Lying To God

(Acts 5:1-11)

Who in their right mind thinks they can hide anything from God? God sees all, knows all, understands and created all. So what can you hide from God? And if you cannot hide anything from God what is the point of lying to Him about anything?

This section of Acts shows what can happen to those who think they can hide things from God and then lie about it. There is nothing The Lord hates more than a lying tongue. After all, Satan was described as the father of lies and he is the ultimate enemy of The Lord and His people. (John 8:44)

The ultimate end of Satan is destruction, so it is no wonder too that the end of those who are liars and follow in the ways of the devil will be subject to the same judgement. So let us have a look at this matter for a few moments.

A Lying Tongue

The Bible is quite clear. The Lord hates a liar and a lying tongue. Consider these words in Proverbs 6:16-17.

16 There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are an abomination to him:

17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood…

This is only one place where The Lord has made a specific point that He will not tolerate liars, and there are others.

When a person is discovered to be a liar you cannot trust them in anything. It was once said to me that you can watch a thief, but you cannot watch a liar. When a person’s words cannot be trusted they are next to being worthless. The words of the Psalmist are quite clear on this matter too as we see in Psalm 120:2-4.

2 Deliver me, O LORD, from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue.

3 What shall be given to you, and what more shall be done to you, you deceitful tongue?

4 A warrior’s sharp arrows, with glowing coals of the broom tree!

Trying to Hide From God

A liar tells lies to gain advantage or to hide the truth of a matter. But as I said earlier, what can be hidden from God? There is nowhere that you can hide from God and no matter that He will not know about and uncover. Even your deepest held thoughts and secrets are plain to Him for he knows everything about you, as he said, even the hairs on your head are all numbered.

Thus it is pointless to try to hide anything from Him or to try and hide yourself. Look at the example of Jonah who sought to run away from God and hide from Him when He did not want to carry out the ministry God had set forth for him to do. The Lord would have Jonah do the job He wanted and Jonah was found running away. But there was nowhere Jonah could go where God would not find him and in the end Jonah repented and returned to The Lord to do the work he was meant to do and to preach to the town of Nineveh.

Jesus also gave a teaching to the effect that nothing could be hidden for God would reveal it. He said in Luke 12:2-3,

2 Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.

3 Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops.

Everything will be revealed. The secrets of men will be brought out into the open and laid bare for all to know. Consider how many high profile people who have weaved a web of lies and been found out for the liars they are.

You cannot hide a lie forever. A lie requires another lie to cover it and then another until the house of cards that the liar fabricates falls apart when the wind of truth blows it down. And The Lord will blow the wind of truth across all lies and all liars. The Holy Spirit is also called the spirit of truth and the Holy Spirit is even compared to the wind in John 3:1-8.

The Fate of Liars

Finally we come back to the scriptures in Acts 5 as we see what happened to those who sought to lie to God. Ananias and his wife Sapphira sold a piece of property and brought the proceeds of the sale to give to the apostles for the use of the early church. However, in secret they agreed to hold back and keep part of the proceeds for themselves and only give a part of the monies to the disciples.

Was there anything wrong in keeping back part of the proceeds? It was their own land to start with and it was their money to do with as they pleased when they had sold it, which is exactly what Peter said when they came to him and were questioned by him. No, they were well within their rights to not sell the land in the first place and when they did, to keep as much of the money as they wanted or needed.

But the lie they perpetrated was that they did not say they were keeping part of the money and said that what they gave the disciples was the full amount the land was sold for. They lied about the value of the property and the gift they were giving and for that they died at the hands of The Lord. He pronounced judgement on both the husband and the wife and struck them down at the feet of Peter and they were carried out and buried that day.

The same fate awaits all liars. Judgement and ultimately death is at the door for all who choose to tell lies rather than the truth. Perhaps it may not be as dramatic as this episode, but it will come to pass. Look at what the bible says about the end for liars.

Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. (Revelation 22:15… What is a liar but someone who practices falsehood.)

But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” (Revelation 21:8)

When we come to Jesus in repentance we are seeking a new beginning as new creations made in Him. By repentance we are turning our lives around to seek the truth and there is no place for the lies and half-truths of this world when we come to Jesus. Our future depends upon us knowing the truth, living by the truth and speaking the truth lest we inherit the same fate of all liars as identified in the last scripture shown above.

A lie is easy and it rolls off the tongue easily for that is the nature of man. The Psalmist said in Psalm 116:11,

I said in my alarm, “All mankind are liars.”

But the effect of a lie is devastating both when it is spoken and at the final judgement. And while it may seem like a way to avoid a problem by hiding whatever the issue is, it will come out and the problem will be many times multiplied. Why? Because not only will the problem being covered by the lie still remain, but your credibility will be shot to pieces and no-one will trust you.

Do not place any faith in lies and do not presume to even think you can lie to God and get away with it. He will bring all things to light and it is better not to have lied and suffer a small inconvenience through telling the truth, than to lie and suffer greatly both at the hands of men and of God.

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