September 3, 2000 Volume 1 Number 36
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Liars
Part
2 Let
us now continue to look at the different kinds of liars the Bible speaks
of. There are malicious
liars. Ps 28:3 says, “Do not take me away with the wicked and with
the workers of iniquity, who speak peace to their neighbors, but evil is
in their hearts.” And Jeremiah 9:8 says, Their tongue is an arrow shot
out; it speaks deceit; one speaks peaceably to his neighbor with his
mouth, but in his heart he lies in wait.” These are lies which are
brought about by hatred or spite. Potipher's wife is a good example of
this when she lied against Joseph. --- After Joseph denied her request,
she sought to lash out by lying and fabricating a false scenario Gen
39:14-17. Herod lied to the wise men that were looking for the newborn
Jesus Matt 2:1ff. Of course, we know, there was no intention of
worshipping Him; he wanted to destroy Him instead. There
are also personal gain liars, individuals who lie to gain
status or wealth. Gehazi, Elisha’s servant, lied to Naaman in 2Kings
5:20-27. This is part of the story of Naaman, commander of the army of
the king of Syria who was leprous.
After hearing of the power of Elisha, a man of God, he sought
him, with the hope of being healed. We know that Naaman was told to dip
in the river Jordan seven times. Naaman
was furious because he wanted it done differently.
With a lot of fanfare, something spectacular, if not that, than
at least he should be able to dip in a better river.
He was going to leave, until his servant convinced to obey the
prophet. Once he obeyed and was cleansed he wanted to reward Elisha, but
Elisha refused. Here is
where we pick up our story. Gehazi pursued Naaman and lied so he could
get the reward. The
Roman Soldiers of our Lord’s time also fall into this category.
In Mt 28:12-15 we find these soldiers lied because of money. We
might call it "Hush Money" today. Yet another example is
Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5:1-10. They didn't need to lie.
They could have kept back a portion, given whatever they wanted
and their contribution would have been accepted.
They chose to deceive. To
say they gave more, to give the illusion that they were selfless, that
they sacrificed greatly, that they truly were the very epitome of
kindness. They wanted this
reputation, but did not want to part ways with their money. Another
category of liars is social liars. In Prov 26:28 it says, “A
lying tongue hates those who are crushed by it, and a flattering mouth
works ruin.”
There
are only two classes of social liars---men and women. Recently there
have been a slough of movies concerning the 1700's in England; the
challenge of watching those movies is trying to keep track of who is
who. But one of the most prominent characteristics of the time period
was the condescending attitude of the rich toward the not so rich and
the lies, which would be incorporated among the wealthy just for the
sake of the social status. In
one breath a home would be complimented, a dress would be raved about,
and in the next they would laugh about it. It is certainly a lesson for
God's people, to not emulate. There
are also religious liars. In
Rom 3:4 we read, “Certainly not! Indeed, let God be true but every man
a liar. As it is written: "That You may be justified in Your words,
and may overcome when You are judged." This is quoted from David
who is praying for forgiveness after his sin with Bathsheba. David
understands that God’s Word will judge our actions and our words, for
God judgments are always good. In like manner we are to be judged by
God's Word and teachers, all teachers, are to be compared to God's Word
to see if the things they say are things, which God has expressed. Note
what Paul says about false teachers in 1Tim 4:1-2, “Now the Spirit
expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith,
giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies
in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron.”
Teachers of false doctrines are those individuals who have departed from
the faith, they were deceived in much the same way in which Eve was
deceived by Satan who promised her good would come of her eating the
fruit. But in reality,
Satan through hypocrisy, persuaded her to eat which he knew would bring
her and the world into subjection to him, and that the wages of sin is
death. These teachers have become hardened and insensitive to all
feelings of justice and right. They
live in neglect of a known duty, they live in hypocrisy, and it doesn't
bother them. We
will complete this study next week. Carlos
Aguilar Home
and Family: There's
been a lot written recently about the effect of forcing children to do certain
things. So much has been written, in fact, that parents have started wondering
whether it is good for a child to be made to go to church. Please let me read
to you a short article on that subject written by someone with considerable
experience dealing with people who were not made to go to church. The title of
the article is: "Shall I force my children to go to church?" "Shall
I make my child go to church? Yes, and with no further discussion about the
matter. Are you startled? Why? How do you answer junior when he comes to
breakfast on Monday morning and announces to you that he is not going to
school anymore? You know!! Junior goes!! How do you answer him when he comes
in very dirty and says: 'I'm not going to take a bath.' Junior bathes, doesn't
he? Why all this timidity then in the realm of his spiritual guidance and
growth? Going to wait and let him decide what church he will go to when old
enough? Quit kidding. You didn't wait until he was old enough to decide
whether he wished to remain dirty or clean. Do you wait until he is old enough
to decide if he wants to take medicine when he is sick? What will you say when
junior announces he does not like to go to church? That is easy to answer.
Just be consistent. Tell him, 'Junior, in our family we all go to church and
that includes you!' Your firmness and example will furnish a bridge over which
youthful rebellion travels into rich and satisfying experiences in personal
religious living. The parents of America can strike a telling blow against
juvenile delinquency if our mothers and fathers will take their children to
worship our Lord regularly." (By
J. Edgar Hoover) via
Tom Sutherland
Now
it came to pass that a group existed that called themselves fishermen and
there were many fish in the waters about them. In fact, the whole area was
surrounded by streams and lakes and the fish were hungry. Week after week and
month after month and year after year the group called themselves fishermen
and met in meetings and talked about those called to fish, the abundance of
fish, and how we might go about fishing. Year after year they carefully
defined what fishing meant, defended fishing as an occupation, and declared
that fishing be the primary talk of fishermen. These fishermen built large
beautiful buildings for local fishing headquarters and their plea was that
everyone should be a fisherman and that everyone should fish. However, the one
thing they did not, they did not fish! In
addition to meeting regularly these men determined to send out fishermen to
places where there were many fish. This sending committee was headed by those
who had great vision and had courage to speak about fishing and to promote the
idea of fishing in far away streams and lakes where many other fish of
different colors lived. They hired staff and held many meetings to define
fishing, to defend fishing, and to decide what new streams should be thought
about. But the one thing the staff and the committee members did not do, they
did not fish! Large,
elaborate training centers were built whose original and primary purpose was
to teach fishermen how to fish. Over the years courses were offered on the
needs of fish, the nature of fish, how to find fish, and the psychological
effects of fishing. Those who taught had Doctorates in "Fisheology."
But the teachers did not fish! They only taught about fishing. Further,
the fishermen built large printing houses to publish fishing guides. Presses
were kept busy day and night to produce material solely devoted to fishing
methods. A speakers' bureau was also organized to schedule special speakers on
fishing. After one stirring meeting entitled "The Necessity of
Fishing," two young men left the meeting and actually went fishing, and
one of them actually caught two fish! He was honored for his great catch and
was scheduled to appear at all the big meetings to tell how he did it. So he
quit fishing in order to have time to tell his experiences to other fishermen. Now
it is true that many of the fishermen sacrificed and put up with all kinds of
difficulties. Some lived near the water and had to put up with the smell of
dead fish. Some had to endure the ridicule of some who made fun of these
fishermen's clubs because they claimed to be fishermen but they did not fish. And
they wondered about those who thought it was of little use to attend the
meetings and talk about fishing. I mean, after all, were they not following
the Master who said, "Come and I will make you fishers of men?"
Imagine their chagrin when someone actually suggested that they were not
really "fishermen." Yet it did make sense. Can we rightfully call a
person a fisherman if year after year he never catches a fish? Can a person
really be following Jesus if he is not fishing? ~Author Unknown Sound
Fishy? I hate to CARP at you, but I hope you give me a HERRING while I exhort you a little about our Bible Classes. Please use your BIG MOUTH to let everyone know. Don't CLAM up. PERCH on some doorstep and keep inviting people until they say "yes." If a woman shows the slightest inclination to come, SNAPPER up at once. And work on the men too, because most MINOW that they should be in Bible class. If those you ask act CRABBY or CATTY and say they have a HADDOCK, just give them a couple of aspirins and tell them to come on. We have plenty of room for everyone--we won't be packed in like SARDINES. So, stop FLOUNDERING around and ask someone to come to Bible class. It will be very good for your SOLE. (P.S., If the above sounds a little FISHY, I did it on PORPOISE). From LemmonsAid -THE PIKE ROAD REMINDER Words
Of Dying “ATHEISTS” Caesar
Borgia Thomas
Hobbs Thomas
Payne Sir
Thomas Scott Voltaire Robert
Ingersoll Faithful Sayings God Is Not Willing That Any Should Perish 2 Pet 3:9 Unless
you repent you will all likewise perish Lk 13:5 Whoever
believes in Him should not perish Jn 3:15-16 His
sheep . . . shall never perish Jn 10:27-30 Sentence
Sermons "He
who fears God need fear nothing else, and he who fears not God needs to fear
everything else." "Satan
covets a tired man and uses him; God rests a tired man and inspires him." "Make
a habit of getting even with people -- not those you think wronged you, but
those you know who helped you." We
hope you find this bulletin useful in your Bible study. 2
Sam 22:31
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