- Good morning again. Let's take a moment to go before the Lord and pray, asking him to bless our time and the word. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, God, we pray that as each Sunday, we open up your word. God, we know that you are revealing to us your will, your truth, and it is our prayer, God, that as we open it up, Lord, we would expose the intentions of our mind and the contents of our heart to you.

God, that we would be changed. Lord, that we would be edified by your powerful word. So we pray for a blessed time this morning. It's in Christ's name we pray, amen. So just by way of asking you to get in a frame of mind, I want to ask you to think about the last time that you're about to get into some major trouble, okay?

Now, for some of you guys, you're thinking, maybe at work, right? You made a royal blunder at your office. There was a time when I used to work at a sales admin at a warehouse distributor, and I accidentally sent the end product, the merchant's price tag to them, and the upper department managers immediately all sent me one email ticket, like a bunch of emails at one time.

I felt my body just shrinking, and then just wanting to escape, okay? Think about a time when you were getting into trouble, so to speak, or trying to escape. The reason why I want you to think of that is because I want you to think about when was the last time you were tempted to lie, okay?

This silly machine, I don't know why it sent the thingy. When was the last time you were tempted to fudge on what really happened? And the thing about it is, when it comes to maturity, even from a young age, we recognize that for little ones, for the young children, when we were kids, that lying came pretty natural to us, you know?

Your mom asks, like, did you eat that candy? No, you know, it's just immediate, just without even hesitation. And the thing about it is, our maturity doesn't mean that we don't make mistakes over time. Actually, our parents are looking at us like, do you have the maturity to tell me the truth when you make your mistakes, when you sin, right?

Unfortunately, truth be told, sometimes even though I wish I would mature a lot faster, I have still the temptation to lie, and intentionally lie to hide. Silliest example, very recently, I purchased some camping gear. Now, the thing is, I don't go camping a lot a lot. Our family goes maybe once or twice a year, but I have enough camping gear to last me like months.

So my wife already knows, like, we don't need another thing, okay. But to my weakness and flesh, I bought this really amazing solar panel generator, okay? So it's expensive, right? And the thing is, as things for guys go, we like to brag about the camp gear we buy. So the next time you go camping, they're like, oh, look at that.

I'm like, yeah, it's pretty cool. And then we talk about the amperage and the solar panel thing. But the next question always is, how much did it cost? And immediately I felt this weird tingling sensation. They're gonna judge me if I say how much this thing cost. And I felt the temptation to hide.

So I said something silly like, oh, you know, just a pretty penny. But then the question doesn't stop there, how much did it cost? It always goes to, where did you buy it? And it's like, oh, don't be silly. It's just on Amazon, you know? But then I think, oh gosh, they're gonna know.

Once they look it up on Amazon, they're gonna know how much I paid. So there was this weird temptation. Now the truth is I had some gift cards. It was on sale. (audience laughing) Rationalizing. But I started in my head looking for a number that seemed like reasonable. Now I'm giving you the most menial, smallest of peripheral temptations.

But that temptation exists. It's like there waiting for us. And that's a bit scary because that can be a habit. It can be a lie that exists in major decisions. And certain things can deeply hurt people. And in the end, it could cause us to be very, very far from the holiness of God.

Now the reason why I think through this is because I've been doing my devotions through Genesis. And so today's sermon is gonna be a bit of a walkthrough of passages in Genesis. As a heads up, we'll hit lots of different passages. And what I wanna do is observe, wow, when sin expresses itself, it expresses itself in the way that we talk.

And our Lord Jesus talked about this, saying out of what's contained in your heart, the mouth speaks. It's not a matter of what goes in. And what I realize is as we look at the history of mankind through the book of Genesis, yes, we're looking at patriarchs, members of the hall of faith, so to speak.

But when you look at the history of sinful man, what we will find commonly is this, this pervasive expression of our sin, which is lies. And so straight into it, my point is going to be that as I read through these passages, I recognized I myself, I'm a man of unclean lips.

And we come from a people of unclean lips. We began by going to Genesis chapter four, to at least turn your Bibles there. In Genesis chapter four, we have the story of Cain. You guys are very familiar with it. Essentially, these are the early first human beings, first sons.

And we have animosity between two brothers. It says in this passage, Cain told Abel his brother, and it came about when they were in the field, Cain rose up against Abel, his brother, and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, "Where is Abel, your brother?" And he said, "I don't know.

"Am I my brother's keeper?" Wow. Just from the very get-go, what we see is Cain exhibiting this false claim of ignorance. And it's wild because he, of all people, being that close to God where God is speaking to him, should know in the back of his head, God probably knows.

And yet just this irrational lie. I don't know, but then there's also deflection. Is it my responsibility? This is at the heart of the kind of motivation behind sin. Have we ever instinctually lied to avoid guilt and blame? Have we ever instinctually just lied to shift? Like, wait a minute, is this my fault?

It's his fault. Maybe it's your fault. It's not my responsibility. This is at the knee-jerk reaction of the sinful heart when it comes to these circumstances. But the line continues to Abraham, okay? Genesis chapter 12, turn your Bible there and take a look at verse 11. In the story of Abraham, what we see is another motivation to deceive.

And what happens is as God had called Abraham to travel out of his homeland into a promised land that he was going to give, they run into scenarios where it's dicey. And look how he responds, verse 11. It came about when he came near Egypt. He said to Sarai, his wife, "See now, I know you're a beautiful woman.

"And when the Egyptians see you, "they will say, 'This is his wife,' "and they'll kill me. "But they will let you live. "Please say that you're my sister "so that it may go well with me because of you "and that I may live on account of you." Now, ladies, what a man, huh?

(laughs) So what I want you to do is lie. Just say, "You're my sister." It's like, say what? Because, because, it's gonna work. You're beautiful, they're gonna like you, and then me, they're gonna kill. Don't worry, it'll all work out. You see, what happens here is he is lying to save his hide.

One of the great motivators of lies, when you're afraid, maybe even paranoid of what's gonna happen, it tends to lie. Scripture says, actually, those who are paranoid, they'll say, "Lions and bears out there." There are no lions and bears out there. But you'll say it, 'cause it gives them every excuse for you to guard yourself, right?

Exaggerations. These predictions, so to speak, cause us to lie, and then he's inspiring his wife to lie. Now, here's the dangerous thing that sometimes lies lie about. What am I saying there is, your lies that you actually commit lie to you. And you know what that lie is? It's gonna work.

They say to a gambler, one of the worst things that can happen to you ever is what? First time gambler wins a big hand. That's the worst thing that happens to you. Why? 'Cause now you believe it. Next hand, I'm gonna win. I double down, you lose all of it.

It's okay, the next time I'm gonna win. Liars are good gamblers. 'Cause why not what happens? 'Cause he lies again. Turn your Bible to Genesis chapter 20, verses one through seven. In Genesis chapter 20, verses one through seven, it says, "Abraham journeyed from there "toward the land of Negev, "and settled between Kadesh and Shur.

"Then he sojourned into Gerar, "and Abraham said of Sarah his wife, "she's my sister." So there he is in the same exact tactic. "So Abimelech, king of Gerar, sent and took Sarah." Oh no. But then, this is one of the most scariest things that I've ever read in scripture.

"God came to Abimelech in the dream of the night "and said to him, behold, you are a dead man. "And Abimelech wet his pants. "Because the woman whom you have taken for she is married." Think about that. So Abimelech, he hadn't come near here yet, and he said, "Lord, will you slay an entire nation "even though we're blameless?

"Did he not say to me, she's my sister? "And she said herself, he's my brother? "In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands, "I have done this." Then God sent him in his dream. Yes, I know in the integrity of your heart, you have done this.

"And I also kept you from sinning against me. "Therefore, I did not let you touch her. "Now therefore, restore the man's wife, "for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you, "and you will live. "But if you do not restore her, "know that you shall surely die, "you and all who are yours." Some silly part of superstitious living will read these stories of the Old Testament and be like, "Oh, what a cunning man.

"It worked. "He saved his butt." Not true at all. What God was doing is God has a plan for his people to come through this pure line. Therefore, he guarded Sarah with his power. But this is utter sin. And utter sin tends to create incredible drama. See, we have this false belief that it's just a small lie, maybe a white lie, and maybe something really, really unharmful.

But that in itself is a lie. Lies tend to break relationships. Lies tend to destroy trust. Lies tend to create this kind of drama where, man, lo and behold, the entire nation could have been wiped out because of Abraham's lie. We don't see that. Why? Because we ourselves are deceived when we lie.

Now, what's more is when we resort to ungodly means, lying is a tool. When we resort to ungodly means, it ends up setting a pace for the rest. It ends up actually inspiring more ungodliness around us. Take a look at the next story in Genesis 26, verses six through nine.

I know right now it's already feeling a little heavy because as we walk through the biblical narratives, you recognize there is just a lot of sin. And for me, as I walk through it, I recognize there is, because more and more I also recognize there are a variety of ways where, yes, I may not be saying blatant, high, brazen lies, but there's a lot of deception.

Here, what I was trying to make the point of is, when we lie, it sets a precedence for the rest. And look at Isaac, Abraham's son, Abraham's precious son, the one who was so dear. In Genesis 26, it says, "So Isaac lived in Gerard, "the same place that his father was.

"And when the men of the place asked about his wife, "guess what he said? "She's my sister. "For he was afraid to say my wife, "thinking the men of this place "would kill me on the account of Rebekah." Why? For she was beautiful. Now, I relate to these guys, you know?

You marry a beautiful woman, your life is hard. No, what we recognize actually is, these guys are just trying to save their own lives, trying to preserve. Came about when he was there for a long time, a Bimilic king of the Palestinians looked out through a window and saw, and behold, Isaac was caressing his wife, Rebekah, and a Bimilic called him and said, "Behold, certainly she's your wife.

"Now then, didn't you say she is my sister?" And Isaac said to him, "Because," I said, "I might die on her account." You recognize, you recognize that the same logic, something that may seem pretty rational, he's just projecting ahead, is causing this motivation to lie. And what we're getting at is, there is a thought process.

There is not just this like, oh, I just happened to say, it just happened to come out of my mouth. There is absolutely a thought process behind the lies that come. The last individual we're going to see as we walk down these patriarchs and we walk down these significant figures of the Old Testament is Jacob.

Turn your Bibles over to chapter 27, a story that you guys are very familiar with, okay? As you know, Isaac, once he becomes old in his age, he can't really even see. And as he thinks about his passing, he calls his oldest son Esau and says, "Come, prepare for me a meal from the hunt." He wants to eat a good meal.

And from that, he wants to give his blessing over. Mom hears of it and she devises a plan, tells her son Jacob and says, "I want you to act like your Esau. "Come back, feed him his favorite meal. "It's going to be delicious 'cause I'll make it for you "and earn that blessing." But think about this story as you hear it.

Verse 18, so we're in chapter 27, verse 18. He said, "Then he came to his father and said, "My father, and he said, here I am. "Who are you, my son? "And Jacob said to his father, I am Esau." I mean, maybe he did the, "I am Esau, your son, firstborn.

"I have done as you told me. "Get up, please, sit and eat of my game "that you may bless me." Right? You know he wasn't fooling anybody. Now Isaac said to his son, "How is this "that you have it so quickly, my son?" And he said, "Because the Lord, your God, "has caused it to happen to me." Take a moment to pause right there.

When we lie, there's no rhyme or reason. And when you have no rhyme or reason, you actually don't really have boundaries. You think about the extent of his lie and what he has to say when Isaac starts to question him. He is going to use pieces and family members, probably, to uphold his story.

But here and now, he uses God as a piece in his false narrative. Think about God who's watching. They're like, "What? "I didn't do that for you." Think about what's happening. In order for Jacob to hold up the story, he has to be quite brazen. Take a look at verse 21.

In verse 21, it says, "Then Isaac said to Jacob, "Please come close, that I may feel you, my son, "whether you are really my son Esau or not." So I am guessing if you just picture yourself in this scenario and you're Jacob, now you're just like, oh shoot. Like you put on the wool and stuff like that, but in the end, I mean, you gotta be scared.

You gotta be deathly afraid. He's gonna know, right? He's inching closer and he already knows his voice wasn't a good sell because he says, "So Jacob came close to Isaac his father "and he felt him and said, "The voice is the voice of Jacob, "but the hands are the hands of Esau." He did not recognize him because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau's hand.

So he blessed him and he said, "Are you really my son?" So even after as he's blessing him, Isaac is suspicious of him. And look what happens. And he said, "I am." What I found both in pattern of sin and as I prepared this sermon, I started thinking about various sins that I've committed and moments that I lied.

And one of the patterns that I saw in my own life and then also in the lives of people at council too is when we're in a lie, you rarely actually give up. What you do is you double down. And that's what Jacob is doing. Isaac is already suspicious.

Isaac has now asked multiple times. He's even asked for proof by touching his hand and he doubles down. Can I tell you a funny story? It was a long time ago and so I feel like I could share with you. This was when I was really interested in Bia, but the thing about it is I had done that thing where I told my guy friends, like, "You know what I'm gonna do?

"I'm gonna do the godly thing "and focus on my spiritual growth. "So I'm not interested in anybody." Lies, okay? So as you guys know, my good older brother at that time was Elder James Hong. He was such a good older brother to me. And one time he just kind of grabbed me by the shoulder and was like, "Hey." And back then he called me Moon, my Korean name.

And he was like, "Hey Moon, are you interested in Bia?" "No." You know, "No." And then I remember him asking me, did you try anything, like talk to her? It's like, "Nah, you know, no." And then he was like, "Oh, let's go for a drive and stuff." 'Cause back then when we were stressed with studies or stuff like that, we'd just go for a drive.

And he went on a drive with me and he was just giving me the opportunity, dude. And then he looked over at me and he grabbed my shoulder and he's like, "Dude, she asked me what I thought of you "because she told me you talked to her." I was like, "Oh no." So embarrassed 'cause he asked me multiple times, did you talk to her?

And I was like, "Nah." So embarrassing. I'm gonna be honest, it's so embarrassing. And I looked at him and I was like, "Oh my God, "I'm so sorry." But I think back to that and it's like, even in, again, I share with you funny stories, but there is a wicked sinfulness that does not want to give up.

You double down on your sin, it's like, "I am Esau, "feel me, hear my voice." I imagine if we were to just jump in that scenario and watch him, it would be comical, right? Because he's covered in a facade, literally in sheep's clothe. That's wild. But it convicts my heart because, do you guys remember, Pastor Peter preached a sermon through chapter 11 about the members of the hall of faith, so to speak, and Jacob's in there.

And I'm sitting here, reading through Genesis, thinking, "That guy doesn't belong in there. "He's a liar, absolute deceiving liar. "So much so, he lies to his own father to his face, "but his father is in his basically death. "He's old and passing away. "His father is easily manipulated because he's blind.

"He can't see. "And you lied to him." And it was just so, what a juxtaposition of how sinful he is. And then it gets worse, you know why? Because not only does he lie to his father, he lies to his brother, whom he has swindled and lied to multiple times, even after the reconciliation of the brothers.

So turn your Bibles over to Genesis chapter 33, and look at the track record of sin in mankind. What happens is, Jacob, because of the consequence of his sin, he has to run away and escape. And as you guys know the story, he comes into a land, works for this individual, Laban, and he wants the daughter for a wife.

He ends up getting tricked, and then it's kind of like, "Ha ha, just desserts. "You trick people, you get tricked, bada boom," right? And then he ends up having two wives, which is, again. And then there's all this turmoil going back and forth. There's actually a lot of deception back and forth with his father-in-law, Laban, where he has to do some trickery to get all the sheep, and then he's tricking him so that he doesn't get all the sheep, and then finally he leaves.

Upon leaving, God tells him, "I want you to go back to your homeland, "where your family is." So he decides, "I'm gonna obey. "God has been with me," and he goes, and on his journey there, bum, bum, bum, one of his servants says, "Your brother is coming for you with 400 men." Jacob's like, "Oh my goodness." Now, just as a side note, as a consequence of sin and lies, you will always be paranoid.

It's unavoidable. You'll always be paranoid. But secondly, what happens is Jacob decides, "I'm going to produce this drama "of a presentation of gifts for him," like lavishing him. He creates droves of his family, and what's really sad is you could tell who are his favorites, 'cause he knows they're coming for him, so he puts the least favorites right up at the top, and incrementally, there are massive amounts of gifts given to Esau.

And finally, when Esau and Jacob meet, Esau actually embraces Jacob and says, "I've come to you with favor and grace." There is sweet reconciliation that happens, but then the story doesn't have a happy thingy. Take a look. Chapter 33, verse 12 through 17. Chapter 33, verse 12 through 17.

Then Esau said, "Let us make our journey and go now, "and I will go before you." So Esau's great idea is like, "I don't hold this revenge against you. "Let's go down together to our homeland," right? Verse 13, "But he," Jacob said to him, "My Lord knows that the children are frail, "and that the flocks and herds, "which are nursing, are a care to me.

"And if they are driven hard one day, "all the flocks will die. "Please let my Lord pass on before his servant, "and I will proceed at my leisure, "according to the pace of the cattle that are before me, "and according to the pace of the children, "until I come to my Lord at Seir." Esau said, "Please let me leave with you "some of the people who are with me." But he said, "What need is there?

"Let me find favor in the sight of my Lord." So Esau returned that day on his way to Seir. Jacob journeyed to Succoth and built for him a house and made booze for his livestock, therefore the place is named Succoth. Okay, I'm not sure if you catch all that, but essentially what's happening is Esau's like, "Come with me," and Jacob's like, "No," right?

And he has amazing excuses. People who tend to lie make really convincing excuses. "You know the children and the flock "and then they die." You know, like it's all about, they're gonna die if you do this. And what ends up happening is that you go on ahead. Esau's like, "I'll leave you my men.

"They'll protect you." It's like, "No, no, no, no need for that." Esau goes down to Seir, which is about 50 miles south of the Dead Sea. So if you, Jerusalem, that area, there's Dead Sea, that's like a long strip. Seir is like 50 miles south of it. What ends up happening is Jacob says, "You go on ahead, I'll join you." And he stops 150 miles short.

Sikoth is north of the Dead Sea. He played the oldest prank ever. It's like, "Wait for me there." And then he never intended to go. That's crazy. Dude, you lied to your father. You lied to your brother even after you reconciled. And you know what that tells me? As we observe this ongoing list of the various motivations and observations of the sinfulness of lying, when you are a liar, you're not trustworthy, but you also don't trust anybody.

Jacob doesn't trust that Esau is so mature. It's like, "You think Esau really is so mature "he doesn't have any ill feelings, "no bitterness, is completely over it?" I'm pretty sure Jacob's thinking, "No, no, we'll stay a safe distance over here." Because if you're a suspect, you're suspect of other people.

This is the world of darkness when we lie. Lying causes you to live in the fruit of the kingdom of darkness. And you yourself get deceived, you are deceiving, and there is just a constant feeding of deception that goes on into that land. And scripture calls out and says this.

Proverbs 6, verse 12 through 14. "A worthless person, a wicked man, "is the one who walks with a perverse mouth, "who winks with his eyes, who signals with his feet, "who points with his fingers, "who with perversity in his heart "continually devises evil and spreads strife." To me, Jacob is a cunning snake.

He's basically exhibited every form of lying you can do, and he's even did the subtle stuff, where maybe he feigns like, "You know, my intention is to go with you," but he's not actually forthright with your intentions. That too is a lie. It's a lie when you claim ignorance, it's a lie when you exaggerate, it's a lie when you just feign stuff.

All of that is a lie. And the thing about it is Jacob is such a survivor, he's got every tool on his belt. But yet, he's in the hall of faith. Now, the thing is, as I was thinking about that, I stopped, took a moment, and realized, "Oh gosh, am I so different?

"Are any single one of us, "when we look back at our pre-converted state, "are we any different?" And then even now in our converted state, being a Christian, do we not have similar motivations? Maybe we can make the excuse that we would never, ever lie directly to the face of my parents.

I will never, ever use God for my gain in my fake story. But if you were to ask me, in my short 38 years of life, have I ever lied to my father? Have I ever lied to my brother? Have I ever lied to important people just because I wanted to escape some guilt, looking stupid, or promoting, look what a good job I did?

And what I realized is, the scripture is true. And Isaiah said it very, very well. "Woe is me." I may falsely believe Satan will deceive you and tell you your lies are just what everybody does. You're just being polite. You don't wanna hurt the man like, "No, I don't wanna be with you "because what if you change your mind?" You don't wanna hurt him like that, so just lie.

"I'll see you there, and just don't go." It's a lie. What we realize is, "Woe is me, we're ruined. "I am a man of unclean lips, "living among a people of unclean lips, "for my eyes have seen the King and the Lord of hosts." When we take our eyes off of what is the normal practice and pattern of this earth, and we look upon the God of truth whose standard is perfect, we're undone.

'Cause I'm gonna be honest with you, as I was preparing the sermon, I started like, again, counting, and I feel like the temptation to lie is almost every day. It's like regular. And I gotta confess that because the motivation in the heart, it's all there. The earthly fleshly rationale to do it is all there every day.

And I wanna challenge you. We have to make sure that we turn to the one true God who is the God of truth for the remedy. You see, when we think about it, what is the solution for these men? What is the solution for me? Should we sit there and teach them, like, do you have any idea what you've done to your family?

Do you know the consequences of your sin and lies? You have broken relationships. Look at you, Jacob. You had such a good relationship with your mom. She didn't ever do anything bad to you, and you didn't do anything bad for her, but your relationship's broken. Why? Because you had to run.

Your relationship with your brother's broken, your relationship with your father's broken, and you go down in history almost equated with deception in the Old Testament. Look at the consequences. You think that worked? You think that will change? You think that's going to reform a man? Do you think trying to show him, like, that's illogical, dude.

You're trying to deceive God Almighty? He talks to you verbally. He's around everywhere and knows all things. He's told you that. He sees the beginning and the end, and he dictates everything that happens in the middle. Why are you trying to lie to him? But you and I both know, at the core heart of deception, it's not logical.

What we need is the gospel truth of God entering into our lives, redeeming us and moving us from the kingdom of darkness into the glorious light of his son. Amen? Outside of the transforming power of God moving you kingdoms, and then working in your heart through his gospel, this temptation's too big.

And now you hear of it all the time. Recently, stories of people lying, just faking, like, I wrote this sermon. People lying on high-level powers. You hear people lying on every which case. But then, for you and me, I'm going to move to my second point. I know that first point was the longest point ever.

But the second point is this, is the consequences of not turning to the God of truth means you are going to be regularly living in the kingdom of darkness, because without the truth, without the God of truth, all you have is darkness. That's all you have. You have the kingdom of the flesh not only inspiring you to lie, you yourself are being lied to.

Did you know that? Whenever you fall to the deception of thinking that, you know, I'm going to use this lie as a means to mitigate my risk, as a means to escape my circumstances, as a means to look even slightly, just a little bit better, there is a massive lie that's putting over you.

You know what that lie is? The lie isn't, oh, you're so good and great, or something like that. You know what the lie is? The stupid lie is, this is going to work. Like, I want you to think about God, like being there as the almighty, all-powerful God. And this little human thinking, you know what I'm going to do?

I'm going to dupe you, you know? It's so pathetic. But Satan is so good because he is the father of lies, ruling the kingdom of darkness. He wants you to believe that your feeble attempt and strategy, it's your tactic, that somehow it's going to work. But we as believers, we're coming to a point for us to surrender.

God, none of this has worked. Look at that. Look at the Old Testament. It's never worked, and it's never going to work. Why? Because what I am seeking is never provided by this kingdom of darkness. What am I talking about? I want you to go back and think about why the pattern of sin, of lying that the people had.

Do you remember that we highlighted that these individuals were lying because they were trying to hide shame? What did you do? Nothing. These individuals were lying to find protection. Oh my gosh, they're after me, just lie. These individuals were lying to promote themselves. These individuals are lying to escape.

These individuals are lying to find security. These individuals are lying to find provision. These individuals are lying to get their way. There is motivation behind all these things, you guys. And that's what I'm talking about. How does the gospel address that stuff? The gospel addresses that stuff in every single way.

And for that, praise the Lord. God says, I not only take your shame, I expose it to the light. I not only expose it to the light, I forgive you your guilt. I 100% deal with your guilt by taking that debt of your sin upon the cross of Christ, and it's done.

It's dealt with. I take that security that you're seeking, and I want you to know I guard you in my name. Listen to Jesus's prayer in John chapter 17. Jesus says, I want you to sanctify them in your truth and guard them in your name, in your power, preserve them.

You want elevation? Do you realize that the gospel we have is, God says, I will glorify you and exalt you in due time. Every truth that God has given to us eradicates every motivation there is to lie. Through the gospel, all inspiration for lies dissipates, because we're 100% provided for in the kingdom of light.

And that's why scripture says, if we are walking according to the light and walking in the truth, we can lie down in peace. There's no threat, no worry. There's no paranoia. There's no suspicion, like, are you gonna hurt me? You're not looking around other people, seeing people as threats to your well-being.

Why? Because you exist in the presence of the God of truth. And so my final last exhortation to you is you, we have to, we have to believe and walk in this God, who neither is powerless, neither he has any reason to lie to us. He is 100% dependable, that he by his character and nature never, never, ever lies.

Scripture tells us this. So that's point three, God is a God of truth who sanctifies with truth, and we have to make sure we're abiding in his presence, operating as his kingdom, according to his truth. And say, God, I want all of that. I want every single truth you have for me, and I want you to reach down into every single part of my life, and it's all there.

Why? Because scripture says, in Titus chapter one, which we're gonna be studying in the future, Titus chapter one, verses one through three, scripture says this, Paul, a bondservant of God and apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen of God, and the knowledge of the truth, which is according to godliness, and the hope of eternal life, which God cannot lie, promised long ago, long ages ago, but at the proper time manifested even his word, and the proclamation with which I was entrusted according to the commandment of God, our savior.

Scripture says, God is not a man that he should lie, nor a son of man that he should repent. As he said, and will he not do it? For has he not spoken, and will he not make it good? That's Numbers 23, verse 19. Let's take a moment to do a compare and contrast, and just thank the Lord.

We're talking about essentially, in order to fight the temptation to lie, in order to address this problem that I think every single person struggles with to some degree, we need to see ourselves in these two massive different kingdoms, and here is reigned by the prince of darkness, and here is reigned by the God who never ever lies.

Here you have one who's duping you, telling you, you can do it, just do this, it'll work. Here's one who's telling you, they're after you. Here's one who is telling you, wait a minute, now things are different, you need to do this, you need to do that, and all of that is feeble, vain, and empty.

Here's a God who says, when I say, it is so. I'm not your boss at work who says, you know, change of thought, I know I had you start this project, we wanted something that was just broad picture, but now I want more detail. He doesn't sit there and say, you know, I had a different thought.

You know what I didn't catch? You have a God who says, I'm so powerful and true, you can bank on me for everything I say, and the scripture says, the sum of his word is truth. Do you know what that means for you? Remember how I talked about the motivation?

You're secure. Your fear is that make you just like, uh, uh, uh, but what if I look silly? What if I look inept? What if I look not capable of doing what you ask? What if I don't look as good as that other guy? Every what if fear. Do you understand you have your securities in God who is true?

And in his kingdom he reigns perfectly. His truth and unchanging, and his mercies and his grace likewise share the same characteristic. There's a passage that's really, really beautiful where God is talking about his promises to David. Look at what he says, Psalm 89 verse 33, okay? Psalm 89 verse 33.

But I will not break off my loving kindness from him, nor deal falsely in my faithfulness. My covenant I will not violate, nor will I alter the utterance of my lips. Once I have spoken by my holiness, I will not lie to David. His descendants shall endure forever, and his thrones as a son before me.

Man, that is beautiful, isn't it? This is the God we have. And his promise is what we have. And if you revert back to that sermon that I referred to Pastor Peter preaching a while ago talking about Jacob, that was not to excuse his sin. He's a conniving, cunning individual who lied in heinous ways.

But what does he have? He has this clinging to the God of truth. But your promise. But you promised. You promised my fathers. You promised us. And I will seek your blessing then. And you know what Jacob does? That's what causes him to move and walk. There are people in the Old Testament narrative where because of the lack of fear of God and lack of trust in God, they were unwilling to move.

But Jacob, every time God said, I want you to move, do you know what he did? He looked at his posse, so to speak, his whole crew, and he said, put away your foreign gods. They're moving. Why do you think he did that? Because he trusted this unchanging, trustworthy, dependable, consistent God.

And so my challenge to you is if you struggle with the temptation to hide, you recognize that that is at the core of the sin of every single person I presented to you today. Essentially, they would just wanna hide themselves. But thanks be to God. God in his power is dealing with you.

And do you know what he does? This is one great promise of the gospel and the scriptures. God has chosen you to be conformed to the image of his son. God has chosen you to be holy and blameless as he is. And God has chosen you to be truthful as he is.

God is going to make you like him. And that is a great, great blessing of the gospel promise of God, amen? And so I pray, and I'm gonna read a couple verses here as we start wrapping things up, that we turn not simply away from falsehood as a means to just like, oh gosh, I just can't do this stuff.

But you're seeing what I'm saying is we need to turn in faith and trust to believe this God who said this. Zephaniah chapter three, verse 12 to 13. But I will leave among you a humble and lowly people, and they will take refuge in the name of the Lord.

The remnant of Israel will do no wrong and tell no lies, nor will a deceitful tongue be found in their mouths, for they will feed and lie down with no one to make them tremble. As we close off, I wanna ask you this interesting question. What makes for a revival?

How do you have a revival in your life? Now for me, when I got saved as a senior in high school, our church, I was so thankful for the ministry, but our church, like, they wanted to provide opportunities for people to just come and cry out to God so they had revival nights, right, every Fridays.

Now for me as a young individual, I approached it the wrong way. I approached it with like, okay, I'm just gonna come. And I stick out my hands, and you fill me. And back then we sang a lot of vineyard songs where it was just like, fill me, fill me, fill me.

Do it, you know? And you just came like this. And sometimes, yeah, honestly speaking, I was just waiting for something to touch me deep. And I wished that would produce in me a revival. But brothers and sisters, revival is not nebulous, mystic, and strange. Revival, according to the Bible, is any time revival happened, God presented himself and revealed, I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

I have made a promise to you. Your blessing is with me. This is who I am. And the people, upon looking, just like Isaiah, just like Jacob, when they saw him and heard him, what they said was, "What? "Who is me? "Put away all this stuff. "Why am I doing this?

"You guys, put away all this stuff." Whether it was King Josiah in the past, he read the word and says, "Let's put all those idols away. "Put away the false gods." And all they had to do was say, "God, I want to trust you, "so all this stuff I'm retaining in my life, "the idols are for blessings, the lies are for protection.

"This is for the people that I hold onto as idols "and they are for joy, this is for that. "But with you, I can give it all up." Why? Absolutely secure in the God of truth, amen. That to us is our revival here, and we could have it any given Sunday.

Let's take a moment to pray. Lord God, as we think about the long journey and the long trail of sin, Heavenly Father, you are so good to us, and it's astounding. I also think about, Lord, as we pray, your perspective where people have tried to lie to you, maybe making a case that our intentions or heart is good or making excuses here or there.

Father, today we want to come before you so open, exposed to your glorious light and your truth, to say you are the God of truth who sees all things, and in you there is nothing that can be hidden. You are the God of light, and Lord, in you there is nothing but truth.

I pray, Father God, that we would be so drawn to that. Lord, I pray for the congregation now, if there's anybody struggling, so afraid, if anybody is struggling where they've already made a web, I ask God that you would grant to them strength in the power of your truth and your spirit.

Lord, grant to us to walk with spiritual strength that we might combat and fight against the flesh, fight against the lies of this world, and fight against even the own motives of our own heart, and God, help us to walk in faithfulness to you. God, we thank you this day.

It's in Christ's name we pray, amen. Today, we're gonna be observing the communion, and so as we do so, what an appropriate time to think about for us to examine, are there any ways in us where we were not only untruthful, deceptive, but also if there's any residual sin in your life.

What I'm going to do is read you a passage from 1 Corinthians chapter 11, and give you some time to meditate upon it. It says here in 1 Corinthians chapter 11, verse 23, Apostle Paul says, "I receive from the Lord "that which I also deliver to you, "that the Lord Jesus, in the night in which "he was betrayed, took bread.

"And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you. "Do this in remembrance of me. "And in the same way, he took the cup also after supper, "saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood. "Do this as often as you drink in remembrance of me." And so we participate in this, remembering the amazing, perfect substitutionary sacrifice, where our Savior was broken, and he shed his blood for us.

But continuing on in verse 26, it says, "For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, "you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. "Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup "of the Lord in an unworthy manner, "shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.

"But a man must examine himself, "and in so doing, he is to eat of the bread "and drink of the cup." And so, take time now. What we'll do is, I'll give you just a few moments to reflect upon your current faith and relationship with God. And if there's anything you want to repent of, you know that God is a God of mercy.

Ask him to forgive you. And then after I give you several moments to pray, we'll participate in this together. I do wanna make mention that if you've joined us here today, and you have not believed on Christ as Savior, do not participate in this yet, because this is an act where we proclaim Christ.

But I do wanna challenge you. Our Savior is so good that he can break through any sin. And if there's any part of you that desires the forgiveness of God, ask him for it today. At this time, if you would, please take about a minute or two to pray, and then I'll gather us to participate in this together.