ (James 3:5-6, 8) Yes my people, that’s our tongue, and in today’s society where we talk a whole lot more than is necessary, you can imagine how many problems that little tongue causes, especially if it’s speaking lies, because unlike truth, lies have a way of rapidly multiplying and replicating themselves, like an amoeba, as they move from one source to the next. Consequently, we have to be very careful of what we say and also to whom. But the first thing is to ensure that we take Bruh David’s advice: ‘Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile (deceit).’ (Ps.34:13) That’s very important mih breddren because the Lord says: ‘He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house: he that telleth lies shall not tarry (continue, be established) in my sight.’ (Ps.101:7) No wonder in Psalm 120, a haunting prayer for deliverance from lying lips, the psalmist woefully cries out: ‘Deliver my soul, O Lord from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue.’ (Ps.120:2) But the next two verses are really interesting. ‘What shall be given unto thee? Or what shall be done unto thee, thou false (deceitful) tongue? Sharp arrows of the mighty (warrior) with coals of juniper (the broom tree).’ (Ps.120:3-4) Now that might just be a very good solution to the lying lips and tongues that are currently running amok in our world. Now hear some more words of wisdom from Cousin Sol. ‘Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that LOVE it shall eat the fruit thereof.’ (Prov.18:21) Oh Friends that’s the living truth! We all know someone, might even be us, who has the paid the price for an unruly tongue, because it does come back to haunt you. All the gossip mongers and liars get their comeuppance eventually. Again, the wisdom of Sol shines through when he declares: ‘Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue, keepeth his soul from troubles.’ (Prov.21:23) That’s also true mih people! The quiet beings don’t have as many trials and tribulations as the talkative ones, because their excessive mouthing just causes them more problems than are really necessary. Jeremiah had this to say on the subject. ‘And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith the Lord.’ (Jer.9:3) And for once Bruh Paul, when talking about the new life in Christ, said it simply: ‘Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds. And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him.’ (Col.3:9-10) Oh Friends, we’d better learn to do that, or else…and this is the clincher; re the New Jerusalem, the Good Book says, unequivocally: ‘And there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.’ (Rev.21:27) Yes my people, that’s the fate of abominable liars, so consider yourself told, and live your lives accordingly. Much LOVE!…liar, liar…pants on fire…
SCRIP-BITS 