False Witness

Ex 20:16 ““You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”

against who? - NEIGHBOR

col 3:9 “Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices”

don’t lie to who? - ONE ANOTHER

context here? within the community.

makes sense - trust is essential to any community.

if there is no trust - there is no community.

The Bible even goes so far as to regard deception within a community as an ACT OF WAR

Prov 25:18 “A man who bears false witness against his neighbor is like a war club, or a sword, or a sharp arrow.”

and the worst type of war - civil war - war against one’s neighbor.

THIS ALSO MEANS - there is such a thing as Godly deception - and we see it throughout scripture.

Hebrew midwives lied to pharaoh and GOD BLESSED THEM (Exod 1)

Rahab deceived at the orders of the Hebrew Spies, added to the lineage of Jesus (James 2)

David faked being insane to get away from Achish (1 Sam 21)

This is why we MUST understand the general equity of the scriptures.

what we derive from the Bible by “good and necessary consequence” as the Westminster Confession puts it.

NOT just proof-texting.

if we were only taking the scriptures as face value - proof texting them - it’d be easy for us to read this passage as “don’t lie to anybody ever” - because who’s your neighbor?

according to many today, it’s “everybody” - (it’s not everybody…)

but when we take this command and funnel it through all of the Bible - now we’ve got it.

So - general understanding - you don’t deceive those you are in covenant community with.

if the covenant itself is betrayed - different animal - but the duty of believers is to speak the TRUTH in love to one another.

And God HATES this sin.

Prov 6:16-19 “There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.”

What makes the list twice?

Prov 19:5 “A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who breathes out lies will not escape.”

Rev 21:8 “But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.””

Mark 10:19 “You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’ ””

And we must also remember - that to lie or to circulate a lie - it’s the same thing.

Exod 23:1 ““You shall not spread a false report. You shall not join hands with a wicked man to be a malicious witness.”

“well so and so said....”

no sir. no ma’am. What else do we call this?

and if you don’t know if it’s true or not - don’t mess with it.

and if we’ve got serious concerns w/ folks then we need to bring it to them directly OR to pastors.

Well, what do we do?

Repent and make restitution.

Confess to those you have lied to. That’s what restitution looks like here.

kids, wives, husbands, students...

Until you do, you won’t have true joy in your walk with the Lord.

Reject the “spin words” we use about lies.

white lies - exagerations - “spin” -

because now you’re not lying to others - you’re lying to yourself about you lying to others

Don’t just “technically” tell the truth.

well, technically....

a half truth is still a lie.

you know what’s in your heart - be aware - be careful.

LASTLY

take responsibility for what you hear and what you believe.

dont’ be a ready audience for a lie.

Don’t be someone who entertains lies about others, even if they may benefit you.

Instead be someone who has a reputation for refusing to entertain falsehoods.