Truth-Promoters: Stop Satan's Lies on Your Lips
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Dear Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ,
What we have seen so far in the 10 commandments is God’s desire for us to live our lives in community and individually, both in how we worship and how we work with and treat each other - reflecting His character! Incredible vision of honouring God and each other in various relationships - leadership and following; of valuing and promoting the life and name of each other, and of God, of promoting the work, property, giving of others, and making sure that we don’t make our work or our recreation #1 in our lives but God’s great work and our rest in Him. Seen how relationship maximizers’s don’t take in lust, but give in love and protect and uphold and treasure purity; movement from inward attitude to outward action. And the second to last before getting to one that summarizes them all, is the concerned with the most potent outward external influence we have on people - our words, our speech. From inward honour, both those who lead those who follow; to hands that give life don’t take it, to how use our bodies and others with purity, to money and wealth in our hands, to now plain and simple how we use words!
Key Truth: Tenacious protectors & zealous promoters of truth, speak for God’s glory and their neighbour’s good!
A. This is Not Just a Simple “Moralistic” Command not to Lie
IN same way we saw 5th commandment is about all relationships, and wrongful killing involved more than just physical killing, and adultery goes beyond to fornication, to lust, that stealing is also about greedy hoarding or miserly withholding , so too when God wants you to reflect His character tot he world by using words the way he uses words, the first thing we must see is that this is not a simple command just to avoid lies. If the focus is just on you or me, individually keeping moralistically and Pharisaical in the clear - didn’t technically give untrue information - moral smugness with both God and our neighbour out of the picture!
ie. Jody Baxter - old no good dog - “My words were straight but my intention was as crooked as the Ocklawasha River.” What are you going to do with Hebrew midwives, technically lied to Pharaoh but were saving babies lives. Shiphrah and Puah, deceived Pharaoh in order to avert genocide.… what are you going to do with Rahab - spies went go in a hurry - commend by God . Or how about Corrie Ten Boom. What are you going to do when you have information that someone else is going to misuse, house burglarized, where are the rest of your kids… is it bearing false witness to withhold this truth, God’s law of course has a moral command, but we must not interpret these moralistically with a focus on the individual and not first of all God and our neighbour!
What about times of warfare or persecution? Is it okay to lie then? Going back to Augustine, many theologians have said no. However, there were a number of incidents in the Bible when deception was not condemned. There were the Hebrew midwives, There was Rahab, who deceived the Canaanites in order to save Joshua's spies. There was Gideon, who used concealment as a stratagem of war. The Bible does not condemn these falsehoods. However, each of those untruths was told to prevent evil men from committing even greater sins, such as murder. We should not use these extreme cases to justify falsehood when we are in a tight spot or when we think the end justifies our means. Even in those rare cases when a lie seems necessary to protect others, it is still wrong in itself.
The very words in and in are instructive here. In untrue, in - insincere speaking to the deceitful purpose that breeds the lie. Do you see that when a lie is sinfully told, what is going on is that heart is being governed by a base affection: There is a sin behind the sin, idol of the heart, - fear of being found out, fraud, not loving the truth but loving a lie for acceptance popularity. We lie for many reasons,: fear, contempt, revenge, boasting, conceit, fraud, desire to shine! But deep down in it all, in your mind, you don’t love the truth. You aren’t exercising that truth and embracing it, you are being carried away by a lie before the words ever get to your lips.
The very words in and in are instructive here. In untrue, in - insincere speaking to the deceitful purpose that breeds the lie. Do you see that when a lie is sinfully told, what is going on is that heart is being governed by a base affection: There is a sin behind the sin, idol of the heart, - fear of being found out, fraud, not loving the truth but loving a lie for acceptance popularity. We lie for many reasons,: fear, contempt, revenge, boasting, conceit, fraud, desire to shine! But deep down in it all, in your mind, you don’t love the truth. You aren’t exercising that truth and embracing it, you are being carried away by a lie before the words ever get to your lips.
You don’t always have and know all truth,, even when you do have truth, you don don’t need to share it with all all the time. What bearing false witness is about is that when you are required to testify that you don’t speak, lie against the truth, and even in every day life that our testimony to the truth is for God’s glory and our neighbours good!
You don’t always have and know all truth,, even when you do have truth, you don don’t need to share it with all all the time. What bearing fase witness is sabout is taht when you are required to testifying that you don’t speak, lie agianst teh tutgth, and even in every day life tath our testmiony to the trtuth is gfor God’s glory and our neighbours good!
We are to be like God with the truth and not like Satan. In fact as one writer put it this commandment about our words is a uniwue one. You break the other commandments and you become like an animal dead to God savage to neighbour; not relfecting the image of God! But you break this commandment about words and tistiing the truth - you become like the devil.!
That’s what is at stake with this commandment:
That’s what is at stake with this commandment:
A. This is Not Just a Simple “Moralistic” Command not to Lie B. This is Spiritual & Moral Command to Reflect God, not Satan in all your Words!
Consider first how God is the God of truth: The Bible says, “Let God be true, and every man a liar” (). God the Son is true. The Bible says that he “came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (), “nor was any deceit in his mouth” (), for he is truth personified. Jesus said, “I am the truth” () and “Everyone on the side of truth listens to me” (). God the Holy Spirit is also true. In fact, the Bible calls him “the Spirit of truth” (). If God is true — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — then he must be true to his word. And so he is. Everything that God has ever said — including every word on every page of the Bible — is absolutely, unmistakably, and entirely true. Therefore, we can always take God at his word: “Your word is truth” ().
If God is true to us, then we must be true to him, and also to one another.
“You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; you shall not lie to one another. You shall not swear by my name falsely, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.
The Bible says, “Let God be true, and every man a liar” (). God the Son is true. The Bible says that he “came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (), “nor was any deceit in his mouth” (), for he is truth personified. Jesus said, “I am the truth” () and “Everyone on the side of truth listens to me” (). God the Holy Spirit is also true. In fact, the Bible calls him “the Spirit of truth” (). If God is true — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — then he must be true to his word. And so he is. Everything that God has ever said — including every word on every page of the Bible — is absolutely, unmistakably, and entirely true. Therefore, we can always take God at his word: “Your word is truth” ().
If God is true to us, then we must be true to him, and also to one another. The Scripture says, “Do not lie. Do not deceive one another. Do not swear falsely by my name and so profane the name of your God. I am the LORD” (, ). It also says, “each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body” ()
It also says, “each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body” ()
Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.
Do you get this. Before this is a commandment about making life work well, or keeping pure, this is a commandment about practicing the truth as God practices the truth. You need to be a person of and for the truth for God’s sake!
But also consider how the opposite of practicing the truth as God does, is practicing not just little un-truths - but it is actually practicing the big lie of the Devil! This is how Jesus explained it
This is how Jesus explained it
You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
You remember how Satan lied to us, by lying about God, Did God really say, his native language is lies, and to get us to live out of lies and avoid and runaawy from, God! At the bottom of it, lying is denying the truth of God and everything he represents to get our own way, in the face of teh truth we owe to our neigbhours who probably don’t realize they are being hoodwinked, and in the face of God who always knows you are trying to hoodwink him!
It was so in the beingning, but also in the end. What deceit and lies will people be living for in the End:
For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.
What happens when fallen men, push down God’s truth and just speak what their itching ears want to hear for their own purposes:
and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.
The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.
And look what God says will happen when we are so hardened in our own lies and pushing his truth away - Fine have it your way!
Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false,
That’s the lie at the begining and also at the end. But is also where we are living when we live by the lie and not the truth in our lives! So having understood the heart of this commandment, let’s look at the most common ways we bear false testimony to the harm of God’s glory & our neighbours wellbeing.
So now understanding the heart of this commandment, let’s look at the most common ways we bear false testiony to the harm of god’s glory and our neighbours good
C. The Ways We Bear False Testimony
B. The Ways We Bear False Testimony
i. The most obvious prohibition is in a court of law - , we are not to judge without a trial, we are to seek the truth with testimony of two or three witness - Speaking of publically serving justice and truth, showing no partiality to rich or to poor. This is the very basis for human soceity, not animals but in image of God - hoensty not just best policyy only basis - truth in our communication that reflects God!
This is the very basis for human soceity, not animals but in image of God - hoensty not just best policyy only basis - truth in our communication that reflects God!
ii. But makes it clear that this also is to govern our day to day conversation. We are to be people who pay attention to the veracity of a conversation, - is what being said true , does it serve the truth:
“You shall not spread a false report. You shall not join hands with a wicked man to be a malicious witness. You shall not fall in with the many to do evil, nor shall you bear witness in a lawsuit, siding with the many, so as to pervert justice, nor shall you be partial to a poor man in his lawsuit.
“You shall not spread a false report. You shall not join hands with a wicked man to be a malicious witness. You shall not fall in with the many to do evil, nor shall you bear witness in a lawsuit, siding with the many, so as to pervert justice, nor shall you be partial to a poor man in his lawsuit. “If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you shall bring it back to him. If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying down under its burden, you shall refrain from leaving him with it; you shall rescue it with him. “You shall not pervert the justice due to your poor in his lawsuit. Keep far from a false charge, and do not kill the innocent and righteous, for I will not acquit the wicked. And you shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and subverts the cause of those who are in the right. “You shall not oppress a sojourner. You know the heart of a sojourner, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.
But makes it clear that this also is to govern our day to day converestation. We are to be people who pay attention to the veractiy of a convesation, - is what being said true , does it serve the truth:
Break this commandment by being a talebearer - not stick and stones may break my bones, but words never hurt me. This is a commandment not just about big lies and white lies, it is a commandment against gossip. not just because moralistically bad; but because truth protects neighbours reputation and name.
The Puritan Thomas Watson made a similar point when he said, “He that raises a slander, carries the devil in his tongue; and he that receives it, carries the devil in his ear.” Watson was right: Whenever we listen to gossip, we become implicated in its sin. According to Proverbs, “The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to a man's inmost parts” (). But no matter how tasty it is, gossip is still poison.
And here we must be even aware that we can use truth in away that violates this command to injure our neighbour and dishonour God! Consider Doeg
Then answered Doeg the Edomite, who stood by the servants of Saul, “I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, and he inquired of the Lord for him and gave him provisions and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.”
His speech had no twisted truths in it, but his heart twisted the love of god for his neighbour into a slanderous, destructive truth that resulted in 85 priests being slaughtered. later David calls his actions lying:
You love all words that devour, O deceitful tongue. But God will break you down forever; he will snatch and tear you from your tent; he will uproot you from the land of the living. Selah The righteous shall see and fear, and shall laugh at him, saying,
Gossip, slander, back biting - are forbidden. All too often, people who like to complain about others are unwilling to do the hard spiritual hard work of helping them grow in godliness. But the Bible is very clear about the right way to deal with the sins of others. First, before talking with anyone else, we need to go directly to them and discuss it. You have a problem with someone, says go to him first, privately. You have no business talking to others all about. No repentance, appropriate ways to involve one or two others! IE. Story of a Gossip confronted. It seemed true, it spread from person to person, till it got to the acquaintance of whom it was being told. Of course never whole story, and juicy embellishment, exaggeration, add motives. Meet me at the town bell tower. He had a pillow and climbed. Then knife. Cut it open. Feathers sailing all through the town. What you said really hurt and it was untrue. I know and I am so sorry. Well Can you go down and pick up every feather… same way damage done to my name and reputation is irreparable.
So many ways we break this commandment and when refers to the commandments not just false testimony but word for any form of lying:
there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.
Roget's Thesaurus Lie, A falsehood can be described as an invention, an equivocation, a falsification, a fabrication, or a prevarication. Little lies we tell — the half-truths, the flatteries, and the fibs. What we say may be true, as far as it goes, but we leave out the details that might put us at a disadvantage. ie. I didn’t say taht , but something worse, Did you get drunk again last night. No of course not, but two nights ago. Or we say something that is technically true, yet nevertheless intended to deceive. We overstate our accomplishments - ie resumes, putting ourselves in the best possible light. At the same time we exaggerate other people's failings, thinking and saying the worst about others. We mislead, misquote, and misinterpret
D. Keep the 9th Commandment by Speaking the Truth in Love:
The heart of this commandment tells us that we are to strengthen the truth with our testimony - fulfill our duty to God and our neighbour with the truth.
Speaking the truth in love is to be our constant goal: , That’s what happens when we are being rebuilt in the image of Christ. We too become full of grace and truth.
Speaking teh truth inlove is to be our constant goal: , That’s what happens when we are being rebuilt inthe miage of Christ. We too become feull of gravce and truth.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
jesus says, He is the way the truth and the life.
Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,
You and I live in a world of lies. Remember what James says about our tongues, and understanding what the law requires, recognize as Lewis Smedes put it “Honesty is almost a superhuman task. It’s more like a promised end of life’s moral purging, than an easy moral accomplishment. “
You and I live in a world of lies. Remember what james says about our tongues, and understanding what the law requires, recongizne as Lewis Smedes put it “HOnesty is almost a superhuman task. It’s more like a promised end of life’s moral purging, than an easy moral accompolishemnt. “
How do we become truth-promoters and truth-protectors that refuse the easy selifsh, self protecting, lving in the darkness lives, and find vicotry in the truth with love?
Consider Christ’s victory over lies. Satan tempts him in the desert. Think of the high priest Caiphas lying about him slander in his trial, think of even his best friend Peter lying with an oath in his most trying moment - “I do not know the man.” Think in your own life, the lies that have spun a web of problems and hurt
How are you dealing with your lies and temptation to lies .. Julie pet racoon, former zzo keeper ,dont’ glands change at 24 moths, from aby racoon, to 30 pounds that will scrap like a 100 pound fercocius dog, “It will be different for me… lascerations plastic surgery. Sooner or later our lies will turn on us, and others. They’ll destory relationships, wound us and others.
But jesus says: do battle here: .. .beyond this from teh evil one. Jesus says:
But jesus says: do battle here: .. .beyond this from teh evil one. Jesus says
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.
Jesus says: John Calvin summarized the Biblical teaching as follows: “The purpose of this commandment is: since God (who is truth) abhors a lie, we must practice truth without deceit toward one another.”
Sometimes this means defending people when they are unfairly attacked. All too often, people stand by in silence, but as William Barclay writes, “It is an important principle that a cowardly or careless and irresponsible silence can be as senseless a crime as false and lying speech. The sin of silence is as real as the sin of speech.”
Whenever a friend succeeds, a little something in me dies. It is not enough to succeed. Others must fail. — Gore Vidal
Jesus was confronted by a world of lies, but He emoppwered by the Holy Spirit, The one who is the very Spirit of Truth.
even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
He says you too indwelt by my Spirit of Truth can be a tennacious protector and zealous promoter of the truth. Think of the hard saying of Jesus:
It is not easy to stand up for the truth. George Orwell said, “In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” If this is true, then Christians are called to be revolutionaries, because we are certainly living in a time of universal deceit, when everyone seems to be lying. As we saw in the previous chapter, there are the lies that businesspeople tell — all the ways they economize on the truth. There are the lies that academics tell. These days the biggest lie on campus is that there is no universal truth, only different versions of reality. This is part of what some scholars call postmodernism.
I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak,
Read the Wisdom of Christ in Proverbs and you will see that our words, our conversation - not only reveal our heart adn who dwells inthier, but hey bring forth a harvest of righteousness or of strife. They either build up or destroy - poison morsels that kill, r abudnant livfe giving words. Fabric of your every relationship - those closest to you, those a t work or school, those in this church, even your relationship with God - are words. And God says pay attention to your converstation way more important than you think:
According to “the rule of categories” (see chapter 48), each commandment also applies to lesser sins of the same kind. In the case of the ninth commandment, the underlying principle is that God forbids every form of falsehood. This is confirmed by the prophet Hosea, who accused the Israelites of “cursing, lying and murder, stealing and adultery” ().
there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.
Hosea was clearly referring to the Ten Commandments, but rather than using the Hebrew term for false testimony (shaqar), he used a more general word that refers to any kind of lying (kachash). The ninth commandment means “You shall not lie.” It is not just about the false testimony that people give in court, but also about the lies they tell their neighbors over the backyard fence and the rumors they whisper between the pews at church.
There are many different ways to lie. Roget's Thesaurus offers an impressive list of synonyms. A falsehood can be described as an invention, an equivocation, a falsification, a fabrication, or a prevarication. Dishonesty also comes in all different sizes. There are the big lies — the whoppers and the grand deceptions. Then there are all the little lies we tell — the half-truths, the flatteries, and the fibs. What we say may be true, as far as it goes, but we leave out the details that might put us at a disadvantage. Or we say something that is technically true, yet nevertheless intended to deceive. We overstate our accomplishments, putting ourselves in the best possible light. At the same time we exaggerate other people's failings, thinking and saying the worst about others. We mislead, misquote, and misinterpret
contain some version of the truth, but the testimony is false because it is malicious. Jochem Douma comments:
Perhaps the one spreading gossip is not lying, but he or she is being untruthful: saying things that are true, but in the context of slander, is deceitful. The neighbor's mistakes, faults, and shortcomings are discussed in minute detail. People realize this kind of chatter gets them an attentive audience. For it is a universal phenomenon that we would rather hear something bad about our neighbor than something good. And something dirty always sticks long after the conversation has died. As Martin Luther put it in his Large Catechism, reputation is something quickly stolen, but not quickly returned.
Gossip is such a common sin that we forget how ungodly it is, but before we open our mouths and start talking about someone else, we need to ask ourselves some hard questions: Is what I am about to say true? If so, does it really need to be said to this person in this conversation? Would I put it this way if the person I'm talking about were here to listen? If our words fail these simple tests, then it would be better for us not to speak at all.
There is another side to this too. As wrong as it is to gossip, it is just as wrong to listen to gossip.
Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips!
They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.
The Puritan Thomas Watson made a similar point when he said, “He that raises a slander, carries the devil in his tongue; and he that receives it, carries the devil in his ear.” Watson was right: Whenever we listen to gossip, we become implicated in its sin. According to Proverbs, “The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to a man's inmost parts” (). But no matter how tasty it is, gossip is still poison.
Don’t be a person of false testimony - for God’s sake and your enighbour’s good, and your own good - prize the truth in your conversation. Make your words agree with what’s in your mind, and your mind agree with the reality and truth of God! Speak the truth in love.
It is not easy to stand up for the truth. George Orwell said, “In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” If this is true, then Christians are called to be revolutionaries.
All too often, people who like to complain about others are unwilling to do the hard spiritual hard work of helping them grow in godliness. But the Bible is very clear about the right way to deal with the sins of others. First, before talking with anyone else, we need to go directly to them and discuss it (). If they are not willing to confess their sin, there are appropriate ways to involve other people from the church in addressing the issue. But the only time we can talk about someone else's sin is when it is our God-given responsibility to give them spiritual help.
What about times of warfare or persecution? Is it okay to lie then? Going back to Augustine, many theologians have said no. However, there were a number of incidents in the Bible when deception was not condemned. There were the Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah, who deceived Pharaoh in order to avert genocide. There was Rahab, who deceived the Canaanites in order to save Joshua's spies. There was Gideon, who used concealment as a stratagem of war. The Bible does not condemn these falsehoods. However, each of those untruths was told to prevent evil men from committing even greater sins, such as murder. We should not use these extreme cases to justify falsehood when we are in a tight spot or when we think the end justifies our means. Even in those rare cases when a lie seems necessary to protect others, it is still wrong in itself.