ONE HEARTBEAT AWAY - PART 61

                                           ONE HEARTBEAT  AWAY

   PART 61

(Mark Cahill's Book)

Ninth Commandment

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. 
(Exodus 20:16)

A headline in the Chicago Sun-Times read  
"The truth is -Everybody Lies!"  
Is that true?

Some people claim that they have told "only white lies."  But I really don't think God is impressed with the colour of our lies.

Our entire justice system is based on the premis that witnesses "will tell the truth  - the whole truth and nothing but the truth."   Perjury, which is lying in court, is a felony for good reason. 
How can there be justice when the truth isn't known?

Our survey found that 91% of all Americans admit to lying on a regular basis. Some may insist that they haven't lied - just stretched the truth a little. But how far do we have to stretch the truth before it becomes a lie?  
Leaving out part of the truth to benefit ourselves is also lying. We also lie when  know untruth is being told and we just let it stand. And telling even one makes us liars. In a teen survey conducted in 2000, seven out of ten students admitted to cheating on a test within the last month. In essence they lied by making it appear that they knew  the information they wrote on the test.

Sometimes we lie because we think it is
easier than telling the truth. We think. But what does God think of lying?

But the fearful and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and 
whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolators, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. (Revelation 21: 8)

One of the things I realized as I went through the Ten Commandments, is that God takes sin much more seriously than I do. 

Jesus said:  But I say unto you, every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.

For by thy words thou shall be justified , and by thy words thou shalt be condemned 
(Matthew 12:36-37)

Every idle word we speak will be held against us on Judgement Day. If idle words are to  be judged what about cruel words? Profane words? Blasphemous words?

The Bible tells us to keep our speech simple, and clear and honest

But let your communication be, yea, yea; nay, nay; for whatsoever is more than these cometh 
of evil. 
( Matthew 5:37 )

In the Bible one eyewitness could not convict someone of a crime. The witness might be lying or mistaken.  So two or three witnesses were required 
in order to convict a person.

And here is something even more interesting; 
If someone was given the death penalty - usually death by stoning - do you know who had to throw the first stones?  The eyewitnesses! Why?  To discourage witnesses from lying. God knew when He gave this law, 
that people who might be willing to lie about someone,  - out of envy or revenge or  for money, - would not be willing to stand face to face with them and throw a stone at their head, in an effort to kill them. 

And if they threw the stone half-heartedly, or seemed ashamed when they confronted the accused, then their testimony against the condemned person, would be brought into question, and the false accuser might find 
himself facing execution for attempted murder.

God wanted true judgment not false. How are your words going to stack up on judgment day?  

God's Word warns us:  

..... behold ye have sinned against the Lord; and be sure your sin will find you out ( Numbers 32:23).

 We often think we can hide our sin, but our sins will certainly find us out. Everything is laid bare before the eyes of Almighty God.

Neither is there any creature that is not 
manifest in His sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes with Whom we have to do.
(Hebrews  4:13)
  
George O'Leary, former football coach at Georgia Tech, was offered his "dream job,"  : head coach at the University of Notre Dame. You could see how excited he was by the look on his face at his press conference. 

Someone from his hometown wanted to write a positive piece on him for the local paper. So the reporter got his resume, started looking things up, and found a couple of discrepancies about his education.

It turned out that O'Leary had fudged 
resume early in his career to get acoaching job, and had never changed it. By thetime the storm reached its peak just six days later, he resigned - due to something on a resume from thirty years earlier.  

Time does not forgive sin. We like to think it does, but it doesn't. If George had corrected the lies he would have been fine. 

Is there a way for us to correct our sins before God?  Since we just read Revelation 21:8, which says that " all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone," we need to know if there is a way to correct our lies before then.

Charles Spurgeon, the great nineteenth-century preacher, who, by the age of twenty-one, was the most popular preacher in London, and preached to thousands every Sunday, for more than forty years said:

The very least offence against God is so intolerable, that  if hellfire were to be put out, one sin would kindle it again.

God takes sin very seriously. Do you?
Ask yourself this question:  have I ever told one lie in my entire life?  If  I have
that makes me a liar in the eyes of Almighty God.

next post 28th November