As Christians we should not tell lies and deceptions. Why? We read Proverbs 12:22;

‘Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord , But those who deal truthfully are His delight.’

Although lying lips are mentioned here, let us not limit it to just telling lies; we talk about it in a broader sense and include scams and actions with the purpose of deception. All these are abominations to the Lord. So? So what if it’s an abomination? What is the consequence? We read Psalm 101:7;

‘He who works deceit shall not dwell within my house; He who tells lies shall not continue in my presence.’

What does it mean by not dwelling in His house or continuing in His presence? How serious is this? Revelation will explain this verse. We read Revelation 21:8;

‘But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”’

This verse describes what will happen after Jesus comes again, that is a matter of judgement. Who will be thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone?

First is the cowardly; those who’re unable to hold fast to their faith courageously and have left the Lord. Second is the unbelievers, and thirdly is the abominable; those who bully us. Next is the murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers; they persuade people to worship other gods. These people should be sent to hell because on some levels they’ve done bad.

What follows is, “all liars”. Is it so serious to tell lies? Sometimes it’s unintentional and sometimes intentional, but is it really so serious?

So you’ll understand what the psalmist said just now (verse). This is because God hates lies, but why? We’ll discuss that later.

What kind of Christian do you want to be like? Do you want to be Oscar winners who put on a show before people? There’s a lot of hypocrisy in the hearts of such people. Sometimes you see it and if even you hate it, what more God?

We turn back to Proverbs 12. What are the things He delights in? Those who deals truthfully; truthful, honest and sincere people. These are the people whom God delights in and this is the ideal stage we strive towards. God wants these people to worship Him. Jesus says that the kind of people the Heavenly Father is looking for are those who worship Him in spirit and in truth.

You can say that you should use this attitude to worship God and not men. However, then you’ll know that this person is just putting on a show; how can you be truthful before God and insincere before men? There’s already so much deception in the world, will you be influenced by them to be like them?

Where do our deception and lying come from? Does it come from the devil? We turn to John 8:44;

‘You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. ‘

In the latter portion, Jesus says, “He is a liar and the father of it.” Satan is the father of liar. So, “Today, me lying is not my own fault because this entity who started it put it in me. So, lying is from the devil!”

But if we read this verse carefully, it mentions this, “There is no truth in him.” These words are very important. Let’s compare this to another verse in 1 John 2:21;

‘I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth.’

Here John says, “No lie is of the truth.” Meaning to say if you don’t have the truth, what you have are lies. If you have the truth, there are no lies. Jesus already said that there is no truth in the devil; not that he doesn’t know the truth but that he didn’t put it in his heart.

Why is it that Christians tell lies? Because there’s no truth in our hearts and so we tell lies. What does it mean by not having the truth? It means the truth doesn’t constrain you. Hence, you tell lies because you don’t put the truth in your heart and it doesn’t come from the devil. The devil is just the first edition and if you follow him, you are his child.

We must understand that if we don’t have the truth today, we’ll tell lies easily. This understanding is very important; Christians usually won’t lie but will tell lies out of a good intention, white lies, “Not out of evil intentions!”

For example, someone asks you, “Is this person with another woman?” If you tell the truth, you’ll destroy the family. So you reply, “No lah, they’re just friends!” It’s a white lie, because you prevented the family from falling apart. But a lie is a lie.

In this world, whose intention or purpose is the best? Who has the best intentions and kindest plans for us? That is God. Will God tell white lies? When He saw that Adam ate the forbidden fruit, did He tell him, “Aiya, I was just joking with you that day, you won’t die one lah!”

According to YOUR definition, white lies help people, so God will do this as well, right? But God won’t do this, because lies are not from the truth. Once you don’t have the truth, whatever you say won’t be true. Even if you tell white lies with a good conscience, this is something still abominable to the Lord.

Sometimes we don’t have to say too much and we don’t have to say white lies to cover up things. Sometimes you can just keep quiet. Sometimes you’re forced into a corner and don’t know what to do but that’s what you think; there are ways for these matters.

What are lies? Why do we tell lies? Some liars lie out of habit and don’t find it wrong. They feel that telling lies are good for themselves. Sometimes we meet with such people.

The speaker once met with one liar. He told the speaker that he was a dispatch driver. He sent the package to Oxley Rise, which is Mr LKY’s house. He said, “I don’t know which government sector sent me to this place. (It sounded so captivating! So the speaker continued listening) I went there and the vehicles stopped me, there were also 2 dogs (it sounded so real).”

Later on, someone told him that he was just lying. The speaker then paid attention to what he said, “I went to such a place.. I didn’t get to sleep at all..” some people can make their lies so captivating and real; it’s so frightening. In their lives, maybe they really cannot differentiate between fiction and non-fiction.

Some lie to cover up certain things. Sometimes we all do this unintentionally.

David worshipped God very well but when there were problems and there were things to cover up, he’s also quite a crafty person. After he had a relationship with Bathsheba and created a life, he was so terrible. If he really wanted to cover up, he could have asked her to abort the child. But perhaps there was no such technology then or he couldn’t bear to kill his own child. Before that, he thought of a way to cover up. Let’s read 2 Samuel 11:8 to see what he said to Uriah;

‘And David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” So Uriah departed from the king’s house, and a gift of food from the king followed him. ‘

It sounded so nice when David asked Uriah to go home to relax. However, Uriah was a faithful man and didn’t want to go home. Now David has no choice and he had to find another way. V15;

‘And he wrote in the letter, saying, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retreat from him, that he may be struck down and die.” ‘

He seemed very extreme, crafty and cruel. Even such a good person could do such a thing. How could you cover up? You can cover up once, can you do it the second or third time? One day it’ll be revealed. You should just be honest and admit. We should not be such a Christian. Later on, David suffered a lot because of this.

Some Christians do cover up in this matter. They’ll use half-truths; meaning some are true and some are false. We turn to Exodus 32:4;

‘And he received the gold from their hand, and he fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molded calf. Then they said, “This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!”’

This is Aaron leading the people to build a golden calf. The gold earrings and accessories were put on his hands and they made a moulded path. He fashioned it with an engraving tool and made a moulded calf. Whether he made it himself or had people to do it, we know he had a part in it. V24;

‘And I said to them, ‘Whoever has any gold, let them break it off.’ So they gave it to me, and I cast it into the fire, and this calf came out.”’

He was giving an account to Moses, “Yes, I asked them to bring them to me, I asked them to put it in the fire, but the cow came out by itself! It has nothing to do with me!” Even Aaron when forced to a corner also spoke half-truths. Sometimes when forced to a corner we also speak half-truths. This is our weakness. Lies are lies. We have to remember this and not make these mistakes. Sometimes we don’t have to announce the truth to everyone because some things don’t have to be made known to others. You don’t have to pour everything out, but you cannot lie.

Some cannot accept this; especially between couples, “You must tell me everything!”
“Really meh? Some things you tell your best friends but you don’t even tell me.”

Some people expect that between spouses you have to be honest with one another. What if it’s a matter concerning the church? Since it doesn’t concern you, you don’t have to hear of it. Should it be this way? We read 1 Samuel 16:1-3;

1 ‘Now the Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go; I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite. For I have provided Myself a king among his sons.”
2 And Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.” But the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you, and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord .’
3 Then invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; you shall anoint for Me the one I name to you.”’

Here, God instructed Samuel to anoint David. V2;

And Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.” But the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you, and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord .’

It’s the truth, Saul will kill him.

God replied him, “Just tell him you’ve gone to sacrifice. If anyone asks you why you’re here, just tell them you’re there to sacrifice.” It’s the truth, just that after the sacrifice, he’s going to look for David and anoint him. We can understand that we don’t have to tell the details of everything. Some things don’t need to be revealed. We have to deal with some things but we definitely should NOT lie.

Acts of deception are to gain some benefits. In society today many use such methods to gain benefits. For example, some companies try to receive a great deal. The speaker heard from someone he knows that she would go and deposit money and withdraw money a few days later. A few days later she’ll deposit and withdraw money again to show that the business is very active and there’s a lot of business to let people see that she makes a lot of money. This is a form of deception because you’ve no other choice but to resort to such scams.

Some HDB contractors are also like that; they promise you everything. Do you have such a tendency? If you’re a small business, just be a small business. You don’t have to worry about becoming a big business, just work steadily. If you work hard and is sincere, God will bless you and your business will prosper. What’s important is you have the blessing of God and don’t need to resort to underhand matters.

What happens if you succeed by using such underhanded methods? If you have such a coloured past, will people will trust you when these things are revealed? Don’t do such things just for benefits and don’t make false promises. Some people do so; they do not even intend to keep their promise but make this promise that they can do it.

Just like Laban who promised Jacob. Jacob only loved Rachel so Laban told him, “After you work 7 years for me, I’ll let you marry Rachel.” After 7 years, Jacob got a shock the morning after his wedding night because it wasn’t Rachel. Then he realised he had been cheated by Laban. Laban didn’t even intend to let Jacob work just 7 years. He said, “It’s not our custom that the younger sister get married first.” If it was a custom, he would have mentioned it from the start but he hid this fact. Are we like this as well, especially when we borrow money? “The money hasn’t been transferred to me yet, 2 more weeks.”

The speaker has been cheated of his money this way, “My money has not been transferred yet.” But because he was his relative, he still helped him. 10 years later, he still hasn’t gotten his money back. Sometimes we have to be careful of such people as well, not that we don’t want to help but we must consider if this person is sincere and will really return the money. If such things were to happen in church, it’d be chaotic. We must keep our promises.

Sometimes we will speak words of flattery. Maybe to gain this person’s respect or benefits since everyone likes to hear words of praise. If you speak words of flattery or some things nice, people like to hear it. But words of flattery are not sincere and are for the sake of gaining benefits. You’ll find that a lot of people in work do this; try to please the boss, buy souvenirs for the boss. But people around find that this person is not the best worker but is progressing well in work; because he has flattered the right boss.

Sometimes you may want to be like this too; you want to find the right boss to progress in work. But as Christians, no matter which boss you work for, as long as you do your work well, it’s good enough. God can see and at the workplace everyone knows who is trustworthy and who is not. As long as we’ve done our best and part, it’s good enough. If not, you’ve defamed the character of a Christian.

We must be careful when speaking. Sometimes we’ll exaggerate. There’s no such thing but you make it seem so real, “This person is just a load of hot air, whatever he says it’s not true.”

We have to be careful and not exaggerate because sometimes they can turn into lies. Sometimes when we get excited, we’ll joke and say anything. If everyone knows we’re joking then it’s fine but some people are really exaggerating.

Some people are hypocrites. Jesus always rebuke the Pharisees because of this because they manifest their outward reverence but are not the same in their hearts. They often fasted and prayed to let people know. It’s all fake. Do we use such hypocritical means to manage our lives? To present ourselves as a very mature or good Christian? “Everyone is talking, so I’ll kneel down and pray to let everyone know that the church is the house of prayer. Be as God-fearing as me!” Why are you doing this? Is it to let people see how spiritual you are?

Sometimes we always say, “Thank God.” But do you really thank God all the time? Sometimes it just becomes a catchphrase. Christians will always say these words, but why must you use this catchphrase? Why must you use “Thank God” as your catchphrase? Is it because, “Every time I speak, I’m so spiritual.”? If you’re truly mean it, that’s good. But if that’s not the case and you use God to put on a show, then you’ve broken the 3rd commandment of using God’s name in vain. These are hypocritical actions we may do without knowing.

If you truly thank God, of course you can say so. If not, consider why you’re saying it. Christians have to be very careful.

The last form of deception is self-deception and is the most pathetic form of deception. How pitiful is it to have to perceive yourself? For example, you keep telling yourself that you’ve lost weight but you can’t even buckle your belt (🤣).

Sometimes we deceive ourselves in this way. We have to be free from all such deceptions. Some people will tell you the truth of how you are as a person and to change. They’re sincere and we should thank the person and accept his suggestions. Do not take it as people trying to deliberately hurt you. This way, you’re deceiving yourself that you’re very good.

Deceptions appear in many forms and we have to be very careful. Here are 2 ways to keep away from deceptions.

1. Draw away from all things false
2. We must have the truth in our hearts

Lies come from the absence of truth. If there is truth within you, you’ll not tell lies.

As a conclusion, we read Psalm 24:3-5;

3 ‘Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord ? Or who may stand in His holy place?
4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, Nor sworn deceitfully.
5 He shall receive blessing from the Lord , And righteousness from the God of his salvation.’

We hope that every Christian will be like this; to have clean hands and pure hearts.