LIES TRUTH & SPIN - NYOBS 68.02

LIES TRUTH & SPIN

The wrath of God is against those who SUPPRESS & SPIN the truth. – It’s in the Book –

First Word

·         I can remember cleaning up drink containers left on the water fountains at work. - I would slip open the ladies rest room door and chunk them into the large trash can just inside the door.  When I was asked did I throw drinks into the trash can in the ladies room, I calmly stated, “I promised you, I have never even set foot in the ladies rest room”. – Well that was true, but I had actually side stepped the original question; I had given the question a SPIN.

·         They were selling some old records on TV that they had dubbed onto the modern CD; they used the words “re-mastered” which sounded a lot better than “duplicated” and they said with excitement that it contained the NOSTALGIC sounds of the era, meaning the static and scratches that the records contained; but re-mastered and nostalgic sounded a lot better than duplicated and noisy.

·         Abraham’s wife Sarah also happened to be his half-sister.  She was beautiful to behold and when King Abimelect saw her; Abraham thought that the king would kill him to get Sarah.  Abraham omitted telling the King that she was his WIFE and only told him that she was his SISTER.  What he said was not a lie, but by omitting some facts; he had injected SPIN.

·         King Herod spoke with some Wise Men about the birth of a new king.  He was TROUBLED that this new king would take his place and wanted to kill him, but with a little SPIN, he told the Wise Men to find this new king and tell him where he was so he too could come and worship him.

·         An Old Prophet was given an assignment by God and was told not to eat or drink anything in that place, but another man claiming to also be a prophet gave him some FAKE NEWS; that God said it was OK to eat and drink.  – This was about obedience. - The old prophet did eat and it cost him his life. – In the mouth of AT LEAST two witnesses is a thing established.

·         There are many bold lies recorded in scripture and because we don’t take the time to get a SECOND WITNESS and more information, we act on the SPIN to our own determent.

·         Spin is the opposite of Truth, spin is not a direction itself; it just points you in a direction and in the absence of information, the SPIN WINS because folks will not take the time to analyze what the spin actually means. – Spin is an Art to select and omit facts; it is what we call, lying by omission.

·         Spin Doctors are those who live by poles and are paid to sample the direction of public opinion and come up with ideas on how to bend the facts to make ANYTHING sound appealing.  Truth and principal would just be a coincidence; like instead of saying “abortion” they call it Pro-Choice which certainly sounds a lot better than saying PRO-MURDER.

·         When we think of Spin, we think of Politicians GUTTING the truth out of government  and the Fake News Media SUPPRESSING truth, but scripture says none of us are righteous, not even one, and goes on further to say that our tongues have the venom of snakes.

·         By our very own nature we are “coiled up” and ready to spring on other’s failings in order to draw attention away from our own.  - Then we spin and stretch our own short comings in order to put them in the very best possible light. – We are all spin doctors; we deflect, dodge, evade, distort, mislead, manipulate, and suppress, in order to reduce the full impact of the Truth. – We are embracing and putting forth something that is not actually a lie, it’s just “ALTERNATE FACTS”; a different opinion and version of the truth.

Genesis 20:2-5 – Abraham’s wife was also his half-sister
² And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah.
³ But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him, “Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man’s wife.”
⁴ Now Abimelech had not approached her. So he said, “Lord, will you kill an innocent people?
⁵ Did he not himself say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ (ESV)

Matthew 2:7-8 – A little SPIN… I too may worship Him
⁷ Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared.
⁸ And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” (ESV)

Matthew 2:3 – King Herod was troubled
³ When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; (ESV)

Matthew 2:13 – Herod wanted to destroy the baby Jesus
¹³  Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, TO DESTROY HIM.” (ESV)

1 Kings 13:18-24 – Obedience – Don’t eat or Drink
¹⁸ And he said to him, “I also am a prophet as you are, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the LORD, saying, ‘Bring him back with you into your house that he may eat bread and drink water.’” But he lied to him.
¹⁹ So he went back and ate bread in his house and drank water.
²⁰ And as they sat at the table, the word of the LORD came to the prophet who had brought him back.
²¹ And he cried to the man of God who came from Judah, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Because you have DISOBEYED the word of the LORD and have not kept the command that the LORD your God commanded you,
²² but have come back and have eaten bread and drunk water in the place of which he said to you, “EAT NO BREAD AND DRINK NO WATER,” your body shall not come to the tomb of your fathers.’”
²³ And after he had eaten bread and drunk, he saddled the donkey for the prophet whom he had brought back.
²⁴ And as he went away a lion met him on the road and killed him. And his body was thrown in the road, and the donkey stood beside it; the lion also stood beside the body. (ESV)

Deuteronomy 19:15 – Verify information with a second opinion
¹⁵ A single witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed. Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established. (ESV)

Truth

·         Information from the news media is for the common good of everyone, based on freedom, justice and TRUTH. – Journalist have an obligation to serve up the TRUTH and nothing can justify systematically falsifying the TRUTH to exercise a political position through disinformation for the purpose of manipulating public opinion.

·         Making public statements that are not true that injure a person’s reputation, is called being a “FALSE WITNESS”; in a court of law it would be called “PERJUIRY”. – It’s even one of the Ten Commandments; “You shall not be a False Witness”.

·         Truth is a matter of the Heart long before it becomes a matter of the mind, so what we need is, to be re-born with a new heart that contains a new way of thinking. – Since God is Truth, then we as Christian are called to live in Truth.  - If we say we have fellowship with God while we walk in darkness, WE LIE and do not practice the truth.

·         From God’s point of view, suppressing the truth is ungodliness and unrighteousness and will bring on His wrath from heaven. – Therefore the FLIP SIDE of holding up truth is reckoned as Godliness and Righteousness.  - Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil. - It’s in the Book –                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Romans 3:10 - None are righteous, no, not one
¹⁰ as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; (ESV)

Romans 3:13 - Their tongue is like snake venom
¹³ Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” (ESV)

Romans 1:18 – The wrath of God is against the SPIN
¹⁸ For the WRATH OF GOD is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness SUPPRESS THE TRUTH.

(ESV)

1 John 1:6 – If we walk in darkness, we do not practice Truth
⁶ If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, WE LIE and do not practice the truth. (ESV)

Exodus 20:16 – You must not be a False Witness
¹⁶ You shall not bear FALSE WITNESS against your neighbor.

(ESV)

Proverbs 19:9 - A False Witness will not go unpunished
⁹ A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who breathes out lies will perish. (ESV)

Matthew 5:37 – Either Yes or No, anything more is EVIL
³⁷ Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil. (ESV)

John 3:18-20 – Those who spin the Truth hate the Light

¹⁸ Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
¹⁹ And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people LOVED THE DARKNESS rather than the light because their works were evil.
²⁰ For everyone who does wicked things HATES THE LIGHT and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. (ESV)

How did we get here?

·         We have put God’s word on the back seat, if not in the trunk.  Slowly but surely we have come to look to “The Herd” if not to ourselves for truth. - Cancer kills people, Doctors kill cancer; a bug sees a spider web as death, but the spider sees it as life; so we have come to see TRUTH only as a matter of perspective. – Truth is in the eye of the beholder.

·         Everyone who twists, distorts, spins, manipulates, suppresses and evades truth, hates the light and will not come to the light, because what he is doing will be exposed, thus pushing him further into the darkness.- They are not only mentally deficient, but morally deficient.

·         God has made Himself clearly perceived to us since the beginning of creation, but we have become futile in our thinking and have chosen to not honor Him nor even give thanks to Him and now our foolish hearts have become darkened. – We don’t see fit to acknowledge God and thus have exchanged, modified, distorted and suppressed His truth for a lie.  For this reason God gave us up to a debased mind.

·         Lying is the work of Satan. - Our father is Satan, and our will is to do the desires of our father. - He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies and that’s why it is SO EASY for us to lie.  We are to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness, bearing the very stamp of His nature. - WE MUST BE BORN AGAIN. – It’s in the Book -

Romans 1:19-21 – God has made Himself clearly perceived
¹⁹ For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes,
²⁰ namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So THEY ARE WITHOUT EXCUSE.
²¹ For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

(ESV)

Romans 1:25-28 - We have exchanged Truth for a Lie
²⁵ because they EXCHANGED THE TRUTH about God FOR A LIE and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
²⁶ For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature;
²⁸ And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.

(ESV)

John 8:44 - Our father is Satan who is the father of lies
⁴⁴ You are of YOUR FATHER THE DEVIL, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. (ESV)

Ephesians 4:24 – We must put on a new self in righteousness
²⁴ and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. (ESV)

Side Bar

·         We are not bound to reveal truth to someone who does not have the right to know it. – Confidential information given under the seal of secrecy must be kept confidential unless it would cause very grave harm to come to the one who has confided it or where by divulging it; grave harm can be avoided to a third party.

Proverbs 25:9-10 - Do not reveal another’s secret
⁹ Argue your case with your neighbor himself, and do not reveal another’s secret, lest he who hears you
¹⁰ bring shame upon you, and your ill repute have no end. (ESV)

Last Thoughts

·         Interestingly, we have a law that prohibits you from lying under oath; does that mean it’s OK to lie the rest of the time? – In real life, we have come to expect people to spin, exaggerate, stretch and bend the truth especially in self-preservation.

·         Scripture records that leaders who looked to themselves for truth, instructed the seers to “See no more visions!” and to the prophets, “Give us no more visions of WHAT IS RIGHT!  Tell us pleasant things, prophesy ILLUSIONS - TRUTH HAS FALLEN IN THE STREETS –The psalmist asked the question; who will dwell with God on His Holy Mountain? -  God says “THE ONE WHO SPEAKS THE TRUTH”.

·         We live in a culture of half-truths, spins and misinformation where truth has little value.  We can pick the flavor of truth we want to hear forgetting that God’s Truth is supreme.

·         We are to choose a good reputation; being held in high esteem over becoming wealthy. – Today, honesty, humility and patience are just not the characteristics of someone climbing the ladder of success in the business world or in the political arena.   

·         God sets the bar for us to follow, TRUTH is His “sign post” – He cannot Lie. -

·         From a little child to the leaders of our nation, we are born to walk in the darkness of LIES and WE MUST BE BORN AGAIN. -   It’s in the Book -  LIES, SPIN OR TRUTH -

Isaiah 59:14 - TRUTH HAS FALLEN IN THE STREET
¹⁴ Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands afar off; for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter. (NKJV)

Isaiah 30:10 – Give us NO MORE visions of what is RIGHT
¹⁰ They say to the seers, “See no more visions!” and to the prophets, “Give us no more visions of WHAT IS RIGHT! Tell us pleasant things, PROPHESY ILLUSIONS. (NIV2011)

John 3:7 – You must be born again
⁷ You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’

Psalm 15:1-2 – The one who speaks truth will dwell with God
¹ LORD, who may dwell in your sacred tent, on your holy mountain?
² The one whose walk is blameless, who does what is righteous, who SPEAKS THE TRUTH from their heart; (NIV2011)

Proverbs 22:1 – Choose a good reputation over being rich
¹ A sterling reputation is better than striking it rich; a gracious spirit is better than money in the bank. (MSG)

Titus 1:2 – God cannot lie
² in the hope of eternal life that God, who cannot lie, promised before time began. (HCSB)

In the multitude of counselors,

there is wisdom.

Proverbs 11:14

I am grateful to those that went before me providing concepts, ideas, historical

information, and scripture verses.  Because of them I can stand on their shoulders

and see further that I otherwise ever could have.

                                                                                                                                     

A Commentary; Critical, Experimental and Practical - Eerdmans

Antiquity of the Jews – Flavius Josephus Matthias

Apocrypha – Goodspeed

Baker Commentary on the Bible – Elwell

Bible Almanac; The – Packer-Tenney-White

Bible Commentary – F.B. Meyer

Bible Dictionary – Harper and Row

Bible Dictionary – Nelson’s

Dake’s Annotated Bible – Dake

English Standard Version Bible – ESV

Expositor’s Bible Commentary – Frank E. Gaebelein

Illustrated Bible Dictionary; The – Tyndale

Interlinear Greek-English New Testament - Baker

King James Version Bible – KJV

Matthew Henry’s Commentary - Zondervan

Mysteries of the Bible – Readers Digest

Nave’s Topical Bible - Zondervan

New International Dictionary of the Bible; The – Douglas - Tenney

New International Version Bible (2011) – NIV

NOTE: The “new” NIV has been corrupted and made gender neutral.  AVOID IT.

Thru the Bible – J. Vernon McGee

Vincent’s Word Studies of the New Testament – Mac Donald

Who’s Who in the Bible – Paul D. Gardner

Wycliffe Bible Commentary; The – Pfeiffer & Harrison

Wikipedia –

Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible; The – Tenney