Today on Bold steps with Mark job, we're discovering the meaning behind the ninth commandment.
The lies the enemy come. And as soon as the language of the enemy is starting to be spoken somewhere, then the culture of the enemy starts to be present in that place. Language comes before culture, but it opens up the door for the culture that follows.
Welcome to Bold Steps with Mark Jobe, senior pastor of New Life Community Church and president of Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. I'm Wayne Shepherd. As we move forward in our series Rock Solid Living. Mark, we're going to be looking at the ninth commandment, nine out of ten, the reasons why God includes it, and why Jesus affirms it in the New Testament.
Wayne. The Ten Commandments were given to the people of Israel to help shape their culture. It's a reflection of God's heart, what he values, he was saying, I want this to shape the culture in which you operate. And truth is a culture of the kingdom. So lies is a culture of the kingdom of darkness. And I know that every believer listening to me today would agree thou shalt not lie. However, studies tell us, surveys tell us that 91% of Americans regularly lie about something.
Oh my goodness.
Which means that we have accepted this thought that as long as it's not a very severe lie, it's okay to bend the truth and not always have to be honest.
Yeah, we buy the myth of the white lie, don't we?
We do. And so the Ten Commandments and Jesus reiterates it in the New Testament. Again, any kind of bending of truth, any kind of lying, any kind of deception is incompatible with the kingdom of light.
Let's let God's Word guide our thinking now. Thou shalt not lie. Here's Mark Jobe.
I know that if I were to do a survey today and ask how many of you whether lying is wrong or not. I think that 98% of this crowd would say, absolutely lying is wrong. We should not do it. It shouldn't be a part of our lives. We should be truthful. We should not deceive people. And so we'd all be in agreement in that. However, I read recently that Leo Burnett, who's a advertising agency, uh, they have a branch here in Chicago. The headquarters may be here. Uh,
did a nationwide telephone survey a few years ago. Online cataloging. When we lie, how we lie, and why we lie. The results were very interesting. 91% of Americans confess that they regularly lie. That's 91%. That means that there's only about 9% of Americans that don't regularly lie. And who knows, maybe some of them were lying. But this is pretty widespread. 79% had given out false phone numbers or invented new identities
when meeting strangers. One out of every five people interviewed admitted that they couldn't get through even one day without going along with some previously manufactured lie. So 20% of the people in America say, I can't go even one day without Perpetuating some lie that I'm living. Well, that's a pretty high percentage of them. Uh, do you know what we lie most about? Well, in doing a survey and asking what we lie most about, there's a couple
of things we lie about. We lie most about our income, our weight, and our age. The funny thing about weight, of course, is that it's pretty obvious sometimes if you're lying or not. The other fourth lie that came in sort of hand in hand in place number four, was the true color of our hair. So what I've discovered is that although most of us believe that lying is wrong, it seems to be that our culture accepts lying as
a way of life, and the great majority of us lie. Now, some of you would say, well, pastor, I know people lie, but. But I'm talking about white lies. I don't really know where the color coding of lies came in, but I'm not really sure I've ever heard of the Bible talk about a white lie. You would define a white lie as a lie that it doesn't hurt anybody. It's not bad. It's like when someone calls and the boss is saying, no, no, you say sorry, he's not here right now. Well, that's
kind of a white lie, right? He is here. He doesn't want to talk. He doesn't want to be rude. It's just a busy time. And so we say, well, well, he's not here right now. Someone invites you to something you don't want to go to, and you say, I'd really love to go. Oh, I'd be there in a heartbeat, but I'm sorry. We have another commitment. When really you don't. You say, well, there's nothing wrong with a lie like that because I'm just basically I don't want to offend them.
I'm just telling a little bit of a twisting of the truth that really has no bad repercussions. I mean, can't we all? And okay, so I go to renew my driver's license, and I tell them what I weighed 15 years ago. I mean, really? I mean, that doesn't really hurt anybody. That's what I'm planning on being in two months from now once I get on my heavy diet. But really, it's not much of a lie, is it?
I mean, seriously, when I apply for the job and they ask if I have a college degree and I tell them that I have a BA degree from from Roosevelt University downtown, you know, I'm only four credits short. So I mean, technically I don't have a degree, but I mean, seriously, four credits. I mean, who's going to care about four credits? Technically, I guess it's a lie, but in reality, is it such a big deal? I think most of us here would kind of say, yeah, pastor.
Come on. Don't be so hard. I mean, we all bend the truth a little bit. But here's what I want you to understand. I want you to understand what we call bending the truth a little bit is pretty big deal in the eyes of God. It may not have serious consequences to what you are currently doing, but in the spiritual realm, there's some pretty heavy consequences. And I want to talk to you about that. Why do we lie? Well, I believe that we lie to impress people,
to create an image, cover up our insecurities. We lie to escape consequences. We're late to work. Hey, my car broke down. It's been your fourth time. Your car broke down. Get a new car. Um. We lie to make a profit. A sales guys always are out there. I tell you what, uh, two years ago, I was looking around to try to buy a used car for my daughter. And, man, I tell you, you want to hear some stories. People spend stories.
Try to buy a used car. I checked Carfax and I said, well, last time you went to the mechanic, this had like 150,000 miles on it, and now it only has 90,000 miles on it. Something wrong with that picture? To make a profit. Oh, we lied to get revenge or to hurt someone else. We lie for convenience sake. Just because it's easier to lie. Sometimes we lie to protect ourselves from the consequences of others. And so there's a whole series of reasons why we lie. But I
want to understate here. I want to make sure that we have very clear that the fact that we break the ninth commandment has some serious spiritual implications, although it may be fully accepted in our Our society and small lies may be a part of our culture in the Kingdom of God. Mathematics or dynamics? This is a huge issue. And let me tell you why. The best way that I could describe it is this language is the precursor to culture. When I'm traveling around, for example, I'm at
an airport. I like to kind of play a game. I see someone and I, I try to figure out what country they're from. And sometimes you can tell by the way someone looks or the way they dress, but then when they open their mouth and you hear them speaking French, obviously you deduce they're from France or they're speaking German, you know, they're from Germany, because the language
that they speak indicates the place that they're from. Because and and once you know the language that they speak, you know, that the country that they're from and you know, the culture that they come from. Even with Spanish, for example, when I hear someone say, Joe and Voss, I know they're Argentinian because that's what they say there. If you hear someone speaking Spanish and they say Zanahoria and Zapato and Zamora, you know that they're Castilian, that they grew
up in Spain because they had this thing going. And so, you know where they're from. If you're from the US and someone says, how y'all doing today? We say, you're not from here, right? We know they're from the South because there's a lot of y'all want some iced tea for us. And we know, hey, they're not from here. My daughter was studying in California. She says, dad, all these people are. When I start talking, they're all kind of laughing and they're saying, where are you from? You
have to be from Chicago or somewhere. And I didn't even know I had an accent. But the Californians all think I have an accent because they say mom, not mom. So the language that you speak indicates the culture that you come from And the environment in which you live. Language tells you that. Well, Jesus is talking to his disciples and Jesus is talking to some, to his disciples and to some people that he was trying to speak
into their lives. And in John chapter eight, I will begin reading in verse 4343 through 47, Jesus looks at some people that are not understanding him, not because they don't speak the same technical language that he spoke, but because they don't speak the same spiritual language. And he says, why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. You belong to your father. Your father has taught you a language. That's
not my language. You understand your father's language, but you don't understand my language. Well, what father is he talking about? He says your father. The devil. And you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language. For he is a liar and the father of lies. Yet, because I tell you the truth, you
do not believe me. What Jesus was telling his disciples and people that were unwilling to receive his message, is that he was telling them that the native language, that the original language of the kingdom of darkness is the language of lies, beguilement, deception, and the bending of truth. If you speak the language of lies, then it indicates that you are being influenced by the culture of darkness, because that is the language that is spoken in the
culture of darkness. On the other hand, when you speak the language of truth and integrity, it's the language that's spoken in the kingdom of light. The language of God is truth. The language of the enemy is lying and deception.
You're listening to Bold Steps with Mark Jobe. We'll continue today's message in a moment. But first, Mark, I want to talk about something that's become a growing concern within Christian leadership circles. Our world is going through a whirlwind, pretty dramatic developments and changes, not just here in America, but around the globe. And we need to remind ourselves, as Christians, we have a much higher calling than any political movement, don't we.
Wayne? Turn on the news. And there is drama all over the place.
From rumors of wars to economic crisis to polarization, to actual wars that are happening to bombings, and it is easy to get distracted by all this. Worried by it. Anxious by it. Sort of sucked into it. But here's what I want to say. This is a great time for the good news of Jesus Christ and the hope of the gospel.
Amen.
There are a lot of people coming to Christ throughout the world, and you may not hear about it, because there's other news that is prominent and is taking people's attention. But there is an undercurrent of a harvest evangelism. And that's what we're all about right now, is a moment where people are shaken, where there's concern. But there are so many people that are turning to the heavens, and we at Bold Steps have determined we will not miss
that moment. And so we are asking you to partner with us, help us out, because right now is a great time to be calling people to Jesus.
We urge you to give online at Bold steps.org. Or you can call us. The number is 800. D.L. Moody and that works out to be (800) 356-6639. And when you do give, we'll be sure to send you a special gift which will tell you more about later in the program today. Well, thank you for that, Mark. But let's go back to your message now here on bold Steps.
Hebrews chapter six verse 18 basically says God cannot lie. Titus chapter one, verse two says, A faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which is God who does not lie. God can't even lie if he tried to. It's not his language. It's like saying to you, hey, can you give me a phrase in Mandarin from China? And you're not from China? You don't even know how you couldn't if you wanted to, because it's not the language that you speak. God cannot lie. He doesn't speak
the language of lies. Yet the Bible says that the language of the darkness, the language of the enemy of our souls, that is his native language. He can't tell the truth if he wants to. He only tells the truth to mix it with deception and lies, because his native tongue is that of deception and lying. He's called the father of lies. On the other hand, just like God cannot lie, God cannot bend the truth. God cannot distort the truth on the same hand. Deceit, just like truth,
prepares the way for the kingdom of God culture. Deceit prepares the way for the kingdom of darkness. Culture. Hear me well. Look up at me. This is really important. Whatever words you speak are making way for a culture that you're introducing. If there's resentment and bitterness and anger that you speak in your household, you're beginning to create
a culture of resentment, bitterness, and anger. If you're leading a football team of junior high kids and you speak encouragement and confidence and ability to win, then you're creating a culture of winning and confidence into that team. Whatever words you speak into your world are precedes the culture that you're introducing into your world. This is exactly what happened in the beginning with the Garden of Eden. If you look at Genesis, Genesis chapter three, you realize that
God created Paradise. He created a world in which people walked with him and talked with them. He created a world in which there was no bigotry, in which there was no rape and there was no murder, and there was no anger, and there was no distinction of color. And people walked with him in freedom. And that world was the world that God created us to live and walk in. However, it tells us in Genesis chapter three that the serpent, the way he wiggled his way into Paradise,
was through the language. What language? The language of beguilement or deception? Notice what it says in Genesis chapter three, verse one. Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, Did God really say, you must not eat from the tree in the garden? What the serpent did is he put in question the truth of God. God had not said that they couldn't eat from any tree of the garden. They could only not eat from
one tree in the garden. So he he misled Eve in his statement. It was only half true. He had said, don't eat from one tree. Not all the trees. He lied about the righteousness of God. The serpent said, God said, you shall truly die. But. But I don't think you will. He lied about the goodness of God. God doesn't want you to eat from this tree, because if you do, you will be like God. Listen, he sowed seeds of deception before he brought in the culture of darkness. I.
Are you tracking where I'm going with this? Before the kingdom of light comes in, truth comes before the kingdom. Before someone comes to Christ. They hear the gospel. They hear the truth. And then the culture of the kingdom invades their life before the kingdom of darkness comes. The lies of the enemy come. And as soon as the language of the enemy is starting to be spoken somewhere, then the culture of the enemy starts to be present in that place. Language comes before culture, but it opens
up the door for the culture that follows. Now, why is this so important? Because some of you love Jesus. Follow God, carry your Bibles, come to church, raise your hands on Sunday and worship of God. And you consider yourself a follower of Jesus Christ. But you where you go, you speak the language of darkness through deception that you don't think is an important thing. You're bending the truth. Lying about this line about that and what you're really
doing is you're spreading the kingdom of darkness. You're opening up doors for kingdom of darkness. Although you follow God, you're violating the ninth commandment, and you are speaking the language of the devil. And you wonder why he has a foothold in your life. You're speaking the language of darkness, and you're giving the enemy a foothold in your household. Because we're the language of deception is spoken. Then the culture of darkness comes in and you speak lies into
your marriage, you start deceiving one another, bending truth. And I can guarantee you that you are giving the enemy a huge foothold in your household and in your marriage to begin to bring the culture of the kingdom of darkness there.
Line isn't just about the words we use. That's the topic of today's message from pastor, author, and Bible teacher Mark Jobe. And this is bold steps. To learn more about Mark and this ministry, be sure to visit us online at Bold Steps org. Well, Mark, today we're joined by two special guests, Aaron and Jason Davis, who've written a book that tackles a challenge every Christian parent faces how to help our boys navigate the lies our culture
is throwing at them. The book is called Lies Boys Believe and the Epic Quest for truth.
That's right Wayne. You know, last month we offered the companion to this resource lies girls believe I.
Remember.
So Aaron, as a mother of four boys. Yeah, you heard it. Four boys. What motivated you to write this book?
Well, obviously my own sons. You're right. So everybody listening. It's okay for you to gasp at that. Four sons. That's what Jason and I have. So it's a rowdy house. But there are primary concern. But they're also a good indicator of what's happening in the wider culture. And everybody seems to be talking about boys in crisis, secular and Christian. But we want to point our boys to the truth, and the truth is found in God's word. And so
we let our boys go first. They were super involved in the project, and I hope this is an outflow of our parenting, but we also hope they're just four examples of what can happen when God gets Ahold of boys, when they're young and they fall in love with His word when they're young and they start living for truth.
So, Jason, you have built in research, huh?
Yeah, it's made it easy. We didn't have to travel a lot to do the market research for this one.
And, Jason, what ages would you say this book is targeted towards?
Uh, young men, uh, probably 6 to 12 would be the target demographic. That's probably not the right terminology, but, um, we found that our boys in that age group really resonated well with the content and the message.
You know, I think this type of book is so needed. There are so many, so many parents struggling with just the lies that our culture is just saturating our young people with. But young boys especially, are at a disadvantage these days when the image of what it means to be a man or grow up to be a man is really been erased and very confusing.
This is critical, isn't it? Yeah. Aaron and Jason, thank you so much for writing this book and making it available to our listeners.
It's been a real pleasure.
Yeah, we're just honored to get to serve families in the church in this way.
And we'll send you a copy of this book when you give a donation of any amount. Call us at 800 Moody. That's (800) 356-6639 or give online at boldsystems.org. As always, you can also send that donation in the mail. Just address an envelope to Bold steps. 820 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 606 ten Once again. 820 North LaSalle, Chicago, Illinois 606 ten and if you've been blessed by Mark's teaching and you'd like to join our team of loyal supporters,
we invite you to become a bold partner. As a bold partner, you help bring these gospel rich messages to other listeners just like you. A single gift helps push us forward, but it really is the consistent monthly giving that keeps this program alive and growing so that we can be here for you every day, every week, with a biblical truth and encouragement you rely on with your
monthly giving. You'll also benefit from receiving exclusive resources like a signed copy of Mark's book, Unstuck Out of Your Cave and into your call, available only to bold partners. So join the team today by going online to Bold steps.org or call us at 800 Moody. And don't forget, in addition to listening to Mark each weekday right here on your local radio station, you can listen 24 over seven on our website. We even have a mobile Bold
Steps app for listening on the go. Or find us on your favorite podcast platform like Apple Podcasts or Google Play. To learn more about the variety of ways you can listen to this program, just go online to Bold Steps. Org. I'm Wayne Shepherd. Join us tomorrow and we'll see why the Ninth commandment is so important. It's the conclusion of today's message called Thou Shalt Not Lie. And it's coming
up Wednesday on Bold Steps with Mark Jones. Bold steps is a production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.