TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Please turn in you Bible to Exodus 20:16 as we consider TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES.
Do any of you recall a game show titled TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES? I vaguely remember watching it with my parents when I was a child. Bob Barker was the host, and he had a hard time keeping a straight face on occasion. One interaction I remember was that a mother was being interviewed by Barker, and her son was standing there with her. If I recall, Bob Barker enjoyed getting the children’s impute on things. And he asked this boy if he would like to announce the lady standing next to him. The boy stated, loud and clear: “this is my big fat mother!” Barker’s jaw dropped so that his mouth was wide open. He admonished the young man that that wasn’t polite to say.
Anyway, I remember my mom turning to me and saying in no uncertain terms: “Philip Carl Devaney, do not ever say that of me!” Perhaps she saw the wheels spinning in my mind!
A few years later, while riding on the bus home from school, one girl came up to me and said so and so just called your mom fat! I turned to this girl (I’ve long since forgotten both of the girls names and faces) and said something like, “You are right, my mom is fat, but it is not a very nice thing to talk about people like that.” As I’ve studied our text for this week, I’ve come to the conclusion that just maybe I truly understood the ninth commandment at an early age.
Today we return to our study of the Ten Words, better known as the Ten Commandments. Since it has been a while since were last in this study, it would probably be helpful to review some of the things which we have learned.
These commandments were given by Yahweh to His covenant people, the Children of Israel, after He delivered them from bondage in the land of Egypt. God worked this great deliverance by sending ten plagues on the nation — each of these plagues targeted the so-called god’s of Egypt. The plagues began with the turning of all the water in the land to blood. After each of the first nine plagues, Pharoah, the King of Egypt, begged Moses to put a stop to the plague. But after the plague stopped Pharoah hardened his heart to the One and Only True God — to Yahweh, and refused to let the Children of Egypt depart.
After some of the plagues the text reads that God hardened Pharaoh's heart. After others the text reads that Pharaoh hardened his own heart. It seems that God’s intention was to prove, both to Israel and to Egypt that He is the only One worthy of the title God.
In the final plague — the tenth plague — God executed judgment on the god’s of Egypt. This plague was the death of the firstborn, both of man and of beast. God instructed Moses to teach the children of Israel how their household could be spared in the night when the Angel of Death went through the entire nation, killing the firstborn in every home. As we looked at last week, they were to take a one year old male lamb, slaughter it, and paint the doorposts and lintels of their homes with some of the blood which was shed. This would be a sign to the Angel of Death to pass over that home and not kill the firstborn.
Having delivered the nation from bondage, God was now their Suzerain — their Master. And the people of Israel were now His vassals — His subjects. Our passage for today, and next week as well, is a part of what is sometimes referred to as the Mosaic Covenant. It was the list of demands which God made with the nation of Israel since He was their new Master. It was their duty to obey the regulations which God presented to them, in His own voice, on that fateful day.
These ten commandments can be broken down into two categories. The first four commandments fall under the category of loving Yahweh with all of one’s heart, soul, mind, and strength. The last six fall under the category of loving one’s neighbor as oneself.
How could the nation express their love for Yahweh? That is what God begins with.
Yahweh began by stating, in unequivocal terms, that He and only He is their God. The so-called gods of Egypt whom many of them had served were to be put away. They were to take off the garments which belonged to their old way of life and put on the garments which belong to their new life, in which Yawheh is acknowledged as their One and Only God. No longer was each individual to have a god of their own choosing, whom they worshiped along with their national god. No longer were they to have a god for their household. They were to have one God and only One. Yahweh had proven to them over and over again that He in the only true God. And the nation, and well as the individuals who made up the nation, was to live in accordance with that truth.
So, the first step in loving Yahweh was to acknowledge Him as their only God.
The Second step in loving Yahweh, was to avoid making any sort of image which would represent Him — He is invisible. No one knows what He looks like. Rather, they were to focus on His revealed character and the acts which He performed.
The third step in loving Yahweh was to hallow His name. They were to hallow His name by living in accordance to His revealed will. This included their attitudes, actions, motives, and speech.
The fourth step in loving Yahweh was to keep the sabbath day holy. God wanted His people to work hard for six days a week, but on the seventh, they were to take the day off from their normal labor. This was based on God’s work of creation, for He created everything in six days time, and then rested on the seventh day. Think about it for a moment — does God ever get tired or weary? Is He ever in need of rest? Absolutely not!
The psalmist wrote:
He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
So, if God doesn’t tire and need sleep, then why did He rest on the seventh day? Because He knew that we who are His image bearers would tire — we would be in need of slumber and sleep. And so, He established a precedent.
Remember that Israel had been in bondage in Egypt. They did not get holidays off. They did not get weekends off. They worked every day of the week. And this had been going on for decades if not for a century or more. For them, this command must have seemed like an announcement of a weekly holiday observation. And yet, the history of Israel shows that they were not very good at observing the sabbath. That is one of the stated reasons for the deportation by the Babylonians.
Does anyone remember the slogan I taught you when we were studying these first four commandments?
We Must Worship the Right God, in the Right Way, with the Right Attitude, and Right Commitment.
This brings us to the second category of commandments, which all deal with the command to love our neighbor as ourselves.
The first step in loving in our neighbor as ourselves has to do with honoring our parents. Yahweh promised that if His covenant people honored their parents they would live long in the land of Canaan which He was giving to them as an inheritance. Of course, that implies that if they did not honor them then it would give Him reason to disburse them among the nations.
The second step in loving in our neighbor is to not murder them.
The third step is to not commit adultery. Here one’s spouse seems to be the neighbor in focus.
And the fourth step is honor their neighbor’s personal property by not stealing it.
As we studied these commandments we learned that every commandment must be understood in the context of the entire Bible. Scripture is the best interpreter of Scripture.
We also learned that these commandments are internal as well as external. These commandments demand both inward obedience and outward obedience.
Further, we learned that every commandment has both positive side to it as well as a negative. I’ve already stated the positive side of the eighth commandment. Instead stating the we are not to steal, I stated that we should honor our neighbor’s possessions. Instead of committing adultery, we should be faithful to our marriage vows.
Next, we learned that these commandments are comprehensive. Each commandment deals with a whole category of sins. Philip Graham Ryken wrote that, “They deal with areas of sin that are discussed all through the Bible. They command both body and soul. They not only forbid disobedience, but they also require obedience.”
Finally, we learned that we must do everything in our power to help others keep the commandments. Our live are not to be lived in a vacuum but among a community of believers with whom we are engaged.
With all of this in mind, let’s look at the ninth word or commandment. Look at
“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
As we consider this commandment, we will look at the truth about falsehood, the consequences of falsehood, and the need for integrity.
Let’s begin with
THE TRUTH ABOUT FALSEHOOD
THE TRUTH ABOUT FALSEHOOD
Note that,
Falsehood in Any Form is Prohibited by This Commandment
Look at our text again.
“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
The commandment seems to have a judicial setting in mind. Nearly all societies value the importance of telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth in a court of law.
When called upon to testify in any court of law, if a person lies on the stand, they commit perjury. Perjury is a felony, and in Michigan, a witness who commits perjury in a capital case could go to prison for life. If they commit perjury in any other case they could go to prison for as long as fifteen years.
Though this commandment has a judicial tone in it, it is not limited to falsehood in the courts. There are various other areas of falsehood which are also prohibited by this commandment.
Puritan Pastor Thomas Watson said that this commandment forbids slander. Slander is to report things to others unjustly. When that girl on the school bus was talking about my mom being fat, it was a case of slander. There was no need for that discussion to even be held. Of course, this girl could have been using this as a reason for why I was fat. Again, there was no need for that discussion to be made.
Last week, one of our members, during prayer time, informed us about how our representative in the U.S. Congress, Tim Walberg, was currently being slandered in the news and on social media. If you do not know this already, before becoming a politician, Mr. Walberg was a pastor of a church in our county. He was invited to speak at a national prayer breakfast in the nation of Uganda, which is a Christian nation on the continent of Africa. During this speech he applauded the nations law which opposes homosexuality. And now members of the LGBTQ community are slandering him for taking a biblical stance.
To despise the truth is to despise God who is truth. And that is what the LGBTQ community has done, and continues to do. They can’t handle the truth of God’s Word, and so they speak slanderously of anyone who affirms the truth according to God.
Of course many people have been slandered. David was not exception.
O Lord, lead me in Your righteousness because of my foes; Make Your way straight before me.
There is nothing reliable in what they say; Their inward part is destruction itself. Their throat is an open grave; They flatter with their tongue.
Hold them guilty, O God; By their own devices let them fall! In the multitude of their transgressions thrust them out, For they are rebellious against You.
Malicious witnesses rise up; They ask me of things that I do not know.
Paul was slandered.
And why not say (as we are slanderously reported and as some claim that we say), “Let us do evil that good may come”? Their condemnation is just.
Watson wrote, “Prominence is often attacked by slander. Holiness itself is no shield from slander. The lamb’s innocence will not preserve it from the wolf. Christ, the most innocent upon earth, was reported to be a gluttonous man and a drunkard (Matthew 11:19). John the Baptist was a man of a holy and austere life, and yet they said of him, He has a demon” (Matthew 11:18). (pg. 194).
Not only is it wrong to slander someone, but it is also wrong to receive a slanderous report about someone.
Slander is something for which a person can be taken to court and sued. But there is a form of slander which seems to be so common that we could say that is socially acceptable. It is called gossip. Of course, though it may be accepted by society, it is not acceptable to God. It is wrong to both gossip about someone, and to listen to gossip about someone.
Philip Graham Ryken offers this advice about receiving gossip. "What should we do when someone tries to tell us something we know we shouldn’t hear? Interrupt! We should say, “You know, this is starting to sound like gossip; we need to talk about something else.” Or we should say, “Wait, before you say anything more, why don’t we stop and pray about this?” Then, after bringing the matter before the Lord, we can say, “Now, what was it you wanted to talk about?” Or we should say, “I’m sorry, I’m not sure I can listen to any more of this. Tell me, have you gone and spoken about it to the people involved? Because if you haven’t, it wouldn’t be right for us to talk about it.” (Philip Graham Ryken and R. Kent Hughes, Exodus: Saved for God’s Glory (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2005), 658.)
Not only are perjury, slander, and gossip prohibited. So is lying. The Bible states that
Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, But those who deal faithfully are His delight.
Watson wrote, “Lying is a sin that does not go alone; it brings along other sins. Absalom told his father a lie when he said that he was going to pay his vow at Hebron, and this was a preface to his treason (2 Sam. 15:7).”
Another thing which is prohibited by this commandment is flattery. It is one thing to tell someone something positive about them in order to offer encouragement. That is honesty and compassion. It is another thing to do so with ulterior motives in mind.
Paul may have been accused of using flattery as a part of his ministry. Writing to the church in Thessalonica he wrote:
For we never came with flattering speech, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is witness—
To the Romans he indicated that flattery was not appropriate for the people of God.
Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them.
For such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ but of their own appetites; and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting.
One further type of falsehood should be mentioned, which is remaining silent when you know the truth of the situation. If a person has evidence that can either exonerate the accused, or convict the accused, and they do not come forward with that information, it is wrong. Though human courts may never find out the truth, God knows the truth. Nothing can be hidden from Him, and He will hold the person accountable.
We have been looking at the truth about falsehood. Let’s turn our attention to
THE CONSEQUENCES OF FALSEHOOD
THE CONSEQUENCES OF FALSEHOOD
Consider three reasons why falsehood is destructive and dangerous.
First,
God Hates Falsehood
Proverbs 6:16–19 (NASB 95)
There are six things which the Lord hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that run rapidly to evil, A false witness who utters lies, And one who spreads strife among brothers.
Two of the seven things which are an abomination to God have to do with falsehood — a lying tongue, and a false witness.
Even in the very end of the Bible liars are explicitly mentioned as being doomed for eternal punishment.
But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
If God so despises these things then so should we!
Second,
Lying Breaks Trust & Ruins Relationships
When a person habitually lies to someone, it causes the person being lied to to no longer trust them.
Third,
Lying Hardens Your Heart and Makes You More Prone to Sinning in Other Ways
Daryl Wingerd wrote, “Once you learn that you can conceal your sin from others by lying, you remove a critical moral safety measure in your conscience. When you are tempted to sin, your conscience assists you in resisting that temptation, in part by reminding you that you would not want others to know about it. If you are an honest person, you are more likely to resist the temptation. You don’t do it because you wouldn’t want anyone else to know you did it, and you wouldn’t lie about it if asked. But once you cross the threshold into lying to cover for your sins, you render yourself much more vulnerable to any and every kind of temptation.” (The Dangers of Dishonesty — internet article by Daryl Wingerd).
The Bible does address the consequences for a false witness very specifically.
‘Now if a person sins after he hears a public adjuration to testify when he is a witness, whether he has seen or otherwise known, if he does not tell it, then he will bear his guilt.
This obviously applies to a court type of hearing. Moses goes into more detail in the following passage.
The judges shall investigate thoroughly, and if the witness is a false witness and he has accused his brother falsely,
then you shall do to him just as he had intended to do to his brother. Thus you shall purge the evil from among you.
The rest will hear and be afraid, and will never again do such an evil thing among you.
God takes falsehood very seriously, especially when such falsehood can cause irreparable harm to an innocent individual. And the same is true if the falsehood causes the guilty to go unpunished by human courts.
So far, we have looked at the truth and consequences regarding falsehood. Let’s turn our attention to the positive side of this commandment:
THE NEED FOR INTEGRITY
THE NEED FOR INTEGRITY
Philip Ryken wrote,
The Reason We are Called to be People of the Truth is Because We Serve a Truth-Telling God
God demands that His people reflect who He is by being people of integrity.
Watson wrote that, “The implied mandatory part of the commandment is that we ought to stand up for others and vindicate them when they are wronged by lying lips.”
J. I. Packer, in his book on the Ten Commandments, talked about Christian ethics. He wrote, “But when one sets out to be truthful, new problems appear. There are people to whom it is clearly not right to tell the whole truth—invalids, not yet strong enough to take bad news; enemies in wartime, to whom one should not give information, and from whom, like Rahab (Joshua 2) and Corrie ten Boom, one may have fugitives to hide; mad and bad folk, who would use what you tell them to harm others; the general public, when as a politician one is putting through a beneficent plan that depends for its effect on nobody anticipating it; and so on. Nobody doubts that in these cases responsible persons must dissemble. But does that square with the ninth commandment?
In principle, yes. What is forbidden is false witness against your neighbor—that is, as we said, prideful lying designed to do him down and exalt you at his expense. The positive command implicit in this negative is that we should seek our neighbor’s good and speak truth to him and about him to this end.” (J. I. Packer, Keeping the Ten Commandments (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2007), 97–98.)
There are times in which it is better to keep our mouth shut. After all, Jesus set the example. I have always gotten the impression while reading through the accounts of His trials before the Sanhedrin and Pilate, that Jesus could have spoken in such a convincing way as to be exonerated and freed. But Jesus had a mission to fulfill from the Father. That mission was to be the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. He was born to save His people from theirs sins. And the only way for Him to fulfill this mission was to drink the cup which was prepared for Him. He had to be despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. He had to bear the sins of many as He hung on the cross. He had to be the substitute who absorbed God’s wrath for the sins of God’s people.
Peter wrote,
For to this you have been called, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in His steps,
WHO DID NO SIN, NOR WAS ANY DECEIT FOUND IN HIS MOUTH;
who being reviled, was not reviling in return; while suffering, He was uttering no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously.
Who Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that having died to sin, we might live to righteousness; by His WOUNDS YOU WERE HEALED.
For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
This morning we have looked at the truth about falsehood. There are many ways in which to practice falsehood, and all of them are wrong. We have looked at the consequence of falsehood. Falsehood could land a person in prison. And one who practices falsehood will definitely be held accountable by God. And we have looked at the need for integrity.
Perhaps you are a believer, and yet you struggle with integrity. Maybe you recognize that you are a spreader or receiver of gossip. Maybe you have slandered someone, or worse. And now, as you hear this message you wonder if you might lose your salvation because of your sin.
Understand that God takes your sin very seriously. And it will have to be accounted for. As a matter of fact, it already has been accounted for because Christ bore your sin on the cross. He received God’s wrath for your sin — for all of your sins. That is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. If you truly are a believer in Jesus Christ then nothing can separate you from the love of God — not even you own sin.
This does not give us a license to continue to gossip or slander others. We need to stop what we are doing, repent, and change the direction of our lives and our mouths. And this applies to me just as well as it applies to you. Most of us are prone to break this commandment. As a matter of fact, the purpose of this commandment is to show that we, in our own fleshly efforts cannot please God. But Christ did please God. And His righteousness is credited to the account of all believers.
Perhaps if we make a pact with ourselves (individually) to go to the person we have gossiped about it will help us to stop gossiping.
If you are not a believer in Jesus Christ, you will be held responsible for your sins before God on the day of judgment, and perhaps even before that day. God does not take sin lightly. And the penalty for your sin is spiritual death — which is eternal separation from God.
To the “… one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.” The Bible tells us that all have sinned and missed the mark of God's glory; consequently, for any of us to be reconciled to God, payment must be made for that sin. This is where Jesus Christ Himself steps in on our behalf, because He was the only One who lived a sinless life and could, therefore, be the perfect substitute for us. If we but turn to Him alone and trust Him completely, we will become children of God and have eternal life. Our sins will be forgiven; we will have peace with God and then be able to experience the peace Christ gives. Whosoever will may come. Will you truth Him today?
Let’s pray.
Father,
We bow before You this day with heavy hearts, for we know that we all struggle with integrity from time to time. We are prone to gossip. We are prone to lie when doing so is advantageous to us. Forgive us for our shortcomings in this area. Help us, by the power of Your Spirit, to be transformed in this specific area of life.
Lord, I pray for any hearing this message today who are not true believers in Jesus Christ. I pray that you send conviction regarding their sin and offense against both you and their fellow man. I pray that you send them enlightenment regarding who You are, what Your standard is, who Christ is, and how the fail to measure up to Your standard. I pray that You would call and draw them to Jesus Christ. I pray that You would destroy any mental strongholds in their life, and remove any obstacles which keep them from embracing Jesus as their Savior. I pray that they would be wondrously saved and transformed by Your Spirit working with Your Word.
I pray this in Jesus name, Amen.
Closing Song: #62
Blessed Be the Lord God Almighty
Father in heaven, how we love You; We lift Your name in all the earth. May Your kingdom be established in our praises, As Your people declare Your mighty works.
Blessed be the Lord God almighty, Who was, and is and is to come. Blessed be the Lord God almighty, Who reigns forevermore.
Blessed be the Lord God almighty, Who was, and is and is to come. Blessed be the Lord God almighty, Who reigns forevermore.
Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.