Hate the Lies! Put Them to Death!

Psalms 119:161-163 ESV

 

“Princes persecute me without cause,

    but my heart stands in awe of your words.

I rejoice at your word

    like one who finds great spoil.

I hate and abhor falsehood,

    but I love your law.”

 

Who are the Persecutors?

 

Who are they who persecute the righteous? They are the wicked, the evildoers, wolves in sheep’s clothing, masqueraders of righteousness, pretenders and fakers of Christian faith and practice, hypocrites, liars, the morally unclean, manipulators, opportunists, deceivers, enchanters, the untrustworthy, egocentrics full of pride, envious, greedy and full of lust.

 

They pretend to be teachers of truth but they are skilled in lying and in manipulating and in cleverly blending lies and truth together made to appear as truth so as to deceive the naïve and the gullible and the unsuspecting. They pretend to be under the authority of God but their authority is of Satan, for he is the father of lies, and lies are their specialty.

 

And what they teach is a diluted and altered (adulterated) gospel message partly based in truth but partly also based in lies, so not the truth. Since it is partially true, though, many people buy into it because it has the sound of truth, but it is a very twisted truth which is a blend of lies and truth together for the purpose to deceive and to catch the naïve in their traps.

 

Basically what they teach is that we can “believe” (not defined) in Jesus, have our sins forgiven, escape hell, and be guaranteed heaven as our eternal destiny for when we die, regardless of how we live our lives while we still live on this earth. So, they end up giving their adherents carte blanche to continue living in deliberate and habitual sin while claiming faith in Jesus.

 

Some of them are even going so far as to teach that we do not have to repent of (turn away from) our sinful practices, that we do not have to submit to Christ as Lord (Owner-Master), and that we do not have to walk in obedience to his commands. For they call that works salvation, which is to be avoided, but while they ignore the teachings of Scripture on that topic.

 

They are skilled at dodging the truth and at keeping their opponents “at bay” (at a distance) and at “skirting around” issues, i.e. at keeping away from discussing certain issues in order to avoid discovery. So, they may use “non-denial denials” as a way of avoiding having to tell the truth, or they may shift the conversation another direction, etc. in order to avoid exposure.

 

I Hate Falsehood

 

These persecutors are big on lies but very short on truth. Although we are not to hate our persecutors, but we are to love them and pray for them and do good to them, we are to hate sin. And we are to hate lies and deception and the fact that so many people today are being led astray by the lies of these clever enchanters who are skilled at deception and manipulation.

 

And the more that we love the Word of God and our hearts stand in awe of God’s Holy Word, and we rejoice and take great joy in the commands of our Lord (New Covenant), the greater should be our abhorrence for falsehood and for deception. And the greater our passion should be for putting to death the lies and for proclaiming the truth at the top of our lungs.

 

So, we should be those who go after the lies to expose them for what they are and who utilize the armor of God in order to put to death the lies and to bring to life the truth which is opposed to the lies. For so many people these days are being deceived and they are believing the lies, for the lies tell them what their itching ears want to hear.

 

Now, this is not going to win us friends and make most people happy. We are not going to be well liked and admired and accepted by most people, including by many others who profess faith in Jesus Christ. For not many of them want to know about the lies, and many do not want to bother testing what they hear against the Scriptures, in context.

 

For them it is just easier to accept what sounds good and to go on from there. They don’t really want to have their beliefs challenged. And so many of them are being taught that if someone does challenge their beliefs that they are to consider that person a “conspiracy theorist” or “hyper-religious” or “legalistic,” and/or “negative.” And they want to hear only positive.

 

But don’t let that discourage you. Keep on speaking the truth and keep on confronting and exposing the lies of the enemy, because many people are going to die and go to hell on the promise of salvation from sin and eternal life with God. And many will hear Jesus say to them, “Depart from me you workers of iniquity! I never knew you!” Don’t be one of them, please!

 

Psalms 119:164-168 ESV

 

“Seven times a day I praise you

    for your righteous rules.

Great peace have those who love your law;

    nothing can make them stumble.

I hope for your salvation, O Lord,

    and I do your commandments.

My soul keeps your testimonies;

    I love them exceedingly.

I keep your precepts and testimonies,

    for all my ways are before you.”

 

This is how it should be. We should be those who love the law of God, his gospel, the perfect law which gives us freedom from our slavery to sin. And we should not be afraid to have our beliefs challenged, for that is how we learn the truth. Many times in my life my beliefs have been challenged and that just made me all the more determined to make sure I was following after the truth and not after the lies. So, it strengthened me in my walk of faith. And these challenges helped me to grow in the grace of God.

 

If we are afraid to have our beliefs challenged then we are not open to learning whether or not what we believe is the truth or not. So, we might be going through life believing the lies, content with what we believe, and then one day we will stand before God and he is going to say he never knew us because we did not obey his commands. Is that what you want? Is that okay with you? If not, then be willing to examine your beliefs against the Scriptures, in context, and be willing to change if God shows you something different, i.e. that you have been believing lies.

 

And then embrace the truth, follow the truth, and live the truth. And keep testing whatever you hear or read or see in prayer and in the study of God’s Word, in context. And I stress context because many lies stem from Scriptures removed from their context and twisted to say what they do not say. Take for example, Ephesians 2:8-9 needs to include verse 10 and Ephesians 4:17-24 and all of Ephesians. Yes, we do nothing in ourselves to earn or to deserve our own salvation but our salvation is not absent of works. We must deny self, daily die to sin and to self, and follow Jesus in obedience or we don’t have eternal life with God (Luke 9:23-26).

 

[Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Tit 2:11-14; Jas 1:21-25; Rom 12:1-2; Php 2:12-13; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-10; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-11; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; Heb 10:26-27; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Matt 7:21-23; Ac 26:18; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15; Eph 2:8-10]

 

Have Thine Own Way, Lord

 

Words by Adelaide A. Pollard, 1907

Music by George C. Stebbins, 1907

 

Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!

Thou art the potter, I am the clay.

Mold me and make me after Thy will,

While I am waiting, yielded and still.

 

Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!

Search me and try me, Master, today!

Whiter than snow, Lord, wash me just now,

As in Thy presence humbly I bow.

 

Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!

Wounded and weary, help me I pray!

Power, all power, surely is Thine!

Touch me and heal me, Savior divine!

 

Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!

Hold o'er my being absolute sway.

Fill with Thy Spirit till all shall see

Christ only, always, living in me!

 

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