Seven Things God Hates - Part 3

These six things doth the Lord hate, says Proverbs 6:16, yea, seven are an abomination unto him: a proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a 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. God hates a lying tongue.

Now you'll notice that in this list of seven abominations, seven sins that God hates, lying shows up twice. In Proverbs 6:17, he talks about a lying tongue, and in Proverbs 6:19, he talks about a false witness that speaketh lies. In Proverbs 6:17, you have personal lying, the lying that goes on in everyday life. In Proverbs 6:19, you have official lying—a witness on the witness stand who is speaking lies in order to bolster his own case. God hates lying, whether it is personal lying or official lying, and we had better hate lying.

You see, our God is a God of truth. Deuteronomy 32:4 makes this marvelous statement about our Lord: He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment, that is, they are just, there is justice in all of his ways: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he. God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are identified with truth. Our God is the God of truth. Jesus said in John 14:6, I am the truth. I read in 1 John 5:6, the Spirit is truth. Our God is a God of truth; therefore, he cannot lie. And I'm glad he cannot lie, or I could never trust his word. God cannot go back on his word, and God is never devious or deceitful. God is light; in him is no darkness at all.

You see, when God looks at our lies, he does not see an action, he sees a process. Now, we see an action; we say, "well, I told a lie, it's over with." No, it isn't. No, God looks at that lie and he sees a force at work that will be destructive. Someone says, "well, I just lit a match," ah, but the result was a forest fire. Someone says, "well, I just didn't wash my hands," ah, but the result was disease germs that got into the body, and a process began that led to sickness—possibly it could lead to death.

You see, God sees lying as a process that goes on and on and on. You tell a lie, that lie has its consequences. It's like planting seed. I know you've heard the story, but let me repeat it, about the little lad who was given to lying. He'd go around the neighborhood and tell lies, and finally he was convicted about it, and his father had to discipline him for it. And then his father said, "Now, I want you to do something for me." He gave him a pillow. He said, "I want you to rip open this pillow and you'll find all these feathers in the pillow. Let's go out in the backyard," and they threw the feathers up into the air and the wind blew the feathers away. "Now," said the father to his son, "I want you to go and collect all those feathers and bring them back." And the boy said, "Well dad, I can't do that. It's impossible; they're gone." He says, "That's what happens when you lie." Oh yes, you can come and say, "Father, I'm sorry I lied," but how are we going to go out and retrieve all of that? Now it's being blown around; it's going to do damage, and we have to suffer the consequences.

God does not see lying as an event; he sees it as a process. And God hates lying because he sees the tragic consequences that come in every aspect of our lives when we live lies and when we speak lies. To begin with, lying makes us destroyers instead of builders. You see, we are here in this world to be builders. God does not want us to destroy—oh, we do want to destroy Satan's stronghold, we do want to enter into the battle and claim the spoils, that's true—but we are here to build. Jesus Christ is the builder; he's building his church, and you and I are a part of that process as the servants of God.

Now, when a person lives in truth, he builds. I think it was Phillips Brooks who said that the purpose of life is the building of character through truth. And I would add to that: to the glory of God. We are here to build our lives, to build the church, to build homes, to build the work of God. We're here to be builders. Now truth is the tool of building: truth and love, speaking the truth in love. When truth and love are at work, then we are building. When lying enters into the scene, we start to destroy.

Take creation, for example. Our God is a God of truth. When he made creation, this whole universe, he built into it truth. We could never have made it to the moon and back were it not for the fact that God has built truth into his universe. Now the humanistic scientist talks about the laws of nature or the laws of science. He's simply saying there is truth somewhere in this universe. In fact, we call it a universe, not a multiverse—"uni" meaning one. There is one truth, one lawgiver, there is one great principle, one great person behind all of creation.

Now creation is based on truth. When we obey the truth in creation, creation works for us. If we disobey the truth, then creation starts working against us. If we obey whatever the principles are of aerodynamics, we can fly; the airplane will take off and land. If we obey the principles that govern agriculture, we can have a harvest. If we obey the principles that run the human body, we can have surgery, we can have medicine, we can get well. Do you see what I'm saying? God has built truth into this universe, and this truth is dependable. We don't understand all about it, but we know it is there and it is the basis for everything that goes on in this universe. We have to accept God's truth.

Now the tragedy is, when we start living lies, we exploit the universe. The creation starts working against us instead of for us. This is why we have the ecological problems we have in the world today—things like acid rain that are destroying beautiful forests, things like polluted lakes and rivers that are creating problems. We have all of this ugliness and all of this waste going on—why? Because we have not cooperated with the truth in creation. I say it again: lying makes us into destroyers instead of builders.

Now this is true not only in creation, it's also true in society. The glue that holds society together is truth. People trust each other when they sign a contract. They trust each other when they talk over plans. Here's a man and a woman who pledge their love to each other, make promises to each other and to God, and this is the basis for their marriage. They raise their children, and the thing that holds the family together is truth and love.

Now society would fall apart if we would not have truth. In fact, that's one reason why society is falling apart. Why are marriages falling apart? Why are homes disintegrating? Because you don't find truth. People are living lies; they are living for lies and living on lies and practicing lies. This is true as far as business is concerned, government—let some person high in government be caught lying and what happens? My, they're going to have all kinds of investigations. But let somebody be caught lying in the home, or lying in the church, and what happens? Well, we sort of take it for granted; everybody does it. Society is held together by the glue, the cement of truth.

This is true in the church. In Ephesians 4, the apostle Paul emphasizes truth. Ephesians 4:15, But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ. He goes on to talk about this truth over in Ephesians 4:20, But ye have not so learned Christ; if so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus.

You see, when you know Christ as your Savior, you have truth. Now we've learned the truth about the Lord Jesus; this is what we practice. Ephesians 4:24, And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Wherefore, putting away lying, Ephesians 4:25, speak every man truth with his neighbor: for we are members one of another. He talks about lying all through Ephesians 4. There is an emphasis on truth. Now if the church is to be united in the Lord, there is going to have to be truth and love.

This is true of personal friendship, isn't it? We thank God for our friends. We thank God for those who love us and whom we love, and those who pray for us and for whom we pray. In Proverbs 26, Solomon had something to say about lying and friendship. Proverbs 26:23, Burning lips and a wicked heart are like a potsherd covered with silver dross. Here's a cheap piece of garbage and they covered it over with a veneer of silver, but it's still a cheap piece of garbage. He that hateth dissembleth with his lips. That's an interesting statement. And layeth up deceit within him; when he speaketh fair, believe him not: for there are seven abominations in his heart. He's talking here about lying. Here's somebody who comes and flatters you and tells lies, and Solomon says, "You be careful. You just watch out." Proverbs 26:28, A lying tongue hateth those that are afflicted by it; and a flattering mouth worketh ruin.

Lying makes us destroyers instead of builders—destroying creation, destroying marriages, destroying the church, destroying friendships, destroying ourselves. Destroying our own character because of lying. I suppose the greatest example of this would be Cain. Cain murdered his brother and then he lied about it, and from then on it was down, down, down. And this is what happens; your character starts to deteriorate when you start practicing lying. Lying makes us destroyers instead of builders, and that's why God hates lying.

Secondly, lying leads to bondage and not to freedom. Now God wants us to have freedom. Now what is freedom? Well, freedom is not anarchy. Freedom is not doing whatever you want to do. "I want to do my own thing, my own way"—that's not freedom, that's the worst kind of bondage. Freedom is life controlled by truth and motivated by love.

Now I want to repeat that so it sinks in. Freedom means life controlled by truth and motivated by love. If your life is controlled by lies, there's no freedom. Satan is the liar, God is truth. And lying leads to hatred, and then hatred leads to murder because Satan lives that way. John 8, listen to John 8:31. Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Notice the sequence here: believing, continuing, discipling, and then freedom. He's not saying here that we are saved by being disciples; no, you trust Christ as your Savior and then you become his disciple, you take his yoke upon you and you learn of him, and ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.

Now in that same passage our Lord says something about Satan. John 8:44, Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own, that is his own nature: for he is a liar, and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.

Now we've got to make a choice. If we live by lies, we're playing right into the hands of Satan, and this is slavery. If we live by truth, then we're living for the Lord Jesus Christ, and this is freedom. Jesus says in John 8:34, Whosoever committeth sin—and that verb means practices sin—is the servant, or the slave, of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house forever: but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. We have to accept God's truth and live by God's truth, and just remember: every time we lie, either in action or in word, every time we lie, we're putting ourselves into bondage and we're giving Satan a foothold in our lives.

There's a third consequence. Lying not only makes us destroyers instead of builders, and lying leads to bondage, not to freedom, but thirdly, lying results in judgment and not in blessing. It's rather interesting, in the book of Revelation 21:8, we have a list, a description of the people who are going to be in hell. I've sometimes heard unsaved people jokingly say, "Well, I don't mind if I go to hell, I'll have lots of company there."

Let me read to you the kind of company you're going to have. Revelation 21:8, But the fearful, that means the timid, they were afraid to stand up for the Lord, the 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. And you'll find this same list, or a similar list, given over in Revelation 21:27, And there shall in no wise enter into it—that is, into the heavenly city—anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie.

Now God specifically says that liars go to hell. Now he's not talking about that occasional lie. Abraham lied about his wife; God forgave him. Peter lied three times about the Lord Jesus; God forgave him. He's talking about people who love lies, who live lies, who are so wrapped up in lying: they believe lies, they love lies, they live lies, and they speak lies. They are like Satan: liars. And God says, now that's where lying ends up. Liars go to the lake of fire. It is certainly unfortunate that people think they can say what they want to say and live the way they want to live and somehow they're going to make it to heaven. Well, I have news for you: God is a God of truth, and when you're born again into the family of God, you live by truth.

In fact, that's what the psalmist had to say. Psalm 119:29, the prayer is, Remove from me the way of lying: and grant me thy law graciously. In Psalm 119:163, he says, I hate and abhor lying: but thy law do I love. The best way to overcome a lying mouth, lying lips, is to have a true heart. The best way to know that you are living the truth is to yield to the Spirit of truth and let the word of truth fill your mind and your heart.

There is nothing more destructive than lying. There is nothing that leads to greater bondage than lying—oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive. There is nothing that leads to greater judgment. God hates lying lips. A proud look, a lying tongue—God says, I hate that. Then you and I must be very, very careful to surrender ourselves to the God of truth.

That's why we read the word of God, that's why we study the word of God. That's why we open our hearts and minds to the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God is the Spirit of truth. And Jesus Christ is the truth. And our God is the God of truth. And we want to walk in the light and have everything open and honest and above board. Whenever we start scheming, we stop living by faith, because faith means living without scheming. God hates a lying tongue, and a lying tongue comes from a lying heart.