Liars and the Lake of Fire

The Word of God expressly states in Revelation 21:8 that," ... all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."Yet, many people who claim to know and love God, routinely tell lies as if they are exempt from the above penalty recorded by the Apostle John. People often think that there are different kinds of lies.There are big lies and then there are small lies.White lies and (Black?) whole lies.Complete lies and partial lies which are, "not so bad." Well, the Bible only knows of one type of lie, the one that will eventually take the liar to the Lake of Fire.

We do not read in the Word of God that God differentiates between lies like we might in our sinful imagination and estimation.We ought to practice telling the truth at all times, holding ourselves accountable before the Holy God Who sees and hears everything.We must train our consciences to never be defiled with even, "little, white lies" here and there.

Lies come from a heart filled with fear and pride. These two qualities of pride and fearfulness lead to despising the Lord's commandments and opting for, a "more practical" solution. Of course the Truth is that Jesus' Way is the only, real practical way.

Perhaps, lies are told in order to avoid embarassment.Most people justify themselves with just such a cover-up."Saving face",becomes a higher law to which they are subject and takes priority over God's Law which demands that we be humble in the light of the plain Truth and obey. Children of God do not need to pretend to be someone that they are not.We don't need to try to impress anyone but, rather please our Heavenly Father with our implicit obedience to His Word.We do not have to conform to this world's pattern of projecting a positive self-image through clever and deceptive devices.When one is simply in love with Jesus, a (super)natural humility and holiness will be projected.This is the ultimate positive image one can hope for.The image of God's Son shining through our earthly frame. Fear and pride must be rooted out with the help of the Holy Spirit.

It can become a sport to habitual liars to prey on innocent people. If such people were given the opportunity to have a, "taste-test" or be able to spend just one minute in Hell, they would cease to think of it as a sport, at the very least.This is precisely why the Gospel is proclaimed to sinners.To warn those proud spirits who play with God's Holy Commandments as if they can sin with impunity.

Lies are also told by many so that they can get ahead socially, economically or otherwise.All such gain though, will prove to be one big lie in the end also! Instead of the promised satisfaction and happiness and fulfillment, the one who seeks such things through deceit will end up utterly empty and frustrated with nothing less than a horrible future in everlasting torment to look forward to!

"A false witness shall not be unpunished and he that speaketh lies shall not escape." - Proverbs 19:5

The Scripture does say, "all men are liars."It is our human nature to gravitate toward deceitfulness because we are so miserably proud and cowardly without Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.Let us be honest and admit also that we can be saved and do these things if we do not, "hold fast" the Truth of God's Commandments.The old man will try to rise up if allowed.The old man must be reckoned dead and we must keep vigilance over this area if we are prone to practicing falsehood.Yes, that 's why this common, but nevertheless, deadly sin must be thoroughly repented of .It is as eternally deadly as any other sin,by the way.The one who is a habitual liar and the one who is an, "occasional" liar must both face the Eternal Judge one day with all their, "convenient" lies exposed! They must face the truth that they will be, "outside the gates" of Heaven and end up rather in a fiery lake of conscious, eternal torment if they persist in a life of falsehood.

Let us walk in honesty before God and before others. There will be nothing to hide then, no false image to live up to, nothing to feel guilty about, and nothing to fear.When we determine with the help of the Holy Spirit to overcome all our deceitful ways, then we shall have Him Who is called the Faithful and True (Rev. 9:11) for our Eternal Friend and enjoy Heaven with all the saints!

© 2003 Pastor Pradeep Emmanuel Stephen

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