THE ORIGEN OF LIES IS FROM SATAN – DO NOT LET HIM DECEIVE YOU WITH THE WORD OF GOD
Quote God’s Word when the enemy wants to twist it to confuse or mislead you.
Sakkie Parsons
In response to a question that someone recently sent me, I feel led to once again share with you how the Word is twisted by people, and sometimes even from the pulpits. Sometimes out of ignorance, and sometimes simply out of evil intent to make their own kind of gospel appear right.
One such distortion of the Word that I want to share with you in this series is lying.
From the very beginning satan has tried to deceive people by twisting God’s Word. For he knows the Scripture as well as many of us, better than most of us, and he uses it cunningly and craftily to sow doubt, excuse sin, and lead people away from God’s truth. His tactics remain the same today as in Eden. Yes, he mixes lies with just enough truth to make it sound acceptable.
In this writing I want to share with you about this—and there are pastors who preach it. I personally know such a pastor who preaches that a person may sometimes lie.
Lying, or falsehood, was naturally the very first of the evil devices satan used against mankind to lead man into sin.
Satan, right at the beginning, twisted God’s Word just a little, and from then until today he manages to cause someone to arise from time to time with a new revelation or insight to slightly twist our Lord’s Word—just enough to bring yet another falsehood into the church, preached even from pulpits.
So let me share with you so that you may see his modus operandi with which he began, and which was the beginning of the mess in which man, because of his obedience to satan, finds himself today.
We read:
Genesis 2:16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may freely (unconditionally) eat the fruit from every tree of the garden;
Genesis 2:17 but [only] from the tree of the knowledge (recognition) of good and evil you shall not eat, otherwise on the day that you eat from it, you shall most certainly die [because of your disobedience].
Now satan comes with his distortion—some people might call it a white lie—and he asks Eve:
Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty (subtle, skilled in deceit) than any living creature of the field which the Lord God had made. And the serpent (satan) said to the woman, “Can it really be that God has said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”
Satan only wanted an opening to Eve—and once she entered into conversation with him, she was, so to speak, doomed.
You are a loser even before you begin if you allow any contact with satan, of whatever kind, into your life.
Since we are talking about satan’s lie, I want to also share with you the very first distortion of the Word that I encountered in my more than 52 years of serving our Lord. It is this teaching that a person may sometimes lie, or tell a white lie. And then they use the following example—which confessing Christians have quoted to me—to show that our Lord gives us the right to sometimes lie:
The king of Egypt commanded the Hebrew midwives to kill all the Israelite baby boys who were born. Then we read:
Exodus 1:17–20
17 But the midwives feared God [with profound reverence], and did not do as the king of Egypt had commanded them; but they let the boy babies live.
18 So the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this thing, and allowed the boy babies to live?”
19 The midwives answered Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth quickly, before the midwife can get to them.”
20 So God was good to the midwives, and the people [of Israel] multiplied and became very strong.
(God did not bless them because they lied, but because they did not commit mass murder.)
God hates sin. And not only is lying sin, but as I understand the Word, God hates lying with a passion.
Consider the following passages from the Word and then decide if the God who cannot lie would ever endorse lies.
Our Lord said to the Israelites—and as I will show you, this is carried over into the New Testament covenant which Jesus established for us:
Leviticus 19:11 ‘You shall not steal, nor deal deceptively, nor lie to one another.
Leviticus 19:12 ‘You shall not swear [an oath falsely] by My name, so as to profane the name of your God; I am the Lord.
Proverbs 6:16–19
16 These six things the Lord hates; Indeed, seven are repulsive to Him:
17 A proud look [the attitude that makes one overestimate oneself and discount others], a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood,
18 A heart that creates wicked plans, Feet that run swiftly to evil,
19 A false witness who breathes out lies [even half-truths], And one who spreads discord (rumors) among brothers.
Did you notice what you just read?
Our Lord lists several things He hates—and lying, falsehood, appears twice. As if our Lord is saying to us:
“These things I hate, but lies I hate twice as much.”
Why?
Well, it is very clear from the Word. Every lie has its origin in satan, and when I lie, I am speaking what satan gives me from his evil heart, and in a sense, I accept it with thanksgiving to satan.
It is Jesus who speaks here, to people who continually tried with lies and schemes to trap Him:
John 8:44 You are of your father the devil, and it is your will to practice the desires [which are characteristic] of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks what is natural to him, for he is a liar and the father of lies and half-truths.
I could write much more on this subject, but let me share one more precious Word of our Lord with you:
Colossians 3:9–10
9 Do not lie to one another, for you have stripped off the old self with its evil practices,
10 and have put on the new [spiritual] self who is being continually renewed in true knowledge in the image of Him who created the new self—
(Let us not make the image of our Creator a mockery before satan and in the eyes of people.)
As I have often said in the past, let me again conclude by sharing how we can recognize distortions in our Lord’s precious Word.
The first is, to live as close to the Word of our Lord as we can. Because then you will be able to hear His words more clearly in the midst of the fierce storm of sin and evil around us—so that none of His words to you are lost in that storm.
The second, which you must do with great diligence, is to practice and remain skilled with the only weapon our Lord has given you to use under the guidance of the Holy Spirit against satan—
That is the Word of our Lord.
We read:
Ephesians 6:17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.
Jesus Himself showed us how we must use our weapon, the sword, the Word, in faith against satan—and how effective it is:
Matthew 4:3–11
3 And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”
4 But Jesus replied, “It is written and forever remains written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes out of the mouth of God.’”
5 Then the devil took Him into the holy city and placed Him on the pinnacle (highest point) of the temple.
6 And he said mockingly to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will command His angels concerning You [to serve, care for, protect and watch over You]’; and ‘They will lift you up on their hands, So that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’”
7 Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written and forever remains written, ‘You shall not test the Lord your God.’”
8 Again, the devil took Him up on a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory [splendor, magnificence, and excellence] of them;
9 and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.”
10 Then Jesus said to him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written and forever remains written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’”
11 Then the devil left Him; and angels came and ministered to Him [bringing Him food and serving Him].
So, let us make sure that we are skilled with our sword, the Word, by continually reading it—so that we can resist satan. For then, as Jesus has set the example for us, satan will flee from us:
James 4:7 So submit to [the authority of] God. Resist the devil [stand firm against him] and he will flee from you.
How do I resist the devil?
With the Bible—the Word of God. Just like Jesus, I quote the Word when the enemy wants to deceive me with that same Word by twisting it. (Matthew 4:3–11)
Sakkie
Email: bediening@sakkieparsons.co.za
Website: www.sakkieparsons.co.za
Cell: 083 457 6669
Jude 1:24-25 To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy, to the only God our Saviour be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.
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