with Archbishop Samuel OkhisareRisen Life Evangelical Church

  1. “A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall perish.” Pro. 19:9.

“For your… lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness. None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth; they trust in vanity, and speak lies,”Is. 59:3-4. “Because with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad…” Ez. 13:22.

Telling lies has destroyed the society and it has perverted justice here and there. No matter the number of people involved in telling lies, God has made his stand clear; “He that speaketh lies shall perish.” Prov. 19:9. We also see the mind of God about this evil practice in the society; “But … the abominable … and all liars shall have their part in the lake of fire and brimstones, which is the second death.” Rev. 21:8

Telling lies is on the increase because people decide to get rich quickly, because they want ‘quick money’. An office driver who wanted ‘quick money’ got fuel into the official bus. He got fuel worth two thousand naira into the tank bus and asked the sales boy to issue official receipt for two thousand, five hundred naira. He got to office, told lies and tendered the false receipt for two thousand five hundred naira and got the five hundred naira into his pocket.

  • We are ashamed of someone like Gehazi who ought to have the fear of God more than anyone else because he was serving under a prophet of God. He had gone out secretly to collect goods and money from Naaman. He forgot that prophets have inner eyes. So Elisha asked “Whence cometh thou, Gehazi? And he said thy servant went no whither and he said unto him, went not mine heart with thee, when the man turned again from his chariot to meet thee?” IIKg. 5:25-26. Consequently Gehazi and his seed become lepers. If Gehazi had spoken the truth and asked for forgiveness he would have averted that severe penalty.

Lies  here and there; liars here and there; false affidavits here and there; false age declaration here and there; false asset declaration here and there; forged and falsified statements of examination results here and there; falsified documents here and there – numerous, uncountable false declarations everywhere.

Judges cannot easily see the truth because of false witnesses all over the world. Sometimes judges themselves even prefer the false affidavits and admit them as evidence when they are involved in bribery. In all these there is a command; “Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour.” Eph. 4:25.

  • The case of prophets practicing lies is disturbing. God spoke about these false prophets; “Then the Lord said unto me, the prophets prophesy lies in my name; I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spoke unto them; they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of naught, and the deceit of their heart” Jer. 14:14. “…by sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed.” Jer. 14:15.

We need to be cautious since they come to us in the name of prophet of God. Many people have fallen to their traps as they claim they can solve problems brought to them. These prophets could require candles, white cloth, sacrifice of animals and other things at the cross roads. Above it all you could be charged some amount of money varying from one type of problem or the other.

Christians should not take precaution about false prophets alone but also about others who are liars. “…they have taught their tongue to speak lies, and weary themselves to commit iniquity.” Jer. 9:5. We are not to accept their counsels because they practice unrighteousness.

  •  There is a sure way of keeping far away from lies. That way is Christ. Here what Christ said; “I am the way, the truth, and the life no man cometh unto the Father but by me”. Jn 14:6.

Christ is the truth. There is no one that is in him that will continue in lies. There is a new life in us if we are in Christ because that spirit of lies would be replaced with the spirit of truth. The true situation we would now find ourselves is that there is indwelling of the Holy Spirit in us. We are in Christ and Christ is in us.

It should not be forgotten that Satan is the father of lies; we should not be liars any more; see who Satan is if you have been following his evil ways and practicing lies.

“Ye are of your father the devil, …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.

So let us note the mind of God on this as in the Scriptures:

  • The devil is the father of lies Jn 8:44
  • No liar shall inherit the kingdom of heaven Rev. 21:8
  • Lie not to any one Col. 3:9-10
  • We must hate lie but love the word of God Ps 119:163
  • A liar is for a moment, cannot last long Prov. 12:18