Lies, Deceit, and Destructive Heresies

A pastor told his congregation, "Next week I plan to preach about the sin of lying. To help you understand my sermon, I want you all to read Mark 17 this week. The following Sunday, as he prepared to deliver his sermon, the pastor asked for a show of hands. He wanted to know how many had read Mark 17. Every hand went up. The pastor smiled and said, "Mark has only sixteen chapters. I will now proceed with my sermon on the sin of lying." (family-times.net/illustration/Lying; from Christianstories.com)

Lying seems to be a way of life for many people. The book, The Day America Told the Truth, says that 91 percent of those surveyed lie routinely about matters they consider trivial; 36 percent lie about important matters; 86 percent lie regularly to parents; 75 percent lie to friends, 73 percent lie to siblings; and 69 percent lie to spouses. (Our Daily Bread, August 28, 1992; truthchasers.com)

The so-called trivial things, little lies tossed out on a whim, are what helped make lying no big deal today. But let me tell you something. Lying is a very serious sin and should never be taken lightly. Consider these Scriptures, to mention just a few:

"You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another" (Leviticus 19:11).

"Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD, but those who deal truthfully are His delight" (Proverbs 12:22).

"A faithful witness does not lie, but a false witness will utter lies" (Proverbs 14:5).

"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" (1 Timothy 4:1-2).

Speaking to those who sought His life, Jesus said, "You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies" (John 8:44, NASB).

From the beginning in the Garden of Eden, Satan used lies and deception to draw people away from God and into sin. From early on, Satan twisted and distorted the Scriptures to deceive, if possible, even believers. That is how Satan approached Eve in the Garden.

You will find the story in Genesis 3:1-8: "Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, 'Has God indeed said, "You shall not eat of every tree of the garden"?' And the woman said to the serpent, 'We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, "You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die."' Then the serpent said to the woman, 'You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.' So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden."

Note a few things here: First, right off the top, Satan twists the Scripture to distort the meaning, yet still sound like Scripture. "Has God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden'?" (v. 1b). "Every tree?" No, He did not. Just one tree. Second, Eve corrected Satan, but got defensive and expanded on what God had said. "Nor shall you touch it" she added (v. 3b). Third, then Satan lies, "You will not surely die… you will be like God" (vs. 4b, 5b). Fourth, Eve fell from grace and Adam willingly followed her (v. 6). And fifth, what did they do? They hid from God (v. 8). They fell into Satan's trap. Their fellowship with God was broken, and they ran and hid. Not an uncommon experience.

False teachers are known for their lies, deceit, and destructive heresies. It is what they do. Oh, they make sure everything is couched in biblical, or at least in biblical sounding terms, as Satan did, but they are lies all the same. We must come to know the Scriptures so well that we can easily decipher these lies and avoid falling into their trap.

The Lord God doesn't take kindly to His Word being twisted and distorted. Some people deliberately take away from or add to God's Word, trying to rewrite it to say what they want it to say. They refuse to believe God's Word as God gave it to us, so they rewrite it instead. That is what false teachers do. They teach things contrary to God's Word to try to deceive people into believing a lie, and they teach their lies as though they are Scripture.

Well, God has something to say to such people: "For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book" (Rev. 22:18-19).

That is what Satan did in the Garden of Eden. That is what his servants, the false prophets and the false teachers are doing today. They make up lies and devise elaborate schemes, making sure to sound biblical, to deceive people and lead them away from God, even the people of the church. They infiltrate the church and move into positions of leadership and teaching to accomplish their agenda.

"For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works" (2 Cor. 11:13-15).

Moses warned the people of Israel about such pretenders: "If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, 'Let us go after other gods'—which you have not known—'and let us serve them,' you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the LORD your God is testing you to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall walk after the LORD your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice, and you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him. But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has spoken in order to turn you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of bondage, to entice you from the way in which the LORD your God commanded you to walk. So you shall put away the evil from your midst" (Deut. 13:1-5)

"Put away the evil from your midst!" Doctrinal purity must be a high priority in the church. But all too often today, many people in the church tend to do the opposite—they tolerate any teacher who claims to be Christian, regardless of what they teach! They tolerate false teachers in the name of love and unity. "It's okay. They are sincere in what they teach," people are heard to say. These people find biblical absolutes to be embarrassing, choosing to embrace the false teachers instead, despite the protest of Scripture!

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus warned His disciples to watch for false teachers rising among them: "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves" (Matt. 7:15). False teachers come into the church unawares, or without detection. Keep your eyes and ears open. Don't let false teachers creep in unnoticed and deceive you, leading you away from God.

In 2 Peter 2:1-3, Peter concerns himself with three negative characteristics that these false teachers are known for: false beliefs, faulty behaviors, and fake benefits. We will take a close look at these negative characteristics over the course of the next three weeks. In the meantime, be warned and beware! Don't let false teachers deceive you! Amen.