God bless you and greetings in the name of Jesus Christ whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus (Colossians 1:28).
Yesterday we looked at the first three uses of pseudomai. The next few occurrences concern Paul and the operation of his ministry. Paul was adamant about telling the truth.
Romans 9:1:
I say the truth in Christ, I lie [pseudomai] not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost,
Paul said it both in the positive and in the negative so we would not miss the point. Paul told the truth. Therefore, his conscience was free and right with God. Remember, Paul spoke this by revelation. God wanted it said and had Paul state it bluntly. In II Corinthians 11 at the end of one of his apologias, Paul says:
II Corinthians 11:31:
The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, he who is blessed for evermore knoweth that I lie [pseudomai] not.
They were accusing him of lying, of being deceitful, of ministering for the money. Although there were many lies spoken against him, he just spoke the truth and rested in the truth that God knew he did not lie. He had God as his witness.
Galatians 1:20:
Now touching the things which I write unto you, behold, before God, I lie [pseudomai] not.
He spoke the truth. He spoke the truth before God, like giving testimony and putting your hand on the Bible. Before God, I lie not. God knows I do not lie.
Colossians 3:8-9:
But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. 9 Lie [pseudomai] not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds.
Paul also specifically commanded the believers to not lie. Do not lie to one another.
I Timothy 2:7:
Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie [pseudomai] not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity.
Again, he says it in both the positive and the negative.
Hebrews 6:18 says it is “impossible for God to lie.” Titus 1:2 also tells us that God “cannot lie.” Our God is a God of truth without iniquity (Deuteronomy 32:4). When it comes to His Word, we can trust it. It is impossible for God to lie. He would never lie, deceive, or misrepresent Himself or anybody else. It is impossible for Him to lie. He is a God of truth. Deuteronomy 32:4: says, “He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.”
James 3:14:
But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie [pseudomai] not against the truth. 15 This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.
When we have bitter envying and strife in our hearts, we are misrepresenting the truth. We are lying against the truth and essentially saying this is the way life ought to be led. But it is not. No way! Do not lie against the truth. Our walk and our doctrine have to be right. It has to be in sync. It has to be the same. “Truthing it” requires that what we speak is also the standard of life by which we live.
That is one of the things I think our Marvelous Mystery Tour presents so well. The mystery is not just words; it is not just a doctrine; it is not just the standard. It is not just information to stick in our heads. The mystery is to be lived. There is a practical side of it, and if we do not live it, we do not know it! It takes living it to know it! If we do not live it, we will not understand it. God commands us not to only have that information in our heads, but it is to make a difference in our lives. The truth is to guide our steps.
We treat each other with respect and honor. We treat each other as we would our lord, Jesus Christ. We recognize the Christ in each other; that is the truth! If we do not recognize that and we do not treat each other with respect, love and compassion, then we are not living the truth; we are lying like it said in James. We must live it. Of course, we will make mistakes. But we are learning more, and we get better all the time. We do not relentlessly condemn ourselves for mistakes. Rather, our goal is to do what God’s Word says, to be valiant for the truth, to live that way.
I John 1:6:
If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie [pseudomai], and do not the truth:
Why do you think God had this written? He had it written because we needed to know it. We needed to know it because people walking in darkness will say they are in fellowship with God.
One of the great themes of I John is fellowship. Another is honesty.
I John 1:8-10:
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
We have to be honest. If we say one thing and do another, it is wrong. If we are not honest, we cannot walk in fellowship. We have to be honest and admit when we are wrong ― when we are off the mark ― so we can get back on. God will help us with that. He is not going to be accusing, pointing fingers at us. He is not going to turn away and put His nose up. He is going to help us; He will point it out if we are meek enough to receive it. He is going to help us learn what we need to learn.
The last occurrence of pseudomai is in Revelation 3:9. It notes people who say they are Jews (God’s people), but they lie. It does not matter what people say; if it is contrary to the truth, it is a lie, usually spoken to deceive. It is important that we not allow Satan to deceive us.
The image of a child with an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other, each whispering into the child’s ear, is an artist’s vivid depiction of a power struggle. Opposing forces are fighting over the life of this little child. The devil whispers something bad and the angel whispers something good. Who is going to win?
Life really is not a power struggle; it is a matter of truth. It is a matter of “Do we believe the truth?” If we believe the truth, there is no power in heaven and earth that can keep the truth from happening. It is God’s Word; it is His truth. Do you think anything is going to stop it from happening? Do you think any spirit can stop it from happening? Do you think they can muscle up enough power that the spirits can back God down in any man’s life? It is a matter of truth.
The only way the devil ever beats us is with lies. He deceives us. He makes us think that we really do not have the authority to walk in the steps of Jesus Christ, or it is really not an abundant life. It is lie, after lie, after lie. He tries to get us to believe the lie; and if we take the bait, believe the lie and forsake the truth, then we become powerless in that situation or at that point. That is why the truth is so important. It is God’s Word not my word. We have to be valiant for the truth.
If it is God’s Word, it is going to come to pass. He wants it to happen, and it is going to happen. We just believe it because it is true. Then it happens.