Keys For The Christian Living: Living Honestly

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Keys For The Christian Living: Living Honestly

Summary: Just like Abraham and his son Isaac, it's easy for ordinary people to fall into a pattern of lying. But honesty is the foundation of all our relationships because it's the basis of trust.

Series:Keys For The Christian Living

Scripture: Genesis 20.1-13 and Genesis 26.1-11

Date: 08 January, 2017

Scripture Reading

Take your Bibles and rise to your feet, turn with me now and Read Genesis 20.1-13 and Genesis 26.1-11

Genesis 20:1-13

20 And Abraham journeyed from thence toward the south country, and dwelled between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourned in Gerar.

2 And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister: and Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah.

3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, thou art but a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she is a man's wife.

4 But Abimelech had not come near her: and he said, Lord, wilt thou slay also a righteous nation?

5 Said he not unto me, She is my sister? and she, even she herself said, He is my brother: in the integrity of my heart and innocency of my hands have I done this.

6 And God said unto him in a dream, Yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her.

7 Now therefore restore the man his wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou restore her not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that are thine.

8 Therefore Abimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and told all these things in their ears: and the men were sore afraid.

9 Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said unto him, What hast thou done unto us? and what have I offended thee, that thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? thou hast done deeds unto me that ought not to be done.

10 And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What sawest thou, that thou hast done this thing?

11 And Abraham said, Because I thought, Surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will slay me for my wife's sake.

12 And yet indeed she is my sister; she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.

13 And it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father's house, that I said unto her, This is thy kindness which thou shalt shew unto me; at every place whither we shall come, say of me, He is my brother.

Genesis 26:1-11

26 And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar.2 And the Lord appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of:3 Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father;4 And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;5 Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.6 And Isaac dwelt in Gerar:7 And the men of the place asked him of his wife; and he said, She is my sister: for he feared to say, She is my wife; lest, said he, the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah; because she was fair to look upon.8 And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was sporting with Rebekah his wife.9 And Abimelech called Isaac, and said, Behold, of a surety she is thy wife; and how saidst thou, She is my sister? And Isaac said unto him, Because I said, Lest I die for her.10 And Abimelech said, What is this thou hast done unto us? one of the people might lightly have lien with thy wife, and thou shouldest have brought guiltiness upon us.11 And Abimelech charged all his people, saying, He that toucheth this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.

This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. May the sweet Holy Spirit add His manifold blessings to our text this morning... in our hearing. Amen! You may be seated in God's Presence.

Introduction

Today, we're continuing in our series Keys For The Christian Living, and our title is Living Honestly. Just like Abraham and his son Isaac, it's easy for ordinary people to fall into a pattern of lying. But honesty is the foundation of all our relationships because it's the basis of trust.

Sermon

I'm going to give you three reasons why people lie.

1. People Lie Because Of Fear

ILLUS - 

Abraham went to live in the land of the Philistines, and looked round and thought, "I bet these Philistines are a godless bunch. Not like me. I've got the call of God on my life." Then he had an idea: "My Sarah is pretty gorgeous. If these guys see her, they'll want her for sure. They might even kill me to get her." So he said, "Sarah, you better tell them you're my sister." "But…" "No buts. You tell them I'm your brother."

And his fear caused him to lie.

And that little lie put his wife at risk.

[Note: It seems that Abraham is being confronted again on an issue that he had failed in Egypt 24 years earlier (Gen. 12:11-20). It is God’s mercy not to let us get away with things! However, I would like to suggest several reasons why God permitted this test:

Firstly, when we fail a test, our Lord often gives us another opportunity to redeem ourselves. The circumstances of this test are almost identical to the previous one.

Secondly, I believe that the Lord was allowing this to happen right before the conception of Isaac. Why? In order to correct a flaw in Abraham that would have passed on to the succeeding generation. If Abraham had passed this test, it would never have repeated in Isaac. We will find that invariably our offspring will be tested on the very tests that we flunk. (See Gen. 26:6-7.) Children take on the nature of the father at

conception.]

Abimelech saw her, wanted her, took her, and if it hadn't been for God's intervention, he would have violated her.

Fear can lead to lying - fear of consequences, fear of losing popularity, fear of failure, fear of being found out.

Lots of people will be tempted to be dishonest when they are afraid.

ILLUS - 

A grandmother was looking after her two little grandchildren - a 7-year-old girl, and a 5-year-old boy. And they were really, really bad. When it came time for their mother to pick them up, the little girl said, "Are you going to tell Mummy?" The grandmother replied, "No, I'm not. But if she asks me, I can't tell a lie." The little boy looked up to her and said, "Why not? I'm only 5, and I can lie great."

2. People Lie For Personal Gain

ILLUS - 

Pepe Rodriguez was one of the most notorious bank robbers in the wild, wild west. He would creep over the border into Texas, rob a bank and then flee back to Mexico. The Texas Rangers got so frustrated they decided that they would cross the border illegally and track him down. There was a long search, and finally they cornered him in a Mexican bar. All the lawmen had their guns drawn. Pepe was terrified. He could speak no English and the Rangers couldn't speak any Spanish. So they asked Pepe's friend, the bartender, to translate. He explained to Pepe who they were. The Rangers asked the barman to explain to Pepe that they wanted to know where he had hidden all the money. If he didn't tell them, they would shoot him down like a dog. The bartender translated, and Pepe began to shake with fear. "Tell them the money is hidden in the well. Count down 17 stones from the handle, and that's where all the loot is." The bartender turned to the Rangers and said in English, "Pepe is a very brave man. He says that you are a bunch of stinking pigs, and he is not afraid to die."

That's only a story, but the desire to get ahead is a strong motivating force to mess with the truth. People talk themselves up, they make up stories, they misrepresent. And they sacrifice the truth for a little material gain. But Jesus said, (Mat 16:26) "For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?"

The things in this life are only temporary.

The pleasures of this world are short-lived.

One day, when we stand before Almighty God, we'll see very clearly that there's nothing in this world worth losing your soul over.

3. People Lie Because Of Expectations

ILLUS - 

Someone gave me a bookmark which said: Look famous. Be legendary. Appear complex. Act easy. Radiate presence. Travel light. Seem a dream. Prove real.

Wow! That's a lot to live up to.

Is it any wonder when there are expectations from every direction to be all sorts of things, that people lie to make themselves look better than they really are.

We have an expression in church circles when a preacher starts doing this - we say he's being evangelistic.

Stretching the truth.

There's nothing wrong with telling a good story, as long as people have a fair idea that you're taking poetic licence.

But when you find yourself making it up and deliberately passing it off as the truth, you've got a problem.

ILLUS - 

I used to teach guitar to a boy named Andrew. One lesson he was really excited and started telling me how his father had a Harley Davidson and raced on the track. I was impressed - as impressed as someone can be when they don't give a hoot about racing. Until his mother arrived. "I've been hearing all about the Harley." "Harley?", she said. "The only bike we've got is a bicycle."I had to bite my tongue after that because whenever he said something like, "We're getting a couple of horses," and I knew all they had was a small suburban block, I was tempted to say, "That's great. Will you park them next to the Harley?"

Isn't it true, that once you know that a person lies, you take everything they say with a grain of salt?

Even when they are telling truth - because you don't always know which is which, and you no longer trust them.

Fear, personal gain, and expectations are all strong motivators to lie.

Now let's look at three areas where we need to try to be honest.

1. Be Honest With Others

Like I said, honesty is the basis of trust.

This is so important in the eyes of God, that when He decided to take all the things that were important to Him, and condense them into Ten Commandments for living, He included this commandment: (Ex 20:16) "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour."

In plain English: You shall not lie.

It's one of the ten things most important to God. This means being honest in our dealings with others. It doesn't only apply to what we say, but what we do, how we act.

For instance, falsifying information on a tax return is still lying.

2. Be Honest With God

Why should we be honest with God?

Because He knows everything anyway. You can't surprise God, you can't shock Him, you can't catch Him unawares. He knows all things, even our most secret thoughts and desires.

1 Sam 16:7 For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.

1 Chron 28:9 As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts…

Ps 139:1-4 O LORD, You have searched me and known me. (2) You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. (3) You comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. (4) For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O LORD, You know it altogether.

If God's knowledge is so amazingly complete, why do we bother trying to conceal the truth from Him?

There's no good reason to be anything but totally honest with God.

Mk 9:14-24

I just love this guy's honesty. He didn't try to bluff his way through, he didn't try to pretend. He said it like it is.

What surprises me is that Jesus never looked at this guy and said, "What is wrong with you people? How do you expect to ever get anything when your faith is so weak?"

There was no condemnation, not even the slightest hint of rebuke, or anger, or disappointment that the man's faith wasn't what it should be. He just gave him what he asked for.

I don't know how many times I've prayed that prayer: Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief. Because I'm trusting God in something, and no matter how I try, it seems like it's just a little beyond my faith.

I reckon the hardest thing is for people to admit their sins, their failures, and their weaknesses to God.

But when we admit our sins to God, here's what the Bible says will happen: (1 John 1:9) If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

He doesn't forgive or cleanse excuses, He doesn't forgive or cleanse cover-ups, He forgives and cleanses sin that is honestly brought to the light and confessed to Him.

This leads us to the third area.

3. Be Honest With Yourself

I think that people have trouble being honest with God because they are not really honest with themselves.

It's hard to admit failings, faults and weaknesses.

It takes courage, humility, and real inner strength to deal with these things.

ILLUS - David and Bathsheba.

David admitted his sin, and God's immediate response was to forgive him.

When we choose to walk in integrity, 70% of the decisions we have to make, have already been made.

[Note: Abraham and Sarah are put upon a very high pedestal in eternity. Even the New Testament lauds them as our spiritual Father and Mother. Someday we shall sit down with them, and they will know our names – that is, if we are the true seed and have continued to walk in their faithful steps. I say this because I have heard some very critical remarks about them from God’s people. Let us think of them as though they were our parents. Whilst they may have made a few mistakes, they might seem relatively small in comparison to the ones we have made! How many people do you know who are called

“The friend of God?”]

Invitation and the Final challenge

Let us catch a fresh vision
Heb. 6:12-17 “That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises. For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he swear by himself, Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath.”

The promises made to Abraham and to his heirs were immutable. The Lord swore by Himself that He would bring it to pass. Oh, we want to be a part of this! We want to be the true circumcision who walk in the Spirit – Those who are not only called, but also chosen and found faithful, as was our father Abraham. The Lord has reserved the fullness of blessing for the true heirs of promise in these last days. May we (by God’s grace) be a part of the glorious City that Abraham saw. Amen!