The 10 Commandments: “Do Not Lie”

Introduction:

The commands reflect God’s character. God gave us His commands to show us who He is.

The commands reveal our condition. When we’ve been changed by the love grace and mercy of Christ Jesus we will desire to obey them. If we don’t desire to obey the commands of God, then we have a heart or sin issue that needs to be addressed. In that way the commands show us who we are.

God’s commands are relational as well. They are about our relationship with God and our relationships with others. That’s why loving God and loving others are the two greatest commands. If we love God, we will show it by obeying His commands. If we love others, we will show it by treating them in a way that aligns with the commands of God.

Exodus 20:1–17 (NASB)

1 Then God spoke all these words, saying, 2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 3 “You shall have no other gods before Me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. 5 “You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. 7 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain. 8 “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 “Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. 11 “For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and made it holy. 12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you. 13 “You shall not murder. 14 “You shall not commit adultery. 15 “You shall not steal. 16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” 17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

The Ninth Commandment: “Do Not Lie”

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

Titus 1:2 (NASB)

2 …God, who cannot lie…

John 14:6 (NASB)

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

John 1:14 (NASB)

14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

What do we mean by lying?

Webster’s 1828 Dictionary: “Lie”

1. To utter falsehood with an intention to deceive…

Fiction, or a false statement or representation, not intended to deceive, mislead or injure, as in fables, parables and the like, is not a lie.

It is willful deceit that makes a lie.

In law, perjury is the crime of making a false oath.

Elmer Towns’ 17 Types of Lies:

1. White Lie: Perceived as good for both or at least better that the truth.

2. Flattery: a compliment when the teller says what the listener wants to hear.

3. Gossip: telling what should not be told, (i.e. a secret.)

4. Sinister Lie: giving an untruth for our evil purpose.

5. Jovial Lie: lying in an obvious way without malice, so both teller and listener know it is not true. (i.e. sarcasm)

6. Half Truth: telling the truth, but not the whole truth.

7. Excuse: misrepresenting the truth about a failure.

8. Hypocrisy: attempts to deceive another about something you are not.

9. Exaggeration: embellishing or adding to the truth.

10. Over Spirituality: the exaggeration of religious or spiritual activity to cast yourself in a better light. (i.e. the Pharisees and Sadducees)

11. Face-saving Lie: misrepresentation of the truth to avoid embarrassment.

12. Propaganda: a systematic dissemination of misinformation, used to influence public opinion or to mislead people regarding a particular agenda. (governmental)

13. Advertisement: sometimes used to exaggerate the merits of a product.

14. Cheating: using material that is not yours with a view of misrepresentation (exams, income taxes, sports).

15. Demonic Lies: evil spirits are the source of miss-representing the nature of righteousness and evil. (anti-Christ)

16. Spin: interpreting obvious facts to your favor (politics and the media).

17. Playing Dumb: concealing one’s involvement by claiming they didn’t know. Allows for the plausibility of denial.

A few proverbs about lying…

Proverbs 12:22 (NASB)

22 Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who deal faithfully are His delight.

Proverbs 19:5 (NASB)

5 A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who tells lies will not escape.

Lying is an abomination to the Lord.

Lying leads to unescapable punishment.

Lying never pays off. It only makes things worse.

Proverbs 6:16–19 (NASB)

16 There are six things which the Lord hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: 17 Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood, 18 A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that run rapidly to evil, 19 A false witness who utters lies, And one who spreads strife among brothers.

2 of the 6 things God hates have to do with this ninth commandment: (v. 17, 19)

Psalm 101:7 (ESV)

7 No one who practices deceit shall dwell in my house; no one who utters lies shall continue before my eyes.

John 8:44 (NASB)

44 “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

We are people of the truth!

Ephesians 4:25 (NASB)

25 Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are members of one another.

How should we speak the truth?

Completely

Ephesians 4:15 (NASB)

15 … speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ…

“…in all aspects…”

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

In every area of our lives and in every way possible we are to completely walk and talk truth.

Half-truths are full lies.

The first lie was a half-truth…

Genesis 3:1–5 (NASB)

1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; 3 but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’ ” 4 The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! 5 “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

In Season 1 of the X-Files, a fake photo fooled one of the FBI agents and when that truth is finally know, were told, “the best was to conceal a lie is to hide it between two truths”.

Half-truths do the same thing. They give end truth to be believed, but leave out information in order to deceive.

Genesis 3:13 (NASB)

13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

When you can’t share information, you need to say “I can’t talk about it”. If you don’t feel like talking about something at the time, then say, “I don’t want to talk about it”. Do not say… “nothing” when it is definitely something.

Don’t leave out important information…

Judges 14:9 (NASB)

9 So he scraped the honey into his hands and went on, eating as he went. When he came to his father and mother, he gave some to them and they ate it; but he did not tell them that he had scraped the honey out of the body of the lion.

How should we speak the truth?

Completely and…

Compassionately

Ephesians 4:15 (NASB)

15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ,

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

Matthew 22:39 (NASB)

39 “The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’

Proverbs 26:28 (NASB)

28 A lying tongue hates those it crushes, and a flattering mouth works ruin.

Lies lack love.

Proverbs 25:18 (NASB)

18 Like a club and a sword and a sharp arrow Is a man who bears false witness against his neighbor

Lies cause great harm.

Proverbs 16:28 (NASB)

28 …and a slanderer separates intimate friends.

Leviticus 19:16 (NIV)

16 Do not go about spreading slander among your people. Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor’s life…

Lies kill, steal and destroy but the truth can save a life.

Proverbs 14:25 (NASB)

25 A truthful witness saves lives, But he who utters lies is treacherous.

Speak the truth consistently, but don’t stop at words…

1 John 3:18 (NASB)

18 …let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.

How should we speak the truth?

Completely, Compassionately and…

Consistently

Ephesians 4:15 (NASB)

15 … speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ…

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

Instead of bearing a false witness against our neighbors, we are called by God to bear a faithful witness for Christ to our neighbors!

Ephesians 4:15 (NASB)

15 … speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ…

As we grow closer to the one who is the truth, we will more consistently show the truth to our neighbors by both what we say and do.

Matthew 5:16 (NASB)

16 “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

God always tells the truth. It is who He is and that should be who we are too!

Titus 1:2–3 (ESV)

2 …God, who never lies…

I like how the NIV translates John 8:44.

John 8:44 (NIV)

44 … When he [the devil] lies, he speaks his native language…

The devil’s native language a lie.

God’s native language is truth.

The Oxford Dictionary: Integrity

1. “The quality of being consistently honest…”

The devil has no integrity.

Satan is consistent, but he is consistently false.

God has perfect integrity.

God not only never lies, He cannot lie!

Lying is contrary to the nature of God!

We are called by God to speak the truth consistently!

Children of God walk and talk with integrity.

Psalm 15:1–2 (NASB)

1 O Lord, who may abide in Your tent? Who may dwell on Your holy hill? 2 He who walks with integrity, and works righteousness, and speaks truth in his heart.

Integrity is important to God!

Integrity ought to be important to us!

Luke 16:10 (NASB)

10 “He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much.

In the big things and in the small things, we need integrity.

Psalm 34:13 (NASB)

13 Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit.

Speaking the truth consistently requires intentionality and self control.

Psalm 119:29 (NASB)

29 Remove the false way from me…

It takes work to keep your tongue from the evil of speaking deceit.

Are there exceptions to speaking the truth consistently?

Are we every permitted to tell a lie?

The midwives in Egypt: (Exodus 1:15-21)

Rahab and the spies: (Joshua 2)

God’s people are required to consistently speak the truth in each and every situation, except when doing so would result in the death of the innocent.

Like what people did during the Holocaust (hiding Jews from Nazis ).

Like what people might have to do today in places like North Korea, Somalia and Afghanistan.

Lying about your own faith to save your own life does not qualify as an exception!

Matthew 10:32–33 (NASB)

32 “Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. 33 “But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.

In closing:

Do you know Jesus?

Is He your Lord and Savior?

Be honest with yourself and be honest with God.

God knows what is in your heart.

It is the truth that sets you free.

We are going to sing one last song. If Jesus is your Lord and Savior, worship Him in spirit and truth.

Let’s pray.

Memory Verse of the Week:

Ephesians 4:15 (NASB)

15 … speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ…