Please take your copy of God's Word and turn to Ephesians 4. Starting in verse 17. This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind Having the understanding dark and being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness of their heart Who being past feeling, have given themselves over unto lasciviousness to work all uncleanness with greediness. But ye have not so learned Christ, if so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus. That ye put off concerning the former conversations the old man which is corrupt according to the deceitful lust, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind.

And that ye put on the new man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness, wherefore, putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor. For we are members one of another. Heavenly Father, we come before you and we thank You for this Word You've given us, Father. And Father, I pray that You would help us as we read and study this Word, that Your Holy Spirit would apply these words to our heart, and that we would be known as the people of the truth. And Father, we pray in Your Son Christ Jesus' name, Amen.

Amen. The focus of this message today would just be on verse 25. I titled it, Tell the Truth. See, we all find ourselves in situations where we are tempted to lie. In fact, I think if we're honest with ourselves, we would admit that we lie much more than we're willing to admit to others.

See, we live in a culture where we are tempted to lie all the time. Sometimes we don't see these as lies or we don't necessarily want to point them out as lies, but it's oftentimes just out of a sense of good manners or saving face that we are tempted to lie to protect ourselves and sometimes just to protect others and their feelings. I can think of situations where maybe we're invited over to someone's house for dinner. And I can even remember a specific time in my own life where I was invited over and proceeded to eat some meatloaf. And I remember thinking to myself, this is the worst meatloaf I have ever tasted.

In fact, if I could have had an option of feeding it to the dog under the table or something, I probably would have tried that. But to my dismay, the young wife with excitement in her face looks across and says, So what do you think of the meatloaf? And sometimes we're putting these dilemmas and none of us wants to hurt the feelings of another. And sometimes we try to quickly, tactfully get out of the situation. But also sometimes things are difficult because we have a desire to not hurt others feelings.

We have a desire to not be truthful to the point of hurting another. And in this specific case I remember saying, oh you know this meatloaf has an interesting flavor, what spices that you used? And I kind of changed the topic and we talked about how she made the meatloaf and I never really got around to answering the question. I also can think of times when we receive a phone call. In fact, I remember once being a part of a so-called Bible study And this was back before the days of caller ID.

We can now get away with this most of the time by just not answering the phone. But the phone rang and the person answered the phone. And then they seemed to, I noticed that they pronounced the name of the person loudly over the phone. Oh, so and so. And all of a sudden, the man who was leading the Bible study jumps up and runs out of the room.

And then his wife proceeds to say, well, he's not here right now. Can I take a message? And I remember this stood out to me that even within a Bible study that the things that we will sometimes go to to appear to not be telling a lie, but yet there's still deception there. And so we have all kinds of ways sometimes to get around telling a lie. And most of this is done for reasons of not, like I said, either preservation of ourselves or preservation of others in a society where it oftentimes is good manners to not tell the truth.

But this isn't only a situation in our culture. In fact, we see it even in other cultures. In fact, talking with a friend of mine whose dad was involved in the oil business and did a lot of business in Asian countries, he shared with me the difficulty in times when dealing with these Asian businessmen, especially in public setting, where you had to be careful not to ask them something that would put them in a situation where they might look wrong or bad. And it was actually acceptable in some of these cultures to tell a lie when everybody sitting at the table knew it was a lie in order to save face. And so we see this in culture and we see this idea that sometimes not telling the truth is considered better than telling the truth.

I remember a situation in our own experience. We were in Russia and we had spent our time at the orphanage and we were now at the court. We're fixing to go up to court to sit before the judge and for her to determine whether we could adopt Katerina. And our interpreter said, oh, We have one thing to talk with you about. If the judge asked you, was the orphanage director with you at every visit, tell her yes.

We had never met the orphanage director. And we said we can't do that. And they didn't understand that. They apparently had never had another perspective parent say that they couldn't do that. And so what was on the line here?

I mean, we're going up to court in just a few minutes. We've spent 20, 000 plus dollars towards this adoption and lots of time, nine months of time invested. And here's just one little lie, just if you're asked, was the Orphanage Director there, just say yes. Now how this was handled, whether the question was asked or not, I don't know, but I'm assuming and we trusted at that time, you know what, we're gonna tell the truth no matter what and we're just gonna let things fall where they may. Now that question was never asked, or if it was asked, our interpreter never interpreted that question to us.

But we never had to answer that question. And obviously the adoption went through and God has blessed us greatly. Well, we come to lots of times in our life where we are tempted to not tell the truth. In fact, one of the things we learn early with many children in disciplining them, that out of a fear to not be in trouble, children, young children, oftentimes not tell the truth. And one of The things we find ourselves teaching young children at an early age is the importance of telling the truth.

No matter what, just tell the truth. You can trust your parents. And oftentimes, even if you're going to get in trouble, It's best to tell the truth. It's what we train our children. And I can remember many times training little children saying, you know what, it would be better to tell the truth and get in trouble than to tell a lie.

Because God knows the truth. So what does God's Word teach us about lying lips? See we've got many samples in Scripture that speak directly to how God views lying lips. Proverbs 6 says, these six things does the Lord hate, yea seven, or an abomination to him, a proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that deviseth wicked imagination, feet that be swift to running in mischief, a false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among his brethren. Lying touches many of those within that one list.

A lying tongue, a false witness, they're one speaking, lies as a witness, and a heart that soweth discord among the brethren. Proverbs 12 says, the lip of truth shall be established forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment. Proverbs 12, lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but they that guilt truly are his delight. Proverbs 20, bread deceit is sweet to a man, but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel." And so there speaks of one who betters himself through deceit, but that it leads to dismay, thinking of one's mouth being filled with gravel. Proverbs 21, the getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a vanity tossed to and fro of them that seek death.

See, many people speak lies for their own benefit. And God's Word says that there is no benefit in it. And that whatever we may obtain through lying is but temple. But telling the truth is eternal. In John 844 it says, Ye are of your father the devil, and the lust of your father ye will do.

He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own, for he is a liar and the father of it." It's saying that the nature of Satan is to lie. And that if you are speaking, if you have a heart full of lies, You are speaking of your Father the devil from that same seed of corruption. Revelation 21 and 22 make it clear that liars will not have a place in heaven, but will burn with fire and brimstone in the lake of fire. So, what we see from these texts is that lying is a serious sin and a violation of God's law.

If there is no liar in heaven, then how can there be any hope for us? What I want us to see as we look at the connection, even in those verses we just read, is there's a connection to the condition of the heart. Where does lying come from? We learn from verse 22, it says that, "...he put off concerning the former conversion the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts." And so from that text, as Paul is explaining, that this old man and these deceitful lusts are what lead us to do these things. That we are to put off that old man and to put on the new man which is Christ Jesus and that it's out of those deceitful lusts of the old man that these things come from.

And we see several aspects of this, and I want to look at a few of those. And I want to look at, I think, a very revealing story that we have of the Pharisees in Matthew chapter 21. In Matthew 21, we have a situation where The Pharisees are trying to catch Jesus in a situation. And so, starting in verse 23, it says, And when he had come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto him, and he was teaching, and said, By what authority dost thou these things, and who gave thee this authority? And Jesus answered and said unto them, I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell me, I in like manner and likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things." And so he flips things around on them.

And this is the question that Jesus asked them. The baptism of John, whence was it? From heaven or of men? Now listen to the reasoning, and this is like an inside view of what's going on in the hearts of these men. And they reason with themselves saying, if we shall say from heaven, He will say unto us, why do you then, why do you not then believe Him?

And so they didn't recognize the ministry of John the Baptist. They didn't recognize his baptism. And so they're recognizing here the first one is a fear, or what we clearly see here is an example of saving face. What we see from this text is that they're not interested in the truth. They're immediately discussing how will our answer be viewed by others.

And so obviously they didn't believe that John was from God, but they're saying that if we say the authority is from God, then we have to admit that we're wrong in front of those that respect us. And so they are driven by a desire of esteem and a fear to admit that they were wrong. But they go on to contemplate the other side of the answer. But if we shall say of men, we fear the people, for all hold John as a prophet. And so they recognize that the general people respect John as a prophet.

And if they are to say that his authority comes from man, that he's not of God, they feared an uprising of the people against them. And so here we see also the motivation of fear of physical harm. And so their answer is interesting. We see here it says, And they answered Jesus and said, We cannot tell. And he said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.

What we see there is a very diplomatic answer. They didn't want to get in trouble in either way because they feared losing their own esteem and they feared the physical harm that might come on them if they say for man. And so they answer with a diplomatic answer that is a lie. And we see these oftentimes in our own culture. I mean, we don't have to watch politics very long.

And we see the politician giving one group an answer or another group an answer. And then oftentimes when he's called to question on how he could answer the same question and two opposing answers, he'll try to give this very diplomatic answer and try to sort of make them both sound right. It's evasive and diplomatic lies what it is to say we don't know when they do know. They know their heart, they know their answer, they've already denied the ministry of Christ, but they feared the people. We also see that another motivating factor for lying can be greed.

This is clearly seen in the story of Ananias and Sapphira. Here we have this couple that has decided to sell a piece of land and give all of the money to the church, or so they have said. And when they came, here's Peter's words, he said, But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? See, Peter was given a view of the heart and what was taking place there by the Holy Spirit. And he confronts him in this lie.

See, greed of money can motivate one to lie. See, maybe Satan overwhelmed them with temptations of things that they desired. Maybe the greed of praise and the power of the position. They wanted the church to see this great gift they were given when really they were holding some back. See, this land was theirs.

This property belonged to them. They could have kept all of it, but they devoted all of it to God and then secretly withheld some back. And secretly withheld some back. See, this willingness and sometimes lack of fear or fear of others or greed that leads people to lie is a great temptation. Even in our own court systems though, we recognize that there's still some aspect that the fear of God should drive people to desire to tell the truth.

When a witness goes to testify in court, they're asked to take an oath on the Bible that they will tell the truth, the whole truth, so help me God. And so we see even in our own court systems, there's still this idea of a motivating fear of God, a fear in God rather than man, when giving a testimony or giving a witness to the truth. And for we see in God's Word, as we read earlier, that it is a great sin to give a witness, a false witness in court. We also see sometimes on the playgrounds children speaking to one another and they even take their own little oath. I remember the cross my heart and hope to die stick a needle in my eye.

You know that fear of thinking of something being stuck in your eye and these two kids or they might spit in their hands and handshake. But there's this idea that there's some oath you take, there's some fear involved, and something bad happening to you if you don't tell the truth. And so we have these ideas of taking an oath that we tell the truth. Tell the truth. So how do we deal with this strong temptation and desire that we have to oftentimes lie for our own preservation or for the preservation of others.

As we read earlier in our text, in the verses preceding, verse 25, It says, that you put off concerning the former conversion the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lust, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind. And that you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Wherefore putting away, which is the same word for putting off there, putting away, lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. And so we see that there's clearly this concept that in order to be able to tell the truth, we have to put off these lustful desires of the old man that lead us and tempt us to not be truthful. So is the lie ever justified?

Are we justified in not telling the truth in order to not hurt someone's feelings? Or are we justified in not telling the truth in order to avoid some evil? Think of this, is it possible that a hardened sinner could be known for their honesty and dependability of telling the truth? But yet at the same time is it possible that a God fearing Christian that is walking by faith could be compelled to lie in an extreme situation to oppose evil? See, what we see there is it is possible for even an unbeliever to be known as an honest person that always tells the truth.

And it is possible for a Christian to be put into a situation to where they are compelled to lie in order to avoid an evil. And so I think that The key here is the condition of the heart. Looking at the condition of the heart, for God says that we are to put on the new man, and to be known as those who are covered in the righteousness of Christ Jesus. See, we have stories, and many of us have read them and told them and heard them, of those who hid the Jews during World War II. In fact, we have lots of stories of Christians who hid Jews, and sometimes deceived or lied in order to oppose evil to protect these Jews.

But we also have great stories of men who were not believers, who did the same. In fact, they made a movie about Oskar Schindler, and by my reading and understanding, he didn't display much fruit in any area of his life, except for this short time when he was saving Jews, that anybody could have believed that this man was a Christian. In fact, he was called by the Jews the righteous Gentile. But yet, not knowing his true heart motivation, this is a man who had the same desire to oppose evil. And so how do we judge this?

What separates these two is the condition of the heart. We have examples in Scripture from this as well. The first being the Hebrew midwives in Egypt. In Exodus 1 it says, But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive. And the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said unto them, Why have ye done this thing?

And have saved the men children alive? And the midwife said unto Pharaoh, because the Hebrew women are not as Egyptian women, for they are lively and are delivered ere the midwives come in unto them. And so what we have here is, in order to weaken the Jewish people, the king has told the midwives to kill all the male children. And because they feared God more than they feared the king, they chose not to do this. And maybe the Hebrew women were more vibrant, But it's obviously here that there's a lie being told in order to deceive the king to think that these midwives couldn't get to the delivery in time before the baby was delivered.

Now what their method of killing was supposed to be, I don't know. But obviously there was something they were to do that after the child was born, they were not allowed to do. And so they played off this deception in order to trick the king. And we're told that God blessed their faithfulness in His truth. He strengthened their families because of this.

And probably the most famous is Rahab and the two spies. Now we know the story. The two spies are sent over and they enter Jericho. And the king of Jericho sent into Rahab saying, bring forth the men that are coming to thee, or that come to thee. And So apparently someone saw them enter the city and saw them enter Rahab's place and reported it to him.

And it says, Which are entered into thine house, for they be come to search out all the country. And the woman took the two men and hid them, and said thus, There came men unto me, but I wished not whence they were. And it came to pass about the time of the shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the men went out. Whither the men went, I want not. Pursue after them quickly, for you shall overtake them.

But she had brought them up to the roof of the house and hid them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order upon the roof. And the men pursued after them, the way to Jordan, and to the Fords, and as soon as they were pursued after them, after they were gone out, they shut the gates. So what we have here is a situation where these two men go in, And apparently she had hid them knowing that it would be desired for her to give them over to the king. And we're told in the following, after she lied to the king and sent them out on this wild goose chase trying to catch up to them before they went over the areas that could still be crossed in the river. And after the gate was closed, She went up to them and she displayed her faith in the God of Israel and she pleaded for the life of her family and she was blessed for it.

In Hebrews 11 31 it says, by faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not when she received the spies with peace. James also emphasizes her faith as the work that saved her. It's interesting when we read this that nowhere in God's Word do we ever find that her action of lying is condemned or is it ever condoned. And I believed it to go and say beyond what Scripture says is to say more than we can get from God's Word. See, some say that the praise of her faith is a condoning of her lie.

But that would also be like saying that the praise of her faith was a condoning of her profession as a prostitute. For nowhere is she condemned for being a prostitute. In fact, she makes the name of being called Rahab the harlot, even in Hebrews. But I don't believe anyone would want to condone the profession of prostitution. So how do we deal with these passages and how have Christian ethicists dealt with this in particular.

And I'm just going to look at several different ways we can look at this and I think they all have some merit and it's obvious that there's a desire to be true to God's word in how we deal with this. But ultimately I think it boils down to the condition of the heart and the condition of Rahab's heart. The first tradition deals with what's called contrasting absolutes or the lesser of two evils. See, this position teaches that in a sinful world, in a falling world, that oftentimes, or sometimes, two or more, two or more moral absolute principles of moral behavior will conflict and they require the person to choose one sin over the other. And so choose the lesser of two evils.

And so the idea here is that there are all these absolutes in place, but because we're in a fallen world and because, And sometimes this is referred to as situational ethics. We end up in situations where we have to make a choice, and therefore one choice is still sin. But yet it's not as big a sin as this other would be. And so the two principles here is one is you shouldn't lie, and the other is you should protect life. In fact Martin Luther in some of his writings would seem to lean towards this.

In fact in his impatience with what he saw as an undue fastidiousness towards sin, meaning those who were too particular about the different sins in their life. He is quoted as saying, if you are a preacher of grace, then preach a true grace and not a fictitious grace. And then later he says, Be a sinner and sin boldly, but believe and rejoice in Christ more boldly, for he is victorious over sin, death, and the world. And what Martin Luther is trying to say there is, you know what? We have all kinds of sin in our life.

And If it was based on any of our works, we would all be condemned to hell. And it's only because of grace, it's only because of the righteousness of Christ that any of us can stand before a holy God. Now this is a man who early in his life before salvation was so sensitive to sin that he would spend hours in confession. But yet now he recognizes the freedom and grace. The second position, looking at this, is called a hierarchalism or a graded absolutism.

And this allows a choice for a higher good without being guilty of the lower. And so it's saying they still have absolutes, but this idea that there are degrees within these absolute principles. And if you appeal to a higher principle, you can make that decision without being guilty of that lower principle. And so you can see the desire there is that you can still make a decision without sinning in a difficult situation like this. The third position is non-conflicting absolutes.

This position teaches that there is always a third option that is not sin. And so these would say that when we're given a decision and we see two things and they're both sin, then we need to be looking for that third option that's not sin. And maybe this is an avoidance of the truth where you don't answer either question. Or maybe this is some kind of way to make a decision a third option and they would say that God always provides a way out of sin and that's what they would appeal to. And the final position I want to present here and there's probably many more if you study this extensively, but there is those who say, there are those who have forfeited their right to know the truth.

And it is legitimate to conceal the truth from them. Now some would differentiate whether you could still tell a lie or not. Some would say that you had to come up almost like the third option, some way of concealing the truth without lying. And some would say that if it's especially a matter of war, which they would attribute this time with Rahab and the Canaanites being instructed to destroy, I mean Israelites being instructed to destroy the Canaanites, this was a time of war, spies are coming in, this whole idea of espionage and then these times it's okay, it's allowable to lie because that is the nature of this, of being able to deal with enemies in the times of war. Now this position, You can read some verses, but it's real hard to completely develop this position from Scripture.

I think all of these in some way you can at least see the merit of what the ethicist is trying to do. He's trying to get away from this idea that this person who had this righteous act of faith and believing God and her family was spared, that she actually lied. And we have to be careful when we try to justify any form of lying. And I'm not saying that this last position here is wrong, But we have to be careful that anytime we justify a lie, even if it is allowable, because the person is not allowed the truth because of circumstances, such as that evil person that wanted to kill the Jews. We have to be careful because our hearts are exceedingly wicked and it can be a slippery slope and we can find ourselves justifying things that are not just.

Now I personally find myself in agreement with Calvin, Arthur Pink, John Murray, and others on this position. Calvin said, as to the falsehood, we must admit that though it was done for a good purpose, it was not free from fault. For those who hold what is called a dutiful lie to be altogether excusable, do not succinctly consider how precious truth is in the sight of God. Therefore, although our purpose be to assist our brethren to consult for their safety and relieve them, it never can be lawful to lie, because that cannot be right, which is contrary to the nature of God. And God is truth.

And still the act of Rahab is not devoid of the praise of virtue, although it was not spotlessly pure. For it often happens that while the saints study to hold the right path, they deviate into circuitous courses." And then he gives Rebecca as an example. He says, "'In procuring the blessing of her son Jacob, following the prediction, in obedience of this description, a pious and praiseworthy zeal is perceived But it cannot be doubted that in substituting her son Jacob in the place of Esau she deviated from the path of duty the crafty proceeding therefore So for taints an act which is laudable in itself. And yet the particular fault does not wholly deprive the deed of the merit of holy zeal. For by the kindness of God the fault is suppressed and not taken into account.

Rahab also does wrong when she falsely declares that the messengers were gone. And yet the principal action was agreeable to God because the bad mixed up with the good was not imputed. On the whole, it was the will of God that the spies should be delivered. But he did not approve of saving their life by falsehood. Now that's understanding God ordains all things, but yet even in the lives of our godly biblical heroes, we see the sin in their life.

We see David and his sin with Bathsheba, but yet he's a man after God's own heart. We see Jephthah's rash vow, where he vows to sacrifice the first thing that walks out of the door of his house, and his daughter comes out. We see these in the story, and oftentimes in these narratives, the right or wrong of it is not given to us. We just see men honestly who they are. It's fallen men who need a Savior.

And what I say here is what distinguishes Rahab from the others in Jericho is the condition of her heart. And whether it was a lie or not, the point is that she had faith and it was the condition of her heart. So how should Christians approach this? First of all, we must remember how God views lying and strive always for truth. That should be what we strive for.

Maybe there is this exception. Maybe Rahab didn't lie. But what we clearly see is that God hates lying. Lying lips are an abomination to him and that we should always strive to tell the truth. This verse goes on to say, Wherefore, putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor.

Speak truth to your neighbor. See, remember we are called to put off the desires of the old man and to put on the new man. In order to fight off the lies of Satan and the flesh, those desires must be replaced with the truth of Christ. We were told in verse 21, it says, If so be that ye have heard him and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus. Jesus is the source of truth.

In order to tell the truth, we must be full of the truth. We must feed upon the Word of God, and we're told that the Word of God is Jesus. We must be full of the truth so that the truth is what comes out of us. We are told that the tongue reveals what's in the heart. And if Christ is in our heart, truth comes forth.

Why is this important in the church? The last part of this verse says, this is wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. If you are untruthful with your spouse, what kind of relationship do you have? If your spouse doesn't trust you, what kind of relationship do you have? See, because we are members of one body and members of one another, we are to be about telling each other the truth.

Not telling the truth Only brings division. But having an openness of communication and truth telling actually draws us closer together. It builds our relationships. But see speaking the truth requires trust. Where there is no trust it is impossible to communicate truth and love.

So let us as God's people put off hypocrisies and deceptions and let us be truthful with one another. Let us be candid with each other. Let us be plain and frank and open in our communication with one another. Let us be real, truthful, and honest with one another. For we are called to speak the truth in love.

And that means that there's not only should the truth be spoken in love, but there should be a reception in how we receive the truth of love. Let us always assume the best of each other. We should be quick to ask for forgiveness and quick to offer forgiveness. We should let love cover a multitude of sins. For none of us can stand before a holy God based upon any of our own righteousness.

It's all the righteousness of Christ. And if He dwells in us, we can be unified in the love of Christ. It says, may the Spirit of Christ dwell in us richly as we speak the truth and love to one another. Heavenly Father, we come before You, Father, and we thank You for the Word that You've given us. And we pray, Father, that Your Holy Spirit would quicken our hearts to live boldly for You, that we would put off that old man and put on that new man and that we would speak to one another in love.

Speak the truth in love, Father, in building up and edifying the body of Christ. We pray in your Son, Christ Jesus' name, Amen.