SERMON TITLE: Liar, Liar
SCRIPTURE: James 5:12 (ESV)
SPEAKER: Matt Heft
DATE: 6-14-26
Sermon Discussion Guide
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Good morning. I’m Matt Heft. I’m one of the elders here at Gateway Church and just a couple weeks ago, I retired from my previous job and began working at Gateway as the Director of Care and Counseling. I’m really thankful for this opportunity.
I hope you know this morning that God loves you and I love you too. You really need to remember that as we hit on today’s topic. I’ll be coming back to that later in the sermon.
This morning’s subject is going to be a touchy one. But also, so important for us to be willing to accept that we are failing, that there is a standard: God’s Word, and we need to be willing to make changes to align with God’s standard for our lives.
Today, we’re going to be talking about deception, smoke and mirrors, exaggeration, pulling the wool over someone’s eyes, gaslighting, pulling a fast one, or in other words, just good old fashioned lying. Well, not good, but you know what I mean.
Let’s begin with a little quiz. Finish this saying out loud, “Liar, Liar, pants ___ _____! Now I want to know by a show of hands, from today, all the way back to when you were a little kid on the school playground have you EVER used this phrase towards someone else? Ok, so most of you did. Now let’s have a little English lesson. When saying the words, Liar, Liar, it is understood that you, the speaker, are saying, “You are a liar, You are a liar”. And the same construct shows up in the next phrase, “Your pants are on fire”. Now nearly all of you admitted to using this jingle… so in this jingle, you were calling someone else a liar, twice actually. And then you told them their pants were on fire. In all the times you said that phrase to someone else, have their pants ever been on fire? And who’s the liar?
We’re going to continue our study in the book of James today. Today, we have just one verse in James chapter 5. James 5:12 says, Above all, my brothers, do not swear - not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. Let your “Yes” be yes, and your “No,” no, or you will be condemned. James 5:12 NIV84.
As Pastor Josh has preached through James, he’s pointed out times when James leads us back to the Sermon on the Mount. The verse we just read is also an echo from the Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 5:33-37 NIV84 it says, “Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord,’ But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.”
I wanted to make sure you saw the parallel passage from Matthew, but let’s actually focus on the shorter version from James. “Above all, my brothers, do not swear - not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. Let your “Yes” be yes, and your “No,” no, or you will be condemned.” James 5:12 NIV84.
This verse starts with a couple simple words, “Above all”...as we read those two simple words this Sunday, it forces us to look back at the past couple passages and sermons that Josh preached. Money, that’s an important topic. Patience, that’s a really important topic. But it's like James is saying to his readers, what I just told you was really important, but what I’m about to tell you is even more important than all of that.
And then James gets to the big thing that’s above all else. “Do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath”. At first glance, it might seem like James is saying, don’t swear or don’t cuss. While I would encourage you not to cuss, I don’t think that’s the main point. No, what James is talking about (and what Jesus was talking about in the Sermon on the Mount), is a complicated system of oaths that the Jewish rulers had developed.
A person could swear by some things and these were fully binding oaths. These oaths were a big deal. You meant what you said if you used any of this language. But, there were also lesser oaths that you could say and you kind of meant what you said, but you were leaving yourself a bit of a loophole… a way out.
Let me show you what I’m talking about. Take a look at Matthew 23:16-18 (NIV84) “Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’ You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? You also say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gift on it, he is bound by his oath,’ You blind men!”
You can keep reading that passage later this afternoon. But I wanted to be sure that you saw the complex distinctions that many Jewish leaders had created for oath taking. The altar in the temple, not bound by that, the gift on the altar… oh yeah, if you swear by that, you’re bound by it. What’s the result of a system like this? Plain speech isn’t trusted and truth needs enhancement. It encourages technical truthfulness, but practical deception. Technical truthfulness, but practical deception.
And with so many rules, you can see why both Jesus and James essentially said, “stop it!” Just let your yes be yes and your no mean no. Just speak the truth and stop lying! And that’s what we’re going to focus on today.
The first question I want to address… and don’t answer this out loud or give anybody the side eye… but who lies? Don’t say anything out loud! I want us to find our answer in the Bible from the book of Romans 3:10-13 (NIV84) As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” “Their throats are open graves, their tongues practice deceit.” “The poison of vipers is on their lips.”
The answer to our question of who lies? Everyone. We are all liars. Now some are especially gifted with lying, but we can’t escape the fact that all of us are fully committed members of the Liars Club. Whether you would call yourself a follower of Christ or if you wouldn’t, you’re well aware of the fact that you are surrounded by many who lie. And if you’re really honest with yourself, you’d have to admit that you’re a liar too.
Think of all the liars throughout the Bible. Satan lied to Eve in the garden, Eve concealed the truth, Adam acted like he didn’t know he was responsible. Cain lied to God about killing Abel. Abraham lied and said that his wife was his sister, twice. Isaac followed in his dad’s footsteps and said the same thing about Rebekah. Jacob lied to his Dad and stole Esau’s blessing. Laban tricked Jacob by giving him a different daughter in marriage. Joseph’s brothers lied to their father and told him that Joseph had been killed by a wild animal.
Outside of Genesis, I think of Elisha’s servant, Gehazi, who lied to Naaman in order to get gifts from him. David lied about his sin with Bathsheba, and lied about killing her husband. In the New Testament, Peter lied about knowing Jesus. Ananais and Saphira lied about the gift they were bringing to the church.
This is a very brief list. My point is… the fallen condition of human beings is that we are rampant liars. It’s in our nature, meaning it just comes natural to us.
You probably know that I like to use definitions, so what is deception? Deception is when we falsify information by distorting the truth or when we conceal information by withholding vital elements of the truth. And again… deception is when we falsify information by distorting the truth or when we conceal information by withholding vital elements of the truth. And we can get so creative with how we deceive. I got this booklet titled Deception by Lou Priolo. He does a great job of listing out many of the ways we deceive. I recommend this booklet if this is a particular area of sin that you need to work on. Gateway has bought several copies that will arrive in a couple weeks. If you stop by the office during the week, they’ll be available to purchase. I hear that they make great Christmas gifts, if you’re thinking that far out. But, I’m not responsible for any family upheaval giving one as a gift may cause.
So, here are some of his thoughts on how we deceive.
Let me just read a list of some more ways that we practice deception that Priolo calls out.
These are many of the ways that we deceive others. As a society, we know that we don’t want deception to be a part of our cultural fabric. Think of being a witness in a court of law. What is the oath that they have to take before they say anything from the witness stand? I promise to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Another way to say it might be, I will say nothing false, I will not conceal any truth, and I will not blend falsehoods in with the truth.
Lying isn’t something we want in our society and it’s not something we want in the lives of those around us, especially those closest to us. But yet, we’re still all guilty of lying. Why do we lie?
Here’s the short answer. We want to get something, avoid something, protect something, or control something. We want to get something: money, praise, advantage. We want to avoid something: punishment, conflict, embarrassment. We want to protect something: reputation, comfort, relationships. We want to control something: outcomes, perceptions, people.
A lie is an attempt to control reality. And so often, it’s an attempt to control reality at the expense of someone else.
Some of you may be sitting there thinking, you’ve used a lot of different words to describe deception, but I don’t see what the big deal is. It’s just a little white lie.
The problem with lying is not only that it goes against what God says we should do. Remember our verse from James, “Above all, my brothers, do not swear - not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. Let your “Yes” be yes, and your “No,” no, or you will be condemned.” James 5:12 NIV84. Lying goes against this clear command. The other problem with lying is that it damages relationships with those around us. It breaks trust, manipulates people, distorts reality, and fractures friendships and families.
I hope by now you’re thinking, alright, you got me, I’m a liar. I know that I’m a liar in many different ways, but I don’t know how to stop. How do I stop lying?
I have several things I want to talk through, but the first stop I want to make is in Ephesians 4. I love many books of the Bible, but Ephesians is right up there near the top. And Ephesians chapter 4 is just full of great truths. In fact, if you looked through my Bible, Ephesians 4 probably has the most extra notes and the pages are even a little dirtier because of how much I’m turning there.
Before I get to my point, can I go down a rabbit trail? I am anyway. I hope you have a Bible, a physical copy of the Bible, that has some pages that look like they’re well-worn. That have been loved with the tears, and sweat, and joys of life. I love the convenience of having the Bible on our phones and the easy reference material there, but let me encourage you to have a physical Bible that has become your Bible.
Ok, back to Ephesians chapter 4 and an answer to the question, “How do I stop lying?” verse 25 says, Ephesians 4:25 NIV84 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. This is very straightforward. Stop lying and speak the truth. If you find yourself caught up in lying and you don’t know how to get out of the swirling trap of deception, this is how you do it. Put off falsehood and speak the truth.
I think it’s interesting that Paul adds this little extra phrase at the end of that verse, “for we are all members of one body”. How does a body function? All of our pieces and parts work together for the good of the whole. If our body parts were practicing deception with each other, I think our life spans would be much, much shorter. It would be weird for our bodies to be practicing deception within us. So weird that I couldn’t even come up with a good illustration.
Paul’s telling us that the same is true in the body of believers or in your individual families. As foreign as deception would be to our physical bodies, it should be just as foreign to us as we live life with those around us. So the first way to stop lying is to put off falsehood and speak the truth.
The second way to stop lying is to recognize God for who he is. Let’s start by going back to that passage that we read in Romans. I didn’t read the complete section before, so I’ll pick up in Romans 3:13 and read through 18. “Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.” “The poison of vipers is on their lips.” “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.” “Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” Romans 3:13-18 (NIV84). With tongues that practice deceit, there is no fear of God before their eyes. I want us to see that we need to increase our fear of God.
Those that know me well, or were a part of our Equip Class at the beginning of this year, know that I love the book of Ecclesiastes. Here’s the verse from Ecclesiastes that summarizes this principle for us. Ecclesiastes 12:13 (NIV84) tells us “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter; Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.”
Or even Jesus’ own words from Luke 12:4-5 (NIV84) I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him.
I know that many will have a view that when you see those words, Fear God, you take that to mean Respect God or Revere God, but I believe when it says to Fear God, it means to Fear God. I think we often take too lightly who God is. We like the awesome, mighty power of God, when we think he’s aligned with us, but when it’s our sin that needs to be confronted, we prefer the softer, gentler, de-clawed version of God.
I have a good friend that agrees with my view that Fear God means we should Fear God. Let’s pretend my friend's name is Mike. One time, my friend Mike went on a short term mission trip with me to another country. This is a true story. On this particular trip, we were doing quite a bit of teaching. When Mike got up to give his talk, it was going along very well, just like the other talks had gone. Mike would say something, pause, the translator would translate it into that country’s language, and then the people would nod, laugh, or take notes. But when Mike read a verse about fearing God and he said that Fear God meant that we should Fear God, we had the normal pause for the translator, but then, all of a sudden the room erupted. Several in the room loudly disagreed with Mike, but in their language, so we couldn’t understand exactly what they were saying, but he and I both knew they disagreed. Thankfully, we did get Mike out mostly unscathed, and I’m not sure we changed any minds that day, but even so, Mike and I still stand by our belief that fear God means to fear God.
You may agree with Mike and me, or you may feel more like the crowd that was in that room, but here’s the most critical thing I want you to think about whether you like the word fear, respect, or revere. How does your fear, respect, or reverence of God, compare to your fear, respect, or reverence of man? How does your fear, respect, or reverence of God, compare to your fear, respect, or reverence of man?
Here’s the bottom line of this issue. When we fear man, other human beings, more than we fear God, our hearts are going to be given over to lying. Remember the reasons why we lie? We want to get something, avoid something, protect something, or control something. And we think that other people will give us those things that we want, so we have to impress them and make sure they think highly of us. Friends, there’s only one perspective that matters, God’s, and he already knows all there is to know about you. He knows you more than you know yourself. He knows the sin of your past and he knows the sin of your future. And that brings me to my third and final point.
The third way to stop lying is to recognize God for who he is. For those that are listening closely, you know that that’s exactly how I started point number two. While I think all of us need to grow in our fear of God, I think we all also need to grow in something that is going to seem like the complete opposite. We need to grow in our understanding of God’s love. Every week, Pastor Josh says, God loves you and I love you too. But do you understand how much you are loved? God loved us so much that he sent his one and only Son to die on a cross for us, for our sins. He died in our place.
Maybe you’ve heard that too much for it to mean a lot to you, so let me say it in a way that will hopefully resonate more with today’s topic of deception. God loves you so much. He already knows everything about you, and he still loves you. Some of you need to hear that again. God knows everything about you and he still loves you. There’s absolutely nothing that is hidden, that once it comes out he won’t love you just as much.
We’re afraid to let anyone know who we really are. And who are we? We’re sinners. We’re sinners and we need a savior.
I don’t want to jump too far ahead, but in the next week or two, we’ll get to James 5:16. There it says, James 5:16a (NIV84) Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.
Some of you know that you’ve been deceiving those around you, but you think that others don’t realize it. That may or may not be accurate. This verse tells us that in order for you to begin the process of healing, you must confess your sins. If you have been deceiving your spouse or family, you need to confess your sins to begin this process of healing. If you have been deceiving friends, you need to confess your sins. If you have been deceiving your workplace in any way, you need to confess your sins.
I know it could be tough to do that. On the front end, confession is not a fun process. But it is what God tells us is the path to healing and freedom. If you have had a pattern of lying in your life, let me encourage you to confess to a trusted Christian brother or sister, confess to your Life Group leader, set up a meeting with me in my new role and let’s sit down and talk. Confess your lying and deception, and begin speaking the truth.
Even though we are all liars, there is one person who’s not a liar. And yes, you all know the Sunday School answer, Jesus. But let’s take a look at a few verses that Pastor Josh covered during Easter from Isaiah 53, and see exactly what I’m referring to. Isaiah 53:7-9 (NIV84) says, He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken. He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.
Here’s what I think is interesting. Of all the things you could say about human beings, in a short list of attributes, Paul says that we’re all deceitful. And in Isaiah, of all the things you could say about the coming Messiah, in a short list of attributes, Isaiah says that no deceit was in his mouth. Jesus is worthy. He lived a sinless life, a truthful life, and yet, he was crucified on the cross and his shed blood will wash you clean, if you will simply choose to place your trust in him and what he has already done for you.
It’s only when we accept this wonderful free gift of salvation that we can begin to live truly free. It’s only then that we can have the confidence to speak truthfully, because we are so secure not in ourselves, but in the one who saved us.
Have you been caught up in your own web of dishonesty? Is it wearing you out? Today, let me encourage you to turn over your reputation, your fear of man, or your belief that you’re not loved. Turn those things over, and give yourself completely to God and allow him to work a miracle in your life. Put off deceit and put on speaking the truth.
Take some time to think about what you’re trying to get, avoid, protect, or control through your deception. God has something so much better for you than those chintzy idols.
Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father, we are guilty of not being truthful with those around us. When we see an opportunity to gain an advantage or protect our reputation, the lies just stream forth. We lie outright and we lie by withholding information. And for any type of deception, we know that we are wrong.
Jesus, you did not leave us without hope. You lived on this earth as a man, and no deceit was found in your mouth. And yet, you were willing to sacrifice your life, so that we, liars, could live forever with you in heaven.
Holy Spirit, you convict us and we ignore you. If we have been guilty of that, and we have been, I pray that you would come to us with fresh conviction today. And I pray that we would respond in confession and repentance.
Thank you, Lord, for confronting us through your Word on all issues of life and I pray that we would allow you to correct us so that we would look more and more like you.
May you go this morning, letting your yes be yes, and your no be no, as you speak truthfully to each other.
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