The Heart of the Problem: Why We Wander from the Lord

The following message from Pastor Greg Laurie is made possible by Harvest Partners, helping people everywhere know God. If you would like to know how you can become a Harvest Partner, just go to harvest.org.

That's harvest.org. Pastor Greg Laurie says God hates lying, and we should too. When we lie, it says something disturbing about our character. I'll tell you why God hates lying, because He is the source of and the very personification of truth. In contrast to Jesus, we have the devil, who is described in the Bible as the father of lies. So when we lie, we're behaving more like children of the devil than children of God. Children often look like their parents.

They could be facial features, the way they move their hands as they speak, or their laugh. And a child will often mimic his parents' mannerisms, something about an apple not falling far from a tree. But ever since Eve was handed the fruit of one particular tree, Satan has been lying to us, and many now mimic his behavior. Today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie helps us chart a course for our behavior from the Lord's Ten Commandments. Grab your Bibles. I hope you have a Bible so you can read along, because this is a Bible study.

Grab your Bible and turn to Exodus chapter 20, and the title of my message is The Heart of the Problem. Now you remember the first four commandments. You shall not have another god before him. You shall not have a graven image or worship a graven image. You shall not take the Lord's name in vain, and you shall keep it the Sabbath day. The first four have to do with my relationship with God.

The final six have to do with my relationship with people. And that's what I want to focus on right now, the final commandments in the Ten Commandments. Let's go to commandment number five in Exodus chapter 20 verse 12.

Honor your father and mother that your days may be long in the land which the Lord your God has given you. Commandment number six, you shall not murder. Commandment number seven, you shall not commit adultery. Commandment number eight, you shall not steal. Commandment number nine, you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor or don't lie. And finally the last commandment, verse 17 of Exodus 20. You shall not covet your neighbor's house, nor covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor anything that belongs to your neighbor.

All right. Let's dive into commandment number eight, you shall not steal. Now we've seen how we all fall short in these other areas. Who among us has not had another god before him? Who among us has not at some time taken the Lord's name in vain? We might say, well I've never committed adultery or murdered anyone, but Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, if you've looked on a woman or a man with lust in your heart, it's the same as committing adultery. And if you've had hatred in your heart towards someone, it's the same as murdering them. So have you ever had hatred in your heart toward anyone? Let me rephrase the question.

Have you ever driven on a freeway, especially in Southern California? So clearly we've broken these commandments, but now when we come to you shall not steal, we might all breathe a collective sigh of relief because we'll think, well I actually don't steal anything. In fact a poll was done by Barna that revealed that 86% of those who were polled said they were completely satisfied that they had never broken this commandment. Because we think, well that's what robbers do. But theft is so common in our culture today, I don't think we realize how pervasive it is. For instance, you read that a cashier can't open their safe. Or a clerk at a gas station is working behind bulletproof glass. And red lights blink on our dashboards of our cars telling people that the car alarm is on. And security cameras monitor our every move when we go into a store, our every move rather, as we go into a store and they even monitor us out in the streets as well. An article in Newsweek pointed out that People's Shoplift, get ready for this figure, $13 billion worth of merchandise a year.

$13 billion. We're not just talking about high-end items. We're talking about things like lipstick and batteries. According to this article, it's gotten to the point where some retailers will use shoplifting habits as a guide to find out what's hot among teenagers. Oh, they're stealing more of this.

Let's order more of that. So that's how pervasive theft is in our culture today. And to all of this, God says in His Word, you shall not steal. It's not only a crime.

It is a sin. Here's what the Bible says about stealing in Ephesians 4.28. He who has been stealing must steal no longer.

He must work and do something useful with his own hands, and he may have something to share with those in need. That's a very important verse, and it tells us three very practical things about stealing. Number one, we should steal no longer. Verse 28, he who has been stealing should no longer do it. So if you've taken something from someone, give it back.

It doesn't belong to you. That's very important. The story of Zacchaeus, I think, is the perfect illustration. Zacchaeus was a tax collector. So he didn't have many friends because back in those days, a tax collector, it's not just like someone who worked for the IRS. It was someone who worked with the Roman government. So Zacchaeus, being a Jewish man, worked for the occupying force. So he was perceived by his fellow Jews as a traitor or a turncoat.

And if it wasn't bad enough to collect the taxes for Rome, the tax collectors often added on more for their own benefit. So no one liked Zacchaeus. So one day Jesus came into the town that he lived in called Jericho for a visit. And as he's walking through the town, Zacchaeus was kind of a little dude. So he climbs up a tree to get a look at Jesus, and here's Christ moving through this crowd. Suddenly he stops and looks up and says, Zacchaeus, I'm coming over to your house today. And Zacchaeus scrambled down the tree and took Jesus to his home, and they disappeared behind the closed door.

A little bit of time passed, and they emerged together. And Zacchaeus said to all of the people that were there, if I've taken anything in a wrong way, I'll give back four times as much. And Jesus said, truly salvation has come to this house today. So this is a man that understood he stole from others so he should return what he had taken and compensate for it. This is called restitution. So if you steal something from someone, you don't go to them and say, sorry, I stole this from you.

Forgive me. No, give it back. And if you broke it or lost it or sold it to someone else, buy them a new one. So number one, don't steal any longer.

Number two, do something useful. It says in Ephesians 4, 28, but that man must work. Like it or not, the Bible teaches that we are to earn our bread by the sweat of our brow. 2 Thessalonians 3, 10 says, whoever does not work should not eat. Yet we hear that some of you are living idle lives, refusing to work, wasting time meddling in other people's business. Listen to what Paul says.

In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we appeal to such people. No, we command them, settle down and get to work and earn your own living. Listen, the world does not owe you a living, nor does the government. Your parents can't support you forever. Learn a work ethic.

Get out there and apply yourself. This is so important. And then thirdly, share what you have with others.

Again, what does he say? He says, so you might have something to share with those in need. Sharing is the opposite of stealing. Socialism has become very popular in our culture.

More and more people, especially those who are young, say they think it's a new way of life we should adopt for America. The Bible does not advocate socialism. You say, but wait, I heard that in the Bible they shared one with another.

Yes, voluntarily. They weren't forced to do it. The redistribution of wealth. In the Bible we have many parables where the person who takes a little and multiplies it is rewarded, and the person who is given something and does not use it or invest it properly has what they have taken away from them.

The point is simply this. We should share instead of take from others. Now, here's something to think about when we talk about stealing. Did you know it's possible to steal from God himself? I read a story about a man who had actually robbed two churches.

He had burglarized them, and they got a photo of him with a surveillance camera. He's dressed as Batman. So if you see a guy dressed like Batman running around with money, you may ask him where he got that money.

But here's what we need to understand. Everything that we have comes from God. Everything that you own comes from God because you belong to God.

He has provided that back to you. So we should give back to the Lord of our finances. Now, when we talk about stealing from God in the book of Malachi, we read this incredible statement. Malachi 3.8, Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing me in your tithes and offerings. So it should be understood by the Christian that it is a privilege to give of our finances to God. We should all want to do it, and we all should do it because, as I already said, everything that we have comes from the Lord. And He makes specific promises to us as we faithfully invest into His kingdom. He will bless us as a result. In fact, Matthew 6.33, Jesus says, Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

What things? The context of what He was talking about is don't be like nonbelievers who just worry about what they're going to wear, what they're going to eat, what they're going to drink. Jesus says, Your Father knows you have need of these things. But instead, put God first.

Seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you. Then in Malachi, this amazing promise is made. In Malachi 3.10, Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there'll be enough food in My temple.

And if you do, says the Lord, I'll open up the windows of heaven for you and pour you out a blessing so great you won't have room enough to take it in. And then the Lord says, Try it. Put me to the test.

I challenge you. Put the Lord to the test. Give faithfully to Him. Don't steal from the Lord.

Don't steal from others. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. We hear from so many people who find Christ through these studies in God's Word. Dear Pastor Greg, I wake up to your voice on the radio each day. I've been a Christian since September 12, 1978, after hearing you speak in Riverside, California. While living in Temecula, my employers told me they were praying for me.

For many years, I did not believe. But after hearing your life story and all about Jesus, I began to believe and made a decision to follow Jesus. Thank you, Pastor Greg, for all that you've done and continue to do for all of us who need to hear the Word daily. We hope Pastor Greg's words from Scripture continue to touch lives. And if you have a comment or story to share, send it to Pastor Greg. His email address is gregatharvest.org.

That's gregatharvest.org. Well, we're gaining some practical insight for daily life from Pastor Greg's study of the life of Moses, focusing today on the Ten Commandments in chapter 20 of Exodus. Commandment number 9, verse 16 of Exodus 20. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. Or a simpler way to understand it, you shall not lie. We know lying is wrong, so why do we do it? It's often because we've been caught doing something wrong and we want to find a way to explain it, so a lie will come as a result. I read an article from the Washington Post magazine that said that lying happens 92 percent of the time because people want to save face and 98 percent of the time to keep from offending someone else. So it can be challenging. You know, maybe husbands, your wife comes to you with a new dress and she says, do I look fat in this? By the way, the answer is always no. But, you know, you don't want to say, well, actually, you do a little because that will offend them, so you don't want to tell them the truth.

It's hard. Maybe you're invited over to someone's house for a meal and the meal is so bad you can't even finish it and you took it and fed it to the dog and the dog just died. And after the meal's over, she says, how did you like the dinner I served you? And you say, I would say it was one of the most unusual meals I've ever eaten. I've never eaten anything like it before. I have to go, excuse me, and then you go throw up in the bathroom.

But the point is, it's hard to say, actually, that was horrible. Don't serve that to anyone again because we don't want to offend them. But we tell little white lies too. You know, someone calls. You don't want to answer the phone. So you tell the kids to say, tell them mom's not home. Sometimes we lie to the kids who are having a great ice cream. They say, can I have some? Oh, I don't think you would like it.

It's a little too spicy. You know, we do these little white lies, so to speak, all the time. For instance, we'll say to someone, oh, sorry, I forgot. When you didn't forget, you just didn't care enough to do it. You say to someone, it's good to see you, when actually it isn't good to see them at all.

You say, I love your outfit, when actually you don't love their outfit. You're late for an appointment. You say, oh, sorry, I hit traffic.

When you didn't hit traffic, you just left really late. Oh, I was just getting ready to call you when you weren't. Or the check's in the mail when it isn't, or how about this one? Well, I'll be praying for you. Okay, that's nice to say.

Make sure you do it. If you say to someone, I'll be praying for them, make sure you pray for them. Here's another way that you can lie, through gossiping and backbiting. Through gossiping and backbiting. Saying things like, have you heard?

Hey, I don't know if this is true, but I just heard that. Or, I wouldn't tell you this, but I know it won't go any further, but. Or how about this one? I'm telling you this, just so you can pray. Hold on. If you don't know that something is true, don't you dare repeat it. That's gossip. The very name, hisses, gossip.

Reminds us of the serpent, tempting Eve in the garden. And the devil can really get into the details of this sort of thing. Because we can end up slandering a person, or destroying their reputation.

And what we're saying is not factually true. As I've said to you before, apply the acronym, Think Before You Speak. T-H-I-N-K. T. Is it true? H. Is it helpful? I. Is it inspiring?

N. Is it necessary? K. Is it kind? If it does not pass muster with the acronym of think, don't say it. You say, Greg, if I applied that principle in my life, I'd hardly say anything about anyone. Good. Shut up.

And do us all a huge favor. Because if you've been the victim of gossip, or a lie told about you, you know how hurtful it can be. Let me tell you something. God hates it when his people lie. Over in Proverbs 6 it says there are seven things the Lord hates. Haughty eyes, which means sort of a look of arrogance. A lying tongue. Hands that kill the innocent. A heart that plots evil. Feet that race to do wrong. A false witness that pours out lies. And a person who sows discord in the family.

It's interesting. Out of the seven things that God hates, two of them have to do with lying and deceit. I'll tell you why God hates lying. Because he is the source of and the very personification of truth.

Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. In contrast to Jesus, who is truth, we have the devil who is described in the Bible as the father of lies. So when we lie, we're behaving more like children of the devil than children of God. Why do we do it?

To cover stuff up. One of the biggest whoppers of all time is the story of Aaron and the golden calf. So after Moses receives the Ten Commandments, he descends from Mount Sinai. And what does he find? He hears noise in the camp. And he thought they were having a war.

And it turns out they were having a big old party. And here's what Moses sees. Picture it. He's holding the commandments.

In each hand he comes down from the mountain having been with the Lord himself. And the people are dancing naked around a golden calf. And they're singing, celebrate good times, come on. I don't know if they're singing that.

But they're celebrating. And he demands an explanation. And Aaron, who he left in charge.

By the way, Aaron, the worst babysitter of all time, offered this explanation. Well Moses, I know this looks bad standing in front of a golden image and worshipping it. Or it looks like we're worshipping it. But here's what happened. We threw our gold into the fire and this calf just came out. So what else could we do but strip off our clothes and worship it.

Right? Well Moses was not happy. Needless to say. But that was a lie. What actually happened was Aaron said, bring all of your gold. Bring all of your bling.

Bring your earrings and your rings and your necklaces. And he melted it and he made it in the shape of a golden calf that the people were bowing before. But that was a lie. And we live in a culture where, especially on social media, it's literally built on lies. You'll clickbait. You ever see one of those images? It will have a little headline.

Oh they left us too soon. And it's some well-known movie star. What?

They died? You click it and it has nothing to do with that. They're lies that are told about people.

Sites that deal primarily in gossip. Let that not be something that's a part of our lives. Another form of lying is flattery. Flattery. One definition of flattery is quote, flattery is saying things to a certain person's face you would never say behind their back. So you say, oh you're so wonderful. Oh you're so smart. Then you turn around and say, I can't stand that person.

They're such a loser. You're lying when you say these things to a person. Another form of lying is exaggeration.

Now let's be honest. Sometimes preachers are guilty of exaggeration. Especially when it comes to numbers. How many people come to their church.

How many people attended this event. It's sort of like evangelistically speaking. Then evangelistically speaking that's why we try to keep very accurate numbers. And when we give you a number it is really factual.

But we might exaggerate our skills to get that promotion at work or whatever it is. Stretching the facts. That's a form of lying.

Here's another one. You can also lie when you remain silent when you should speak. You can lie by remaining silent when you should speak. Maybe you're in a setting where something is said about someone that you know that is not true. And you don't refute it. You say nothing even though you know what they're saying is not true about this person you know.

That's called slander by silence or complicity by passivity. Christians need to be telling the truth and not be telling lies. This is a reflection of the Lord and His will for us. Good encouragement from Pastor Greg Laurie from his study today on a new beginning called The Heart of the Problem.

He's presenting an in-depth study series on the life of Moses that he's calling Wood, Fire, Stone. I hope you were able to hear all of Pastor Greg's insights today. But if you missed anything, you can catch up by listening at harvest.org.

You can stream it online or download an MP3. And again, the title is The Heart of the Problem. If you'd rather have a CD copy, just call 1-800-821-3300. We're here to speak with you anytime 24-7 at 1-800-821-3300. Well, Pastor Greg, today is kind of a special day on the calendar with Christmas approaching. Some of our listeners may be aware that it has two names. It's called Charity Tuesday or Giving Tuesday. And here on this special day, we hope our listeners will remember Harvest Ministries. Well, you know, Dave, on Black Friday everybody goes out shopping. Then on Cyber Monday they shop online. So some folks had come up with the idea of Giving Tuesday, and I like that. You know, an opportunity to give, not just to receive. And isn't that what Christmas is really all about? It's about giving gifts. Jesus said it's more blessed to give than to receive. So listen, since it is Giving Tuesday, would you consider giving to our ministry?

Because listen to this, when you give to us, you also give through us. And enable us to reach more people with the message of the gospel. Thanks in advance for remembering Harvest Ministries on this Giving Tuesday. And we'll show our thanks with the DVD of A Rush of Hope, Pastor Greg's Cinematic Crusade.

It includes resources to help you host a watch party, plus a digital download code so you can watch online. Write us today at A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, CA 92514. Or call 1-800-821-3300. Call any time 1-800-821-3300.

Or go online to Harvest.org. The Ten Commandments warned us not to covet. Covet? What does that really mean? Is it wanting something we don't have? Well, Pastor Greg says yes, but it's more than that. Get the full scope of that warning next time on A New Beginning. This is the day, the day when life begins The preceding message from Greg Laurie was made possible by Harvest Partners, helping people everywhere know God. Sign up for Pastor Greg's free daily email devotions at harvest.org.