The Word of Your Heart - part IV

Lead In:

As I’ve mentioned the past few Sundays, we will be staying inside of these few verses, Matt. 5:33-37, for a number of weeks. Before we move into our Sermon today, let's take a look back at the large “Time Out” that was last week’s message.

Last Sunday we took a step back in our thoughts to see that the mere act of God communicating, independent of what it is He actually says, is something we must never brush aside. The transcendent King of the Universe communicating anything to fallen humanity, is a topic of vast importance…that the modern world has taken for granted. We have lowered God down by sinfully assuming that He owes us communication. He didn't have to tell us that existed, what is or isn't a sin, or how we can be forgiven and declared righteous. There is no moral standard outside of God for Him to appeal to in order to do things the ‘right way’.

The second reason we discussed in regards to why our culture has lost this doctrine, is that we have lifted ourselves up by sinfully assuming that any communication from God must be in ways that our fallen and sin-stained minds can make sense of. In other words, we think that if we can’t make sense of the transcendent aspects of an uncreated God, then something must be wrong with Him…and not us. We enter into the argument already thinking that our thoughts are ‘foolproof’ and can always reach a perfect conclusion about Him.

The truth that an unchanging God, Him who owns everything outside of Himself; for His own reasons without taking into consideration the opinions of anyone, has communicated to us that the broken wicked are those whom He goes toward, not away from, is of life-changing consequence. This is a truth that changes the lives of all who agree with it. It builds and breaks nations and families. This truth, that God saves the un-save-able for His own reasons; empowers art that transcends generations; moves mountains and alters the very course of history itself. Anything but this truth…is a lie.

Reading → Matthew 5:33-37 and Opening Prayer

Remember who God is - part I:

Last week, one of our main points was “Who God is”. It was inside of that point where we discussed God’s reasons for communicating are fully internal to Him; meaning: nothing external motivated Him to communicate. This is where the “according to His own reasons” fits. He Himself, in His character and nature, is the reason why He acts or speaks. He is faithful, patient, and merciful, and He expressed that aspect of Himself in the act of speaking to us…and what He said when He did it.

So to continue this same thought; when we speak about ‘who God is’ we need to go to the only infallible (incapable of being wrong) source of information about Him: The Bible. And all through The Bible we read that God, in His character and nature, is truth itself.

He is one who “keeps truth forever” (Ps. 146:6), who “doesn't lie” (Num. 23:19) and in fact, it's impossible for Him to lie (Heb. 6:17 & 18) because “He is the Rock, His work is perfect; for all His ways are justice, A God of truth and without injustice; righteous and upright is He.” (Deut 29:4). He is a “God of truth” (Is. 65:16; Ps. 31:5). 

We are going to repeat all of that, verbatim, later on this morning and explore it in more depth; but for right now; because every human is made in the image of God (Gen 1:27), with a desire for eternity written into the operating-system of our soul (Ecc. 3:11), we can understand that when we try to meet that desire with anything; be it a spouse, family, career, or anything else…at the foundational level it is a search for God.

As C.S. Lewis once said: “If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.”

And because God is truth itself (as we just read), it means that when we go around looking for anything but Him to fulfill that desire; be it a spouse, family, career, or anything else; the stuff we most often give ourselves to is that which we find to be ‘truth’.

Looking for something true:

When we go about our daily life down here under the Sun, and encounter various pieces of information, various propositions or sets of circumstances, hobbies, people, or experiences, we all go through a process to find out, if possible, if they are true.

We hear something on the news, wonder if it's true or not, and then take into consideration everything else we know to be true, and come to a conclusion. Some of us do this more than others, some…not at all. Some of us will hear something and immediately believe it to be the God’s honest truth, and never give it a second thought.

But…why? Is it because we trust the source it came from? If so…why?

Is it because that source, be it your preferred news outlet, a good friend or relative, etc etc. has always pointed you in reliable directions? “I know I can trust what this or that person says, because they would never willingly lie to me.” 

…does my inclusion of the word “willingly” point your thoughts somewhere? Hold on to those thoughts, because we're going to add something else to it and then discuss it later on.

Nevertheless, all of us engage in some manner of thought process to determine if what is before us, is true or not. And this “truth finding exercise” has two aspects of importance for this morning, the first one we already hinted at.

#1 - The Imago Dei

Just like we discussed last week, we communicate with others because we were made in the image of a God who communicates, and the Imago Dei we were created in also prompts us ever-forward in search of the truth. We mentioned this earlier, so to expand on it; when we go about life looking for “something more” (be it a career, spouse, hobby, sex, drugs, fame, etc) it is foundationally a search for something true. 

The ‘eternity in our hearts’ (Ecc. 3:11) that God created us with is the place in our soul where our love of God lives. The fall ripped this love from us, leaving a hole that only He can fill. And (I’m repeating myself!) because God is truth itself, everything man tries to force into His place, is anything that resembles something true.

Is it true that a spouse and family can give meaning and identity to your life? Yes, of course. What about a hobby? Yes again. Is it true that surrounding yourself with other like-minded people, who all love the things you love and hate the things you hate, provide a sense of identity and purpose? Yes. To be a touch controversial here; is it true that doing drugs can make you feel good? Yes…otherwise people wouldn't do them. Is it true that a fraction of happiness and meaning can come from wonton sexual relations? Yes, otherwise no one would engage in them.

On and on we can question all the differing aspects of life that people can and have used to fill the void that sin left in our soul, and on and on the answer will always be…yes. But the amount of truth we can find in these things is only in relation to how parallel they are to the source of truth itself, God. 

Does “having a spouse and family” run parallel to God? What about a career? Of course! He even told us to! What about sex and drugs? Not at all. It is fully perpendicular, those who give themselves to such are living at the intersection, and the truth of any meaning or purpose they derive from it dissolves once they go beyond the cross.

#2 - By what standard

The second aspect of importance that must be understood in your “truth finding exercise”, is the standard you are using to begin with. 

Whenever we go about trying to determine if something is true or false, we all start with a specific “presupposition”. It is what our beliefs and feelings and opinions are built on, even if we don't acknowledge it. It is the “background information”, the “operating system”, that we all have. This is slightly confusing, so to use an illustration that I have before; my claim that this pulpit right here is made of wood…presupposes…that trees exist and can be used to build things. Everyone presupposes something about the world and humanity’s place in it.

Fellow Christian, what are you presupposing

when determining if something is true?

When you see something on the news, if it comes from a source you have trusted in the past, do you automatically trust it again? What if everyone in your life that you have surrounded yourself with (if indeed you have surrounded yourself with trustworthy people), all disagree with the information you got from your trusted news source?

When your dear, dear friend, the one you would trust with your very life, tells you something…your past relationship is the presupposition you are relying on; even if you don't acknowledge it…to trust them. Along these same lines; are you able to set aside any hurt from your past inflicted by someone, and, if need be, accept the truth they bring? Or do you think: “This person hurt me before, therefore I’ll never believe anything they say.” My friends, to do this would be to use sin as your starting point.

Nevertheless, everyone has a “starting point” when it comes to finding out the truth of a given claim or piece of information….what is yours? Is it your own thinking and thought process, and there's no way it can ever be wrong thank you very much. Your best friend? Your pastor? That one News Network who uses the name of Jesus when that other one doesn't?

My friends, the revealed will of God in the 66 books of Holy Scripture, is the only unchanging standard we can base our life upon. It is within these golden pages that we see the truth of sins being forgiven by the blood of Christ, and His arranging all of reality to accomplish His ends of glorifying Himself in the salvation of the lost.

Who God is - part II:

Now…let's take both of those; the Image Dei we were created with, and a reliable standard of truth; to discuss what it means that God is “truth itself”.

All through the Scriptures we see that God is the very definition of “truth”, because He is the only original and unique Being in existence. He is the start, the fountain, the source of all information, and nothing can ever be known unless it originates in, from, or because of, Him. In fact, nothing can exist unless it originates in, from, or because of Him.

Which brings up a big question…doesn't it?

Time-Out

What about sin? Evil and suffering?

Without discrediting the throbbing amount of pain that comes from sin and evil, we can accurately say that “sin” isn't something that exists, it is the absence of something that exists, namely…God. Just like “dark” is the absence of light, and “cold” is the absence of heat; sin, in all its various forms, is the absence of God. “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” and the freewill choices of men stand in the way, creating the shade that is sin, yes. But take heart, because the light of God is one that “...shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (Jn. 1:4&5)

Time-In

God is the source of all truth, because He is the only original and unique Being in existence. All life, and all information, has come about either directly or secondarily, because of Him. We know what is good and evil, right and wrong, true and false, because of God and His communication to us about it. 

We know that it is true that we are forgiven…because truth itself has told us so.

After Israel committed idolatry with the golden calf, we read this in Ex. 34:5 & 6 → “Now the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. [6] And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth.” (emphasis - mine)

After His people sinned, God was merciful, gracious, patient, abounding with goodness and truth…and gave them His Moral Law again. Why? Not because they earned or deserved it, but because it is true that God forgives.

When King David was running for his life, his past bearing down upon him because of his own sin and the sins of others, he wrote this in Ps. 25:8-11 → “Good and upright is the Lord; therefore He teaches sinners in the way. [9] The humble He guides in justice, and the humble He teaches His way. [10] All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth, to such as keep His covenant and His testimonies. [11] For Your name’s sake, O Lord, pardon my iniquity, for it is great.” (emphasis - mine)

Did you see that? David is asking for forgiveness…not for his own sake, but for the sake of the name of The Lord. Let me say that in a different way; David is saying: “Don’t forgive me because of me, I know I don’t deserve it. Forgive me because of who you are.” And he is doing this because he knows that “all the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth.”

God is the standard of what is true or false, and using anything besides Him will always lead you astray. He is one who “keeps truth forever” (Ps. 146:6), who “doesn't lie” (Num. 23:19) and in fact, it's impossible for Him to lie (Heb. 6:17 & 18) because “He is the Rock, His work is perfect; for all His ways are justice, A God of truth and without injustice; righteous and upright is He.” (Deut 29:4). He is a “God of truth” (Is. 65:16; Ps. 31:5) brothers and sisters, which means those of us created in His image (all of humanity!) have a moral obligation upon us to be truth-tellers in all of our speech.

And when we aren't, we are not only denying the imago dei we were created with, we are sinning against the very character and nature of the God whose image it is.

Every lie is an attack against the truth.

Which means that every lie is an attack against God Himself. 

Something God hates

To claim that every lie is an attack against the character and nature of God…is a loaded statement, I understand. And that's the second thing I want you to be holding on to that we will discuss more fully in just a moment. Do you remember the first thing?

For right now though; God being truth itself is why we read about His utter disdain and hatred for lying, with Scripture going as far as calling it an “abomination”.

We read this very thing in Prov. 12:22 → “Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who deal truthfully are His delight.” And Prov. 6:16-19 → “These six things the Lord hates, yes, seven are an abomination to Him: [17] A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood, [18] A heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, [19] A false witness who speaks lies, and one who sows discord among brethren.”

It might seem like we are going off-course here for just a moment, but stay with me. 

All sin is contrary to the character and nature of God, and it is all evil, across the board, and will be judged with perfect justice by a King who sees and knows everything, yes. When going through Scripture, however, we see a few exceptions. Now, before you get the stones to drive me from the pulpit; when I say “exceptions” I don't mean that some of them aren’t evil or aren't going to be judged…I mean the opposite.

Yes, all sin separates humanity from God, holding men liable to eternal damnation, but all through Scripture we read about God seeing some of them as more loathsome than others. 

He sees some sins as more heinous, and evil; more degrading and degredous and dehumanizing, to such a degree, that He calls them “abominations”.  Sins with this designation are those He holds in a place of heightened hatred for two main reasons (among many others):

#1) Abominable sins are those that attack the created order.

#2) Abominable sins are those that have a polluting effect on the community.

Of sins within this category we have: homosexuality (Levi. 18:22 & 20:13), Pride (Prov. 16:5), Abortion (Deut. 12:31), Incest (Levi. 18:6-18), Showing partiality (Prov. 20:23), Hypocritical Worship (Is. 1:13-15), False Worship (Deut. 17:1-5), and as we just read in Prov. 6 & 12, Lying.

Every single one of these sins is an attack against the manner in which God created humanity, pollutes the community, and as such, are an abomination to the Lord.

My friends, do you see your lies as an abomination? As exceptionally loathsome to God? Or do you think a little lie here and there “isn't that bad.”? Furthermore, can you sit on one- single- lie- …or does it create more and more and more, and become a lifeforce all its own, consuming all the different aspects of your identity to the point where you don't know who you are? What your life is? What is true and what is false?

Do you put the lies you have told, for any reason, in the same category as false worship, abortion, and homosexuality? Because God does.

Do you lie to try and keep the peace?

To protect your ego?

To feed your sin?

To make someone else feel like they are a super-extra-special person?

I hope not, because Prov. 26:28 says that if you lie to someone…it means you hate them. → “A lying tongue hates those who are crushed by it, and a flattering mouth works ruin.”

Do you see the effect your lies have on those around you?

It may sound redundant to say this, but to make it clear: To lie to someone is to lead them into believing something false. Which means it is an attack against the truth itself…which means it is an attack against God. Presenting something false, as if it is something true, is to cause someone to believe a lie…which is exactly what the devil did in the garden.

And using the snake that day as an example, we can then include: intentionally obscuring the truth or telling half-truths, ie. -  “white-lies”. Think about this my friends; how easily could satan have said: “I didn't lie God, I told them they won’t die, but I was defining “die” physically even though I knew you meant “spiritually”. Technically I didn't lie, so there.”

This is exactly what Jesus was talking about when He was confronting The Pharisees in John 8:42 - 44 → “Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. [43] Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. [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.”

Is there truth in your heart? If there is, why would you lie?

Is ‘the truth itself’, here and now, irrevocably braided about your soul, never to not be?

If you have repented of your sins and believed in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, then yes, He is. And if He is…why would you lie?

Have you been so flippant with your words, so unthinking, that your mouth runs on auto-pilot, and the lies just kind of…fall out?

Or perhaps you have good intentions behind your lies…and you think that someone believing something false will actually…be good for them or others? 

Two things you’ve been holding on to:

Do you remember what I asked you to hold on to? It was two different ideas. The first: “Where does someone’s ‘willingness’ come into consideration in regards to lying?”, and the second: “Every lie is an attack against the character and nature of God.” 

To confront these thoughts, we need to understand that ‘lying’ is such a complex topic to wrestle with because we are wrestling with the nature of ‘truth itself’; we are wrestling with trying to understand the complexity of an uncreated God.

As such, a large number of questions (I hope!) have been forming in your mind, and I am really looking forward to Sunday School after Service today to discuss them. 

Furthermore, when we do try to answer our questions about lying, we are not only trying to understand the nature of a transcendent God (as if that weren't enough!), we have two examples in Scripture of someone lying, who God later honors in the “Faith Hall of Fame.” So let's look at these examples and see if it helps clear the air.

The Hebrew Midwives:

Exodus 1:15-22 → “...and he (pharaoh) said, “When you do the duties of a midwife for the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstools, if it is a son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.” [17] But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the male children alive. [18] So the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this thing, and saved the male children alive?” [19] And the midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are lively and give birth before the midwives come to them.” [20] Therefore God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied and grew very mighty.”

Did you see that? Not only did the Hebrew midwives intentionally disobey their political authority, they lied to him about it. Then, thousands of years later the author of Hebrews talks about them in high regard when he writes this in Hebrews 11:23 → “By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king’s command.”

Before we come to a conclusion, let's look at the second example.

Rahab the Harlot: 

Joshua 2:1-6 → “Now Joshua the son of Nun sent out two men from Acacia Grove to spy secretly, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” So they went, and came to the house of a harlot named Rahab, and lodged there…[3] So the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who have entered your house, for they have come to search out all the country.” [4] Then the woman took the two men and hid them. So she said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. [5] And it happened as the gate was being shut, when it was dark, that the men went out. Where the men went I do not know; pursue them quickly, for you may overtake them.” [6] (But she had brought them up to the roof and hidden them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order on the roof.)”

With this, we have the exact same situation as the Hebrew Midwives; someone disobeying their political authority, and then lying to them about it. And again the author of Hebrews talks about her in Hebrews 11:31 → “By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace.

What’s our conclusion?:

Now that we have these two examples, what do we do with it? 

Were Rahab and the Hebrew Midwives committing an abominable sin? 

No one was coercing them to lie, so it was willing, right? 

God is ‘truth itself’, so does that mean they were attacking His character and nature?

A big answer:

Rahab and The Hebrew Midwives weren’t sinning, because even though they lied, it was the results of the truth that would have been contrary to the character and nature of God and have a polluting effect on the community; and the glory of God demands that all of our speech is aimed at Him.

A simple answer:

Our words are true when they align with the character and nature of God.

_____

My friends, we live in a fallen world, where the necessity of making a decision can come upon you in a moment's notice. Are you ready for it? Are you ready to act in accordance with the character and nature of God, regardless of the outcome? Or do you have lies and deceit locked and loaded and ready to deploy to ensure that your own will, or your own thoughts or understanding of a situation is the standard for what needs to be believed or understood? 

Plainly stated: Will you say whatever it takes to make sure that your feelings or thoughts about something are the dominating factor?

And…what are you doing ahead of time, here and now, to ensure that when something does knock upon the doors of your life, you will respond with God’s glory as your utmost concern? If you have been avoiding it for years…what makes you think you’ll suddenly start being truthful? It is foolish to think that integrity can be turned on like a faucet.

When something is required of you; when a situation comes up in your family; when your Boss, or a friend ask something of you; when the propaganda machines of modern day media present you with anything; when your culture, your family, or your very own thoughts and identity are unraveling around you; and lying will ease the tension or calm the waves…but will simultaneously deny the truth of God…what will you do?

Will you act contrary to the manner in which you were created by denying the truth of God’s character and nature? Will you lie to “keep the peace”? To protect the innocent? To help you sin? To stand for the truth of what God says, consequences be damned?

My friends, have you forgotten that this world is broken? That we are the dead yet living, (Gal. 2:20) and even redeemed hearts still sin (Rom. 7:24)? That life moves ever forward, an unstoppable current of time crushing everything in its wake.

Arise oh sleeper!

And see the salvation of the Lord who entered into that stream and was crushed in our place! Look to the bloody brow of Jesus Christ, see the holes in His hands and side, oh doubter, and when you do… when you see the salvation bought for you through no effort of your own… when you see that the wrath of an angry God was poured out in white-hot waves of love upon His Son in your place… don't lie! But “confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, and you will be saved.” (Rom. 10:10). It’s true! Oh weak one, oh lost and afraid, broken by your own sin and the sins of others, it's true!

Have you been sitting on a lie, for any amount of time, because you are afraid of the ramifications of the truth? Have you been avoiding telling the truth to someone you love, because you think lying to them will ensure their love towards you?

Can you, like David before you: own up to your mistakes, repent of them, and run to God with full assurance that He will forgive you not because you deserve it, but because Jesus Christ does?

In closing:

Children of Clyde-Savannah, “never telling a lie” is not what makes you righteous or holy. “Doing the right thing” or “Not doing the bad thing” can not pay the price that your sins have earned. It is a weight too big, too wicked, for you to carry on your own. Nothing you can do, and nothing you avoid doing, will ever make God love or forgive you. It is nothing but the precious red of Jesus Christ, flowing from His beautiful back that can atone for your lies.

John 8:28 - 31 → “Then Jesus said to them, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. [29] And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.” [30] As He spoke these words, many believed in Him. [31] Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. [32] And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

Rev. Jacob Marchitell

May 31st 2026

Extra Notes

Because “lying” is such a complex topic, I felt it was necessary to include these extra notes. Take your time going through these throughout the week.

Even though we have been talking about our words/speech for the past few weeks; the Bible teaches that we can lie by:

• Our actions → “He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” → 1 John 2:4

  • What are your actions communicating to other people?

• Our emotions → “If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?” → 1 John 4:20

  • Emotions →  If you love God, then how can you hate someone God loves?

Apart from Rahab and The Hebrew Midwives, we other examples in Scripture of the people of God lying:

• David lied by pretending to be insane before the king of Gath. (1st Sam. 21:12-15)

• Elisha lied to the king of Assyria. (2nd Kings 6:18-20)

• Jael lied with her actions towards Sisera to let his guard down, so she could kill him (Jdg. 4:18-21)

• Jehu lied about the god he served (Baal) to lure his worshippers into a trap in (2 Kngs 10:18-28)

To repeat the Sermon: “not lying” isn't what makes us righteous in the eyes of God. Following the law could never accomplish this. It (the law) was always a teacher that showed us our need for a savior. (See Gal. 2:11-21)