Truth and Consquences

This sermon began with a video clip of a Pepcid AC commercial. A woman has disappeared, the police ask her husband if she could be in the Hot Enchilada. He replies "No, Alison gets terrible heartburn" The police then find an empty packet of Pepcid AC. They find the wife in the Hot Enchilada enjoying spicy food

Scripture: Exodus 20: 1 - 17 and Matthew 7: 13 and 14


Intro: God has created natural consequences for us when we disobey His laws. He has either created or allowed these consequences to help us follow the right path to Him. But we have so cleverly found all kinds of ways to get around these natural barriers or reminders: to our harm.

It is like the commercial we watched earlier. Perhaps your doctor recommends that you give up spicy food: you have a hiatal hernia or an ulcer, or maybe your system is just not as tolerant as it used to be. Why listen to the advice of a trained professional? Why follow the suggestion of a person you PAID to help you? Just take this little tablet before you eat and indulge in that food that is not good for you. No consequences! No heartburn, no pain, do what you want without paying the price!

"You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.” : In other words, do not lie or even gossip.

God does not intend for us to treat one another unkindly, and this includes talking about someone, disclosing confidences, spreading rumors, or lying. He made some built in consequences to help remind us to keep to the narrow, wholesome path. The natural consequences of gossiping or lying are:

Guilt feelings
Other people will avoid you, thinking, “Wonder he says about me when my back is turned”
Compassion for the person we are talking about
Fear of getting caught in a lie (which often leads to more and bigger lies)

We have discovered some ways to avoid those consequences, and while these may soothe our conscience, God knows exactly what we are up to. The tablet we take before gossiping or lying may be:

It’s not gossip if you only tell one person…. Don’t tell a soul about this but…..
We can make our action seem healthy by giving a good reason for it or Pray for this person, his wife left him, she sniffs coke, he is losing his job…
or we try and appear to be better than someone else, so and so is a terrible gossip, she is spreading the rumor that …..



Paul writes to the church in Corinth: For I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as I want you to be, and you may not find me as you want me to be. I fear that there may be quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder.

Our relationships with others are built on trust, don’t allow yourself to take a tablet that keeps hurtful words from being a concern for you.


"You shall not commit adultery.

In I Thessalonians 4:3 Paul writes: It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body [1] in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God;

Families are at the core of our society, our relationship with family determines who we are and how we react to others. In a perfect world, a healthy marriage would be at the center of every family – but that is not realistic for us. Faithlessness within a marriage is one of the most hurtful things that any couple can experience. In order to make us want to choose to be faithful, God has allowed consequences for our disobedience.

Destruction of family structure, divorce, children hurt and confused
Fear of sexually transmitted diseases, fear of unwanted pregnancy, dissatisfaction with the marriage, feeling trapped

These are all natural barriers to pre-marital sex, extra-marital affairs, even to building a fantasy life around someone other than your spouse. Why then are there so many marriages destroyed by unfaithfulness?

Society offers a lot of tablets to cure the guilt of an affair!

We have medicated condoms to help prevent disease,
we have television and movies trying to convince us that “everyone is doing it” and it is normal to have an affair,
we have abortions available and even a morning after pill to prevent pregnancy,
we can conveniently convince ourselves that fantasies are harmless,
that it is all our spouses fault,
that we deserve more romance and excitement.

God intended a man and a woman to live together in joy and love, He intended our families to be strong, and our children to be secure. Don’t allow society to talk you into giving up that perfect ideal.



"You shall have no other gods before me.

"You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."

These commandments are known in modern times as “keeping up with the Joneses”. We feel that we have to have to newest, fastest, best of everything. If our neighbor has something better we look at it with desire and find ourselves burning to own whatever that item is. God wants us to be satisfied with what we have, He promises to give us whatever we need, and to give us a glorious mansion when we join him someday. He also warns us about the danger of the love of money.

In Matthew 6 Jesus says: "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”

And in Matthew 19:24 Jesus tells his disciples “Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

Again there are consequences to being in love with money, possessions or prestige.

Because the Holy Spirit in us knows what we need, when we pursue material things we will always be unsatisfied,
always wanting more, what we have is never enough,
our families suffer from neglect,
our relationships suffer from envy and jealousy.

And what have we done to soothe our conscience, to get rid of that heartburn and allow us to chase after faster cars, bigger homes and better objects?

We convince ourselves that we have to have it!
We need to provide the best for our families,
we even go so far as to claim that having the latest gadgets will allow us MORE time with our family. We believe that a new computer will free up more time in paying the bills, forgetting all the extra hours we have to work to pay for it.

The news is not all bad - God wants us to be healthy in mind, soul and body. Like a parent who has to allow his children to find out for themselves what is wrong for them, he is always ready to comfort us and help us make it right.

In John, Jesus promises us "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God [1]; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

Our job is to become more aware of the tablets with which we are medicating ourselves. God gave us consequences to help us follow the narrow and true path to him. When we find ourselves being too comfortable, it should be a warning to check our medicine cabinets.


Heavenly Father, we ask You now to help us become more aware of the ways in which we fool ourselves. You know what is best for us, and we bow to Your discipline and guidance. Help us tobe better foloowers in order to build your Kingdom. We thank You for Your kindness and forgiveness of our mistakes. In the name of Your precious Son, Amen.