SCRIP-BITS

Proverbs 6:16     These six things doth the Lord hate; yea, seven are an abomination unto him.
 
Ah Friends, two down, two to go! And would you believe, the ole fella still has not ventured forth to participate in the Caribana festivities. All I can say is a sad, Wow! The old people were right; after one time is certainly two yes! But there are still two more days to go, and remember, once you’re working with the Lord God Jehovah, anything’s possible. So hope is still alive and well. (smile) In this series of messages we’re looking at the seven deadly sins that Cousin Sol identified. So far we’ve done five; ‘A proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that deviseth wicked imaginations and feet that be swift in running to mischief.’ Today we’ll consider the sixth deadly sin: ‘a false witness that speaketh lies.’ What can I say about that eh Friends? Not a lot, because we all know that our society abounds with false witnesses in all areas. The lying tongue is prevalent in a whole lot of false witnesses. Lies, falsehood and prevarication (partial truth) possibly rank as the number one sin in our society, for its perverse tentacles spread from the very top – the leaders, power brokers, business men and the wealthy – right down to the very poor, including the church and many organizations that function somewhere in between. It’s surely a sad time when you can’t trust your leaders, your church and your supposedly helpful organizations to tell you the truth and lead you along truthful paths. In too many instances we receive outright lies, or some spin on the truth that advances their purposes and agendas. Like we’ve forgotten those Ten Commandments given to us by God, in this particular case, the one that clearly states: ‘ Thou shalt not bear false witness against they neighbour.’ (Ex.20:16) And especially in these rough political and economic times, everybody seems willing to bear false witness against somebody. All that’s needed is some money, some extra perks, or a promise of political power and we’re ready to sell our souls. How sad mih people. And we see it in our courts, police departments and general justice system everyday. There are possibly many more lies and prevarications than truth that flow through our justice system nowadays because the system is being abused for personal gain and political power. Again we intentionally ignore the words of the Good Book. ‘Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.’ (Ex.23:1) And yuh know what mih breddren, this thing will only mushroom further with the wealth of technology, communication devices and information outlets we have. Why? Because it just creates more talk, twitter and a wider spread of almost instant information, and anywhere you have lots of unnecessary talk and unverified information, you’re going to have a whole lot of lies, false information and false witnesses. The greater the avenue for information dissemination, the greater the prospects for falsehood. We can already see it happening with all the confusion generated by facebook, twitter and all the other info media. One of Bruh David’s pleas to the Lord was: ‘Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty (violence).’ (Ps.27:12) And in Psalm 35, a prayer for rescue from his enemies, he states: ‘False witnesses did rise up; they laid to my charge (asked me) things I knew not. They rewarded me evil for good to the spoiling (sorrow) of my soul.’ (Ps.35:11-12) But the person who deals with false witnesses the most in the Good Book is Cousin Sol himself. Listen to some of his admonitions on the subject. ‘He that speaketh truth, showeth forth (declares) righteousness: but a false witness deceit.’ (Prov.12:17) Meanwhile in Prov.19:5 he declares: ‘A false witness shall not be unpunished; and he that speaketh lies shall not escape.’ Praise the Lord for that my people! And if we check out Prov.21:28, we’ll hear him proclaim: ‘A false witness shall perish: but the man that heareth speaketh constantly (endlessly).’ Now here’s some more fodder to corroborate that a false witness is an abomination to the Lord. ‘A man that beareth false witness against his neighbour is a maul (club), and a sword, and a sharp arrow.’ (Prov.25:18) It’s obvious that Cousin Sol recognized the grave danger that false witness can cause throughout a society, a family, or any group of two or more people. That very fact is taking a great toll on our lives today my people. If we were to eliminate even a third of the lies, false witness and prevarication that currently consumes us, we wouldn’t even recognize our society, because so much of what’s happening now is based on falsehood. And don’t fool yuh fat Friends, it’s also in the church, very much so. Jesus solemnly warned of it. ‘Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening (ravenous) wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?’ (Mat.7:15-16) Certainly not mih people! But unfortunately we have too many people in the church, clergy and laypersons, who deny or distort the gospel’s truth, all to serve their own dubious purposes. Jesus also stated on the subject: ‘For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.’ (Mat.24:24)Yes Friends, they’re so good that they can fool the most faithful, knowledgeable and mature believer. That’s why we have to pay very close attention to whom we listen to and follow, ensuring that their policies coincide with those of the Good Book. And we’ll end with the classic case of false witness; that brought against our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Hear Mark tell it. ‘And the chief priests and all the council sought for witness (testimony) against Jesus to put him to death; and found none. For many bare false witness against him, but their witness (testimonies) agreed not together. And there arose certain, and bare false witness against him, saying, We heard him say, I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands. But neither so (not even then) did their witness (testimonies) agree together.’ (Mark 14:55-59) Yuh see Friends, even though everybody was ganging up on Jesus, they couldn’t get their stories straight. And that’s the problem with false witnesses and falsehood; they cannot stand up to deep scrutiny, because they are untrue. Only the truth can withstand the rigours of critical examination. Therefore my people, please let us not be numbered amongst those who bear false witness. It’s a deadly sin, whose rewards are also deadly. Much LOVE!…the truth…and only the truth…shall set you free…