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All right, amen. Exodus chapter number one. So we're gonna look at the last part of that chapter here, but really at the end of the sermon. And what we're gonna talk about is the part of the chapter where Pharaoh tells the midwives to kill all the sons that are Hebrews. Now, keep your place there, but go to Revelation chapter number 21. Revelation chapter 21. So the title of the sermon is a question this evening, and that is, is it always wrong to lie? Now, I'm asking that in a way that somebody who is contentious would probably ask you, okay? A lot of times when somebody asks this question, it's because they have a setup, and they wanna set you up, and they wanna bring you here, or Joshua chapter two, or Jeremiah 38, and try to play games with you, okay? And we're gonna look at how to defend those types of attacks this evening. Everybody knows that it's wrong to lie. Everybody understands that, okay? But how do we solve this tension with Exodus chapter one, Joshua chapter two, with Rahab the harlot? How do we solve it? How do we give somebody a ready answer to explain the situation? And we're gonna look at that tonight. Now, I'll give you this idea, as I was talking with Pastor Thompson, and you mentioned this doctrine that the Mormons hold to. We all knew it. I just never heard it put like this. And they have this doctrine, which is called lying for the Lord, okay? And of course, if you know anything about them, they're way over here on that, okay? They've got committees, subcommittees, temple rituals, all sorts of things where basically they say, well, it's okay if we don't tell the truth because we're lying for the Lord. And they'll lie and say, well, God told Abraham to lie about his wives, which if you read the text carefully, that's not what it says. We're not gonna bother that. But then on the other hand over here, you've got this other extreme where you've got all these so-called Christians saying, well, I don't lie. I've never lied. It's wrong to lie. You can never lie under any circumstance. And they'll even go as far as to say that Rahab was wrong, that the midwives were wrong. They should have just trusted God and not lied. And is that accurate, okay? And that's what we're gonna do. We're gonna bring you, you know, not to the middle, but to the Bible, okay? We're gonna bring you to the Bible and give you the right answer. But before we do, we're gonna take a look at something. I'm actually gonna start over here with these clowns that basically teach that, you know, any type of lying that is in the Bible will send you to hell, not good whatsoever, okay? And we're gonna look at that. So I just kinda real quickly, just to kinda get a feel for what people teach on this, you know, went to Google and just typed something in, like, is it always wrong to lie or I can't, something like that. And this website called Gospel Broadcasting Network popped up, okay? And listen to what they say. They say, lying without repentance and forgiveness leads to the second death, okay? Lying without repentance and forgiveness leads to the second death. If you just stop and think about that, everybody lies. Everybody has lied and even forgotten that they've lied. So for this statement to be true, everyone's going to hell because nobody can keep track of all the lies. Now, not everybody's the same degree of liar and obviously we could talk about that. But I just want to, as a kind of a way of introduction, I just wanna kinda lay a foundation about this here and make sure that you have the right answer when somebody comes to you with this garbage. So if you're in Revelation 21, look at verse eight. Everybody knows this, very familiar. It says, but the fearful and unbelieving and the abominable, murderers, whoremongers, sorcerers, and idolaters, and of course, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. Now, of course, if you just cherry pick that and blast it to somebody who doesn't know anything, they're gonna say, well, yeah, okay, well, I guess I better stop lying. And there are multitudes of people on this side of the spectrum that teach and believe that, okay? But what's the response? What's our answer? Well, go to 1 John chapter number three. 1 John chapter number three. And of course, I like to call these people over here the gnat swallowers, okay? People that strain out a gnat and swallow a camel. They really swallow both if you think about it. But we're gonna get into this now. 1 John chapter three, look at verse number nine. So what is your response to that? Okay, well, one could be this right here. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin. For he, or I'm sorry, for his seed remaineth in him and he cannot sin because he is born of God. So right here, very clear. Now, of course, the person without the spirit, a person who is not saved, when they read this, they say, well, see, if you're really saved, if you're really born again, you won't sin anymore at all, okay? But they ignore what it's really telling you. Why is it that a saved person can't sin? Well, look after the word sin, for his seed. Whose seed? Your seed? Your neighbor's seed? Whose seed? Well, it's the Lord God, it's Jesus Christ, the word of God, it's Jesus, okay? His seed remaineth in him, okay? And he cannot sin because he is born of God. So what he's trying to tell you is that it is impossible to sin. And so, you know, like when you're reading through the gospels and the Pharisees and the Sadducees, they always come to Jesus and they've got something to say. And it sounds like a slick question. You know how he always answers them with a question? I think this is very perfect right here for you to respond to someone with who might be a little contentious or somebody who's trying to get into your face. Now, obviously, if somebody is being genuine, your goal is to give them the gospel, okay? It's to come back to this later. But I'm talking about somebody who is maybe interrupting a presentation or somebody who is just trying to make you look stupid in front of other people, okay? You can respond with this question. Say, well, the Bible says that I can't sin. So there you go, okay? So I'm not a liar. God does not look at me and say, oh, he's a liar, even though I lie. And then you could just leave it at that, okay? You can answer a question with a question. Now go to John chapter eight. The gospel of John, John chapter number eight. Let's take a look at the origination of lies and who is the father of them. And then we'll compare that with what the Bible says about God. John chapter number eight, verse 44 says, ye are of your father the devil. And of course, you know, if you don't know the story here Jesus is speaking to a mixed multitude. There are people that have received the word and gotten saved. There are people still listening and there are people that have wholeheartedly rejected everything he said, okay? And to those people says, ye are of your father the devil and the lusts of your father, ye will do. Very simple. You see the contrast there. Quite opposite about what the Bible says regarding us that are saved or born again. It says he was a murderer from the beginning 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 people whom their father is the devil, hey, what does the Bible say about those people? How do we divide this? Well, they are liars because they are their father the devil, okay? The devil is not our father. Everybody following? See what I'm saying here? My father, your father is the Lord God of heaven. Therefore his seed remains in you. You are not a liar and I'm not condoning lies. I'm not saying, you know, that means you could just lie for the Lord and be over here with the moms. Just, you know, get all crazy. We all understand that's garbage. Look at verse 45. Because I tell you the truth, you believe me not. And I go to Titus chapter number one. Titus chapter number one. So the Bible's very clear that right here in this passage, okay, that the devil is the father of lies. Now one thing that these people over here will often say is if you tell any lie, okay, you are now temporarily in the devil's control and he's your father and if you don't ask for forgiveness and bow the knee seven times to Mary, then of course you're gonna wind up losing your salvation and going to hell. Nobody here believes that. But you do need to understand that this is a point of contention, that a lot of people are out there confused and they want answers. They want to know what the deal is because they have been told this garbage that if you lie at all, that, you know, you're gonna go to hell and it is possible for you and your old man and your flesh to overcome lying. There's a very popular doctrine in the Nazarene community and it basically, what is it called? It's called, I forgot, something like the Holiness Perfection Doctrine. We'll just say that, okay. Basically the teaching is that if you're really a Christian, that the Holy Ghost comes inside of you and will basically lead your life in a way to where you sin no more in the old man, okay. Paul would disagree, Jesus would disagree, all the apostles would disagree, the entire word of God disagrees with that. Nobody who is saved believes that but yet those types of churches and those types of people are all over the community and the problem is they're scared to death because they have the law of God written on their hearts. They know their own thoughts and actions. They know that they've lied, okay, and they know that they can't stop and so the question is, are you gonna be able to help these people when you encounter them? So we know who the father of lies is, very easy. Look at what the Bible says here in Titus chapter number one, look at verse two. In hope of eternal life which God that cannot lie promised before the world began. Very clear that right here the Bible says that God cannot lie. Now go to 2 Chronicles chapter number 18, okay. So what will often happen with some people, especially those of the Islamic persuasion is they'll say, oh, does Titus chapter one, does it say that God cannot lie? Do you believe that God cannot lie? And you're like, yeah, yeah, that's what the Bible says. They'll say, oh, really, well, let's take a look at 2 Chronicles chapter 18 because there's a story here where God lies to one of his kings in the Bible, okay. And this is why I always go back to saying, pay very close attention to the words that people use when they come at you with something. This is why it's very important to make sure you have your emotions grounded and you're listening to words, okay. Talked about this on Sunday at Shura Foundation, taking the high ground, okay. Putting yourself above because when you're riled up with emotion and somebody says something like that to you, it can be very easy for you to miss the error in how they phrase a question, okay. So you want to be cognizant of that. So let's break this down here. We're in 2 Chronicles 18, backstory is, you've got the divided kingdom. So you've got the southern kingdom of Judah and you've got the northern kingdom of Israel. The king of the southern kingdom of Judah is Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat has an issue, okay. He's an ecumenical guy. He likes to hang out with the kings of Israel. And so the king of Israel is Ahab. The Bible says that Ahab did wickedness that was far and above the other kings that had come before him. Ahab has had many, many, many, many, many warnings from God. Ahab has had the opportunity to see miracles from God through the prophet Elijah. And Ahab has been delivered and shown mercy time and time again. Well, now we find ourselves towards the end of Ahab's reign here, though he doesn't know it. And so you've got Jehoshaphat, you've got Ahab, and they're together here preparing for war. And so they're taking counsel together. And basically Ahab has said, hey, Jehoshaphat, you know, you want to go up to Ramoth Gilead to battle? Of course Jehoshaphat's like, sure, you know, your people are as my people. We're brothers, let's go ahead and do this. Now Jehoshaphat, to show himself righteous, is like, well, you know, let's make sure we inquire of the Lord. So Ahab, what does he do? So Ahab's got a bunch of prophets that'll tell him what he wants to hear. And he's so bad at this that he even knows this is what he does, and he admits it through the entire story here. And so they call prophet after prophet, and they're like telling Ahab, you know, you're gonna be victorious, just go up there. He hires all the new evangelical guys just to put on a show. And Jehoshaphat's like, isn't there like a real man of God here? And Ahab's like, there's one guy, but I hate his guts. I don't like him, okay, because he always tells evil of me, meaning he always tells me the truth and what I don't want to hear. So they bring this guy out of prison, Zames Micaiah. I was just talking to him last week with Brother Smoke about this, kind of funny and preach about it now. But they bring this guy up, and he's like, yeah, yeah, you're gonna be victorious. And Ahab doesn't buy it. You know, he's just like, haven't I told you just to tell me the truth? So of course he does, he doesn't like it. Ahab gets triggered, gets offended, has one of his prophets or one of his servants or men smack the prophet. And of course Jehoshaphat's just there looking like, oh, you must not like the truth, yeah. And then they do away with him, put him back in prison or whatever they do with him. And so in the midst of that whole meeting that's taking place, there's another meeting going on up in heaven, okay? And that's where we're gonna pick the story up here with that meeting up in heaven about this. So God's looking down and he's assessing the situation and he's asking a question here, okay? And we'll get into why he asked this here in a second. Now let's pick it up here in verse number 19. Second Chronicles 18, verse 19 says, and the Lord said, who shall entice Ahab, king of Israel, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth Gilead? And one spake saying after this manner and another saying after that manner. So God's up in heaven and he's saying this, okay? And obviously there are spirits up there, there are angels and these, I guess these spirits are saying like, well, I've got this plan. And another one comes by and says, I've got this plan. And so far God hasn't said yes or no to any of these. But then there comes a spirit. Look what he says in verse 20. Then there came out a spirit and stood before the Lord and said, I will entice him. And the Lord said unto him, wherewith? Verse 21, and he said, I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And the Lord said, thou shalt entice him and thou shalt also prevail, go out and do even so, okay? Now what you have to understand about Ahab is that Ahab loves to be enticed. He understands this about himself. He's already demonstrated it if you read the story chronologically. He's already told you that he doesn't like to hear the truth. He's spent a lifetime in fact rejecting the truth and knowing that he's rejecting the truth, okay? He understands this. So there's nothing new here, okay? Verse 22, now therefore behold, the Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of these thy prophets, and the Lord has spoken evil against thee. Now you can leave your place there and go to 1 Kings chapter 20. 1 Kings chapter 20. So the question is, well, can God lie? Of course he cannot. And then people might bring you here and say, well, the Bible's very clear that God put a lying spirit in the mouth of these prophets that Ahab liked, and that led to Ahab dying. So God lied. Well, let's back up for a second here, okay? And let's think about this. Okay, did God lie? Or did the spirit lie? Well, the spirit lied. The spirit said, well, I have an idea, and it was the best idea. And God said, you know what? That's your idea. Go ahead and do it. You say, well, isn't that God? Well, that's not God lying. That was the spirit's idea. He came up with that. And that spirit is the one that went out and lied. Now, think about the interaction that's just like this that takes place in the book of Job, okay? You've got Job that the Bible says he eschews evil, meaning he hates evil. He loves God. He loves the truth, okay? And you see another meeting up in heaven. And the Bible says that all the Nephilims, no, I'm just kidding. It just says that obviously there's a day in heaven where all the angels and the sons of God, which are not angels, but they're standing before the Lord. Hey, and the devil comes up, and God asks them a question. Says, hey, have you noticed my servant Job? And of course, the devil's like, yeah, whatever. And God's like, or the devil's like, you know, he wouldn't serve you if it wasn't for that hedge of protection that you've built around him, okay? So notice the difference when you think about Job versus Ahab, okay? Job actually had a hedge of protection in which the devil knew and had observed. Now, why did he observe that? Because he was trying to find a way in. He was trying to find an avenue in. So to kind of condense the story for sake of time, the devil needed permission to attack Job, okay? And so God gave him that permission and granted him that wish only to test Job. And of course, you know, the lessons from that are timeless throughout eternity. Everything works out in the end, but you take Ahab, similar story, okay? Now, God obviously allowed this spirit to go and mess with Ahab. What does that tell you? Well, that tells you that because of the way that Ahab had lived his life, he basically took out his giant hedge trimmers and mowed them down. So it's Ahab's fault that this happened. God had spent time and time again warning him and telling him to stop and trying to be patient with him, showing him miracles, showing him mercy, but each time, Ahab would reject, okay? So I want you to see the truth in this. So did God lie? Obviously, the answer is no. 1 Kings chapter 20, this is the parallel story here with a little bit of some different information. We're gonna pick it up in verse 41. So the situation here is there is a prophet and he goes around asking people to hit him. One guy doesn't, he gets completely mopped. So this prophet finds somebody to actually hit him. The guy hits him and basically really hurts him, does a lot of damage to him. And so this prophet disfigures his face. He basically disguises himself. And the whole point of doing this is to catch Ahab coming by so that he can surprise Ahab. And he's got a message for Ahab. So look here in verse 41, okay? It says this, so this verse 41, 1 Kings 20, it says, and he hasted and took the ashes away from his face. So this is that prophet that had disguised himself. And the king of Israel discerned him that he was of the prophets. Hey, imagine the shock. You're not ready to see this. You're just doing your thing, thinking lives grand. You're an alpha king and you're doing all this stuff. You're fulfilling your will. And all of a sudden, reality clicks in for a second. You see this guy and you're like, wait a second. He's not just some wounded warrior. He's not just some poor guy on the street. This is actually one of the prophets. What does this mean? Verse 42, and he said unto him, thus saith the Lord, because thou has let go out of thy hand a man whom I appointed to utter destruction. Therefore thy life shall go for his life and thy people for his people. So Ahab was supposed to destroy the enemy and he doesn't, he keeps the king and you know, he's a decent guy. You know, he's basically a bleeding heart here and God's gonna punish him for it. So look at this prophecy towards Ahab. Hey, this prophet is saying, hey, your life is gonna go for that guy's life. Look at the rest of the verse, and thy people for his people, verse 43. And the king of Israel went to his house heavy and displeased and came to Samaria. So the question is, did God lie? No, God just used that method that was available to him to fulfill his prophecy that he already explained to Ahab. He had already told Ahab through his prophet, you're done. Your life's gonna go for that guy's life and your people is going to go for his people, okay? All things were created for God and by God for his glory and for his purpose, okay? So I know we all understand this, but the point is, no, God did not lie. It was the spirit that lied and God did use that spirit to fulfill his truth that he prophesied onto Ahab. Okay, now all that to say this, here's a valuable lesson in this for us. Go to 2 Thessalonians chapter two and that is constantly rejecting the truth will lead to permanently accepting lies, okay? So constantly accepting, or I'm sorry, rejecting truth will lead to permanently accepting lies. This concept is found throughout the entire Bible, which is why soul winning is such an urgent matter in my opinion, because we wanna get people before they reach this sort of state, okay? Now look at this right here, 2 Thessalonians chapter number two in verse number seven. So it says, for the mystery of iniquity doth already work. Only he who now letteth will let until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that wicked be revealed whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming. So here we have a passage about the Antichrist. What's one of the reasons he's gonna be successful for a temporary time period? Okay, well look at verse nine. Even him whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs, here it is, and lying wonders, lying wonders. Which by the way, a little side note, if I could take a quick commercial break, okay? It should produce red flags in people that say, well, I read the Bible, but yet they attend a Pentecostal church that claims to have all of these things, okay? Because the Bible's telling you here that these signs and lying wonders will increase as the day approaches. And so it's like, well, who's behind that? Well, it's, oh, the Lord, oh, it's Satan, okay? He's gonna have all of these signs and be able to call down fire from heaven and do these things in the sight of men, and people are going to believe it, but the question is why? Why are they gonna believe it? Well, look at verse 10. It says that with all deceivableness of unrighteousness and then the parish, here it is again, because they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved. You see that? Okay, I'm not saying Ahab wasn't saved, and I've heard good arguments on both sides. I'm not gonna get into that right now, but the point is one thing that Ahab teaches us is that constantly rejecting the truth will lead to permanently accepting lies, okay? And that's exactly what you see with Ahab, and that's exactly what you're gonna see in the world. I mean, think about Romans chapter one. How does a person become a reprobate? By constantly rejecting truth. What winds up happening to them? Well, they live a life permanently accepting lies. How is the world gonna look at a man, the Antichrist, if you will, and believe the things that he's doing, even though the Bible for who knows how many thousands of years by the time this happens, how will they accept that, even though it's already been prophesied, already be written? How will they be able to take this wisdom and this knowledge and just put it aside and not even think about it, not even consider it? Well, because they spent a lifetime rejecting truth which led to permanently accepting lies. Verse 10, because they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved. See, there is a punishment for this. Verse 11, and for this cause. What does that mean? If you were to take a test and say, okay, what is he saying here by this cause? Okay, well, you back up a verse because these people receive not the love of the truth. Hey, God wants a people that loves the truth. And for this cause, verse 11, God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie. So again, this principle is true in life. Constantly rejecting truth will lead to permanently accepting lies. Verse 11 one more time, and for this cause, God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie. So is God lying? No, God is giving the people what they want, what they have asked for. In fact, he's being gracious if you ask me, okay? He's honoring the wishes of the world, just like he did with Ahab. Verse 12, that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. So in this situation, in the way that this thing works in the world, God is promoting truth by sending the world delusion because the world has rejected truth wholeheartedly. Now let's go back to Exodus chapter number one, and we'll get into the story here. So again, constantly rejecting truth will lead to permanently accepting lies. So answering the question, is it always wrong to lie? I think the answer might surprise you here, but let's get into this now. Look at verse 15, Exodus chapter one. So it says, and the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives of which the name of one was Shiphrah and the name of the other Puah. Verse 16, and he said, when you do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women and see them upon the stools, if it be a son, then ye shall kill him, but if it be a daughter, then she shall live. So obviously, you know, this is a very wicked command here. You know, obeying this is not a good thing. And keep in mind here, okay, keep in mind here what he's asking. Look at verse 17. But, pay attention to this, okay, but the midwives feared God. But the midwives feared God. Okay, what does fearing God give you? Well, it gives you knowledge. What else does it give you? It gives you wisdom, okay? That's very clear in the Proverbs. Okay, and notice these women. But the midwives feared God. So they have knowledge and they have wisdom because of this fear. And this wisdom and this knowledge is gonna help them rightly divide the word of truth that they had in their day. But the midwives feared God and did not, as the king of Egypt, commanded them, but saved the men, children alive. Again, keep in mind, who is writing this? Who is saying this here? It is the narrator that is saying that the midwives feared God. So we know that this is true. And when I was reading that, what is it, the Gospel Broadcasting Network, okay, those people are so wicked. They had a section on this, okay, and they were like, those midwives were absolutely wrong in what they did. They were wrong for disobeying Pharaoh and they were wrong for lying about it. They were like, also Rahab was wrong. Okay, Rahab was wrong for protecting the spies and saving this man. Whoa, look at that briefly here. And I'm just thinking to myself, I wonder if this gets any worse. So I'll bite, you know? And I'm scrolling down the page and I said, here's the situation, okay? There was a story somewhere here in America, I forgot where, or maybe it was hypothetical. I can't remember because I was so mad. I just, you know, I did not take the high ground in my, as I was reading this. But I'm reading this and I'm like, okay, there's a story where these guys are going around raping women and doing horrible things. They bust through a door, okay? The grandfather hears these people come and knows who they are. He's heard their reputation. And these men with guns bust through the door, put the grandpa on the ground, okay? But before they did that, he told his granddaughters to hide, okay? And they said, okay, what the grandfather did is he lied and said that, because the robbers basically said, okay, where are your daughters? Are they home? Because we're looking for them. And he said, no, they're not here. No one is here but me. And then he stopped the story right there and said, so should the grandfather have lied to protect their lives or should he have just trusted God and told the truth? First of all, you know, typically I think when that type of situation happens, the people that are asking you that at gunpoint are probably going to shoot you anyways. I mean, that just kind of seems to be the way things go. But that aside, okay, think about the self-righteous stupidity of these people saying that that guy should not have lied. He just don't say anything at all. Okay, well, what does that say? Yeah, it says you're basically saying, yeah, they're here, okay? You know, not saying anything. But for him to say that they weren't there, oh, that's a lie and that's bad. And now, you know, you might get shot and killed before you ask for forgiveness and you're going to go to hell because all liars should have their part in the language of burn of the fire. Stuff really bothers me when I see stuff like this and I read stuff like this because I know that there are people out here, multitudes and multitudes of people out there that think like that or are on their way to thinking like that because some bozo idiot devil told them that. Okay, that is wrong. That is the dumbest thing I've ever heard in my life. And those are the same people right here. They can't even understand basic concepts in the Bible. Basic concepts in the word of God. What does it say about these midwives? They feared God. What does the Bible say about people that fear God? They've got knowledge and wisdom, okay? Therefore, if you have those two tools, you can rightly divide the word of truth. So with that in mind, look at verse number 18. And the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said unto them, why have you done this thing and have saved the men children alive? Look at verse 19, here's their response. Here's where they, oh, they lied. And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women, they are lively and are delivered before, I'm sorry, the midwives come in unto them. So basically what the midwives said is they said, well, the Hebrew women, they just give birth so fast because they're more vibrant, they're more alive. And so they gave birth before we could even show up and so now they're protected and we can't do anything about it, okay? That's basically what the midwives are saying. And of course, they did not tell the truth to Pharaoh. Okay, but remember, the Bible says that the midwives feared God. You know, it doesn't say that they feared God until this question was asked. No, it just said that they feared God because the narrator is telling you that. Then it jumps into the conversational piece between Pharaoh and the midwives. Now look at verse 20 real quick. Therefore, okay, what does therefore mean? For that reason. Okay, therefore God dealt well with the midwives and the people multiplied and waxed very mighty. So to tell the truth in this situation would aid to genocide. But to not tell the truth in this situation aids to saving righteous lives. Hmm, if we're to rightly divide the word of truth, which one is worse, saving the lives of God's people or letting them go so you can be a hero and say, well, at least I didn't tell a lie? Come on, I think everybody knows the answer to that but that's how you have to think. That's how you have to understand. This is why you need to rightly divide the word of truth. Okay, it goes much deeper than just like, okay, lying's bad and it's always wrong to lie. Well, apparently in this situation it's not, okay? It's not. Notice what it says in verse 20. Okay, look, therefore God rebuked the midwives because they didn't tell the truth and sent them to hell. Oh, it didn't say that, did it? Why do you think it doesn't say that? Because it's not true. God doesn't even see the lie. I'm gonna show you why here in a second, okay? Go to Romans chapter three. You can leave your place here. Romans chapter three. Romans chapter three, Paul makes a statement and it really reminds me of all of this here. Romans chapter three, verse seven. The Bible says this. So Paul says, so Paul's obviously here. He's being accused of lying and doing all this garbage here by the Jews. And one of his responses is right here and it's very clever. He says this. He says, for if the truth of God hath more abounded through my lie unto his glory, why yet am I also judged as a sinner? So it's like, Paul's like basically saying, okay, you know, you guys say I'm a liar, but I'm starting all these churches. We're getting all these people saved. We're doing all this good stuff. God's definitely being glorified through his ministry. No one can deny that. He's like, why am I judged as a sinner? You know, for lying. And that's the basically, I mean, that's basically the same question that I would have for anybody who presented this to me and said, oh, well, do you think the midwives should have just told the truth? No, they should have saved life because that's obviously more important than you just telling the truth all the time. No matter what, because you're so cool and you're so good. Go to Hebrews chapter number 11. Hebrews chapter number 11. We're getting close to being done, but go to Hebrews chapter number 11. So again, in that situation, to tell the truth would aid genocide, but to not tell the truth would save righteous lives because what are they doing? They're protecting God's people. And you know what's funny though? I wonder this. I really do wonder this. I wonder if you go to some of these, some of these goblin broadcasting news type people, you know, these chicken gizzard Christians out here who want to say they don't lie and all this garbage. All right, quit lying. I would never lie. Rehab shouldn't have lied. There's a better way. Then say, okay, well, if you were alive back in the 30s and 40s and, you know, in Germany, Germany, Nazi Germany, you know, and you had to hide some Jews and someone came knocking on that door, would you lie? Oh, of course I would. You know they would because they're all simping for semites. See, that's the thing they're not going to tell you, you know, that's how you get them. Okay, just remember that. That's why it's important to have that experience. And then you could be like, oh, so lying is okay. Well, only for the Jews, only to protect a Jew's life, not a Gentile's life. I don't know, I just made that up, but might be worth a shot sometime if you ever find yourself in this heated battle. And now we're not going to have time to go back to Joshua and really break down the whole rehab story. I'm sure everybody in here is familiar with it. So I just wanted to kind of bring you to this verse here because it's going to teach us a very valuable lesson that applies to all these stories in the Bible. Exodus one, the story about Rahab, Jeremiah, was that a chia in that whole situation in chapter 38, 39. Okay, look at this here. Hebrews 11, look at verse 31. It says, by faith, the harlot Rahab, perished not with them that believe not. When she had received the spies, now pay attention to these next two words, with peace, with peace. Go to Matthew chapter number five. So later on in the New Testament, we're reading a commentary of the Old Testament. Of course, we just read the story. Well, we could have read the story rather. We just talked about it. And we know that Rahab in the story here, the two spies come into the land and Rahab says, hey, we've heard all the mighty things that God has done. And she's like, I don't want me and my family to fall prey to this. And so what do the spies do? They say, well, tie a scarlet thread to your window. When we come by, we'll spare your lives. But hey, we're not at fault for this. If you don't do this and you wind up dead. And so basically the children of Israel come in, storm the land, save them alive. And they lived, you know, Rahab and her family lived among the people. And later on down the line, we see her a few times in the Bible, of course, in the genealogies. And we see her right here in Hebrews chapter number 11. And what is said about her, okay? How did she receive the spies? Well, she received them by lying. Because when her own countrymen came to her and said, hey, where were the men, you know, that were here and what does she do? She lies to what? To protect their lives so that they could not be discovered, okay? Now, when we read about her in the New Testament, okay, what is read or what is written about her? Well, that she received the spies with lies. Oh, no, that's not what it says. No, she received the spies with peace, okay, with peace. What does the Bible say? Matthew chapter five, verse number nine. You already know, Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God. Now, how do we start the sermon? Somebody says, oh, a liar, you're going to hell. You're a liar. No, Rahab's not a liar. The Bible does not describe her as a liar. How can that be? Well, because she received the spies with peace. She was a peacemaker. Obviously, she became a child of God. Not because she did that act but because she believed on God. She was smart enough to want to accept truth instead of being like other people, constantly rejecting truth to have a life permanently accepting lies, okay? So that's the lesson in there. Again, another way to rightly divide the word of truth. She is a child of God. She has not looked upon as a liar. It's not an issue. It's a non-issue. She saved the nation. And so for these people that just want to say, well, you know, she should not, I'm telling you guys, there are a lot of people out there, do a search on this, who say, you know, she was wrong in doing this and shouldn't have done it and God would have found a better way to save the nation. Well, it happened. You can't deny that. And what is written about Rahab? That she received the spies with peace, meaning she is a peacemaker, meaning that she also, like the midwives, feared the Lord. Therefore, she's not looked upon as a liar, just like you and I are not looked upon as liars. Although, obviously, we do lie. It's not okay. It's not good. There's chastening and things like that involved. We get that. We understand that. I just want to show you one more quick verse here, Proverbs chapter 21, and then we're going to be done. Yeah, I'm not going to spend a whole sermon telling you, like, don't lie. We all know that. We all get that. However, anybody in here, okay, that's faced with a situation like Exodus chapter one or Joshua chapter two, of course you're going to do what you can to protect life, okay? What are you in turn doing though? It should not be looked upon as lying. It should be looked upon as you providing peace, as being a peacemaker, saving life, as opposed to ruining life. You know what the Pharisees would have done? Oh, no, no, no, no. We would have told the truth, and we are so righteous, God would have just instantly sent down 10,000s of angels and just blasted them all away, and we would have just marched in. I mean, maybe they wouldn't have said that, but that's how they act, and that's how a lot of people act today. A lot of these self-righteous, oh, I don't ever do anything wrong. Yeah, you do more wrong than everybody else, if that's your attitude. Proverbs chapter 21. So all of that with what we just said, compare that to here in verse number six. Look at what this says. It says, the getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a vanity tossed to and fro of them that seek death. Does that sound like Rahab the harlot? Does that sound like Jeremiah the prophet? Does that sound like the midwives in Exodus chapter one? Absolutely not, it's completely different. This is talking about those people that we all know about that are just habitual liars that want destruction. It's like your government officials, basically. Look no further than the White House. There's your illustration of the night. You want an example of these people? Joe Biden's coming, any of these politicians. They seek death. Everything that they speak practically is nothing but a lie. It's not true. It is to gain wealth and health off of your backs. That's the entire point. So again, you know, lying is obviously bad, okay? Constantly rejecting truth will lead to permanently accepting lies, okay? We see that all throughout the Bible with people that are just constantly rejecting truth. You know, and that's what happened to Ahab. I personally think that Ahab was probably saved. I got my reasons for that. I might be wrong and I'm willing to say that. I think he's probably wrong, but I've known Christians like Ahab, okay? That, you know, you can see that struggle between the old and the new man. You can see that wrestling match and yet they have just gotten so far back, so then they just don't wanna hear it anymore. They don't wanna hear the truth anymore and I think God says, okay, you know what? If you're not gonna play nice, I guess it's time to come home, okay? And that's just kind of the way we see Ahab's life end. Okay, but for the world, okay, it looks much worse than that, doesn't it? They don't get all the chances that Ahab has, you know? And it's tough to say how many chances they do get, but one thing we definitely see in Second Thessalonians is that the world is not headed in a very positive direction. We live in a world today that loves rejecting truth and that's why they're being fed even to the delusion that we see today, that, oh, you can be whatever you want to. Every day is Halloween, not just in October. We're making it 365 days a year. If you wanna be something, you can be it, except for a straight, white, saved person, but that's a story for another day. Let's stop right there, bow our heads, and have a word of prayer. Thank you again, Lord, for this church, for all that you do for us. I just pray you bless the fellowship after the service and bring us back again safely this weekend. In Jesus' name I pray, amen.