Speak the Truth as an Ambassador of the True King
I. Introduction
1. Prayers
i. Lord, being truthful can cost us much in a world controlled by the father of lies
ii. So, God we pray today that you would enable us to see past the lies that make it ok to lie and you make us people of the truth who reflect you best to this world
iii. May we have faith to not believe the lies behind the excuses we use to lie
2. Catch- In a world full of lies, speaking the truth can be hard
i. In 1604 Sir Henry Wotton wrote, “An ambassador is an honest gentleman sent to lie abroad for the good of his country.”
ii. But The Civil War vetran Ambrose Biereces jokingly wrote what we often think of ambassadors
Diplomacy, n. The patriotic art of lying for one’s country.”
1. That’s what it takes to secede and fight the bad guys, right?
2. Let me ask you… does everyone deserve the truth? Can they handle the whole truth?
what circumstances justify a lie?
Are “half-lies” or “white lies” OK?
iii. I’m not sure about every situation, but Matthew Palmer, a veteran of the U.S. Foreign Service wrote
1. I have devoted more than 20 years to the diplomatic service of the U.S., and I have never once been asked to lie for my country. I have said things — often with complete confidence and utter conviction — that later turned out to be wrong….but I have never, to the best of my recollection, deliberately lied to a contact.
iv. Today, I want to try to convince you that lying is bad for you and others, but most importantly, if you are a Christian, lying is can ruin your job as an ambassador for Jesus Christ
3. Let me review the commandments first
i. These 10 words are famous… even shown over the supreme court
ii. But with the fame comes a desire to make them everything
iii. I’ve tried to show you that while these 10 commands are an essential representation for God’s expectations for his creation, there is so much more
1. Jesus makes the standards not just what you do, but what you think and feel
2. The new testament shows us that we cannot live up to this law, but the law was designed to bring us to our news before Jesus
iv. In the same way, the 9th commandment is designed to only say so much and there is the rest of God’s revelation which gives more
i. Remember, the laws are a unified whole, but we see the first 4 focus on our vertical relationship to God, the next 6th show how He wants us to relate horizontally to others… but they affect each other
II. 4 examples of why God does not want you to be a LIAR
1. Lies hurt other’s Lives
i. Explanation
1. The focus of this command is truthfulness in the courts
a. The word witness means: testimony, the giving of evidence in a formal legal setting
a. Though, it could also be used as just passing on a storyBut it also referred to the way you witness a wedding promise
a. It is used to describe the need for witnesses in conforming a crime
Numbers 35:30- “If anyone kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the evidence of witnesses. But no person shall be put to death on the testimony of one witness.
i. In the days before forensic evidence, DNA & cold case trails… the only way you can know someone did something wrong was by a witness seeing them
ii. Thus Yahweh says the testimony cannot be against a neighbor.
iii. If someone lies about you in court, your life could be hurt or even destroyed
a.
Joshua 24:22- Then Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the Lord, to serve him.” And they said, “We are witnesses.”
i. It is those who saw something and will pass onto their children or remind each other what they saw
2. Because the responsibility of being a witness was so high, so were the consequences for being a false witness
a. The law states
Deuteronomy 19:17–21- then both parties to the dispute shall appear before the LORD, before the priests and the judges who are in office in those days. The judges shall inquire diligently, and if the witness is a false witness and has accused his brother falsely, then you shall do to him as he had meant to do to his brother. So you shall purge the evil from your midst
i. Did you catch that? If a lie was caught, the liar would face whatever penalty the accused would have received
b. This evil of lying needed to be purged because of its destruction against another
c. Wisdom literature explained in a great picture
Proverbs 25:18- A man who bears false witness against his neighbor is like a war club, or a sword, or a sharp arrow
a. As time went on, Israel did not obey God’s law, in fact Moses had promised they could not because they needed new hearts
and so Jeremiah lays out the results
Jer 9:5 Everyone will deceive his neighbor, And will not speak the truth; They have taught their tongue to speak lies; They weary themselves to commit iniquity
a. Deceit and slander dominate the Israelites’ speech, so no one should trust friend or neighbor.
d. Lies rip apart society because people cannot trust each other to speak the truth, destroying justice
ii. Illustration
1. I’ve just wanted to remind that lies hurt others, even if it’s a small one
2. And we’ve seen plenty of those recently
3. A 15 second video was everywhere in media (social and otherwise) last year of an anonymous teenage boy
a. The yearly March for Life had just taken place and the news was attacking this boy because he had a MAGA hat and a smirk infront of a Native American pounding his drum
b. Prominent pastors, theologians, and Bible teachers quickly expressed outrage
c. Let’s be clear, this isn’t simple hate, it’s demonic activity,” tweeted one pastor. Another publicly wondered if college admissions offices would post their pictures with the message “Do not admit.” A theologian commented, “This is white supremacist terrorism.”
4. Of course, you know this High School Junior Nick Sandmann was none of these things
a. As more information came out, he was just a kid Infront of the Lincoln Memorial who was being harassed by a cult called the Black Hebrew Israelites
b. His funny look was because some guy got in his face with a drum after being yelled at by others
c. Mr Nathan Phillips was at best mistaken in his account to the media. At worst, he was lying when he said they were disrespecting him to the news media.
d. Sanderman was later able to sue Media outlets for millions so they would not slander someone like him again
5. We may not have the reach of these leaders, but may we understand
6. Lies hurt other's Lives
iii. Application
1. We would rightly condemn these Christian leaders for publicly condemning this young man
We should not do the same with our internet posts
a. They didn’t know anything to condemn this young man
b. But, what kind of witness do you present yourself as when you post something?
c. Are you claiming to be an expert on geopolitical or medical issues? Do you write as if you saw it first hand based on a title?
d. Then be careful you are not false witness
2. But how do we act as a witness in private conversations too?
a. Men… how do you portray the situation at work to your wife at home? Are you being a faithful witness? Or are you burdening your wife with pain or hatred for a situation that is not real.
b. Women… when you pick up the phone to text or call about someone else… are you speaking the truth about that person.
Or will the rumor will get back that they are in some kind of counseling that you are sure is this or that.
3. We must beware bringing false information, even if you do not intend to “lie,” you may still be a false witness
For Christians, there is a deeper issue than just hurting man… we hurt God b/c
2. Lies distort God’s Image
i. Explanation- the standard of just being a false witness is not high enough because
1. God describes Himself as one who does not lie
a. Titus 1:2 says God never lies
b. Jesus described himself as “the way, the truth, and the life” in John 14:6
c. Therefore, God’s people are to imitate him by being people “of the truth” (John 18:37)
d. one who is obedient to God "does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right" (1 Cor. 13:6).
e. And we are commanded “Let every one speak the truth with his neighbor" (eph 4:25)
2. But Satan is the father of lies
John 8:44 You are of your father the devil… He …does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.
a. The Devil is the enemy of truth itself & so his first interaction was to use a lie to convince Eve to disobey.
b. Then, he does the same to Christians in Acts 5
Acts 5:3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself?
c. Satan influenced Ananias to say he gave God the full amount of his money when he kept some back
d. The lie did not represent God… it represented Satan
1. So, lies keep us from God
Isaiah 59:2–3- but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear. For …. your lips have spoken lies; your tongue mutters wickedness.
a. Sins such as lying create a barrier between God and his people, typically resulting in God’s discipline
a. Again, wisdom gives a great picture of this
Proverbs 24:28–29- Be not a witness against your neighbor without cause, and do not deceive with your lips. Do not say, “I will do to him as he has done to me; I will pay the man back for what he has done.”
i. A wrong was done, but instead of trusting God with it, it is easy to try to repay yourself with a lie here or there
i. But that takes away God’s place in your life of bringing justice
ii. Illustration
1. Lies distort God’s image, so who are you representing?
2. Processed Sugar and salt both look pretty similar
a. Raw, they’re nothing alike
b. But put enough work and they’re close enough that if you can pour salt in your waffle and sugar on your steak
3. So enough work can go into lies that they’re look good
4. But lies can never represent God
iii. Application
1. Christian, remember we supposed to be God’s ambassadors
2 Corinthians 5:20- Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
a. Too often, our lies are about making ourselves look great, or just not as bad
b. You know saying, “I’ll pray for you.” But not doing it
c. Or if someone asks you whether you started this or that and you say… Yep, just about to finish it when you haven’t started yet
d. Or any other lie… who are your representing?
2. We shouldn’t lie because lies are the ways of the devil
So, I think you get the point that lying is wrong, but I know you want to talk about the what-if’s. And while I can’t get to all of them (maybe we can talk later), I want to show you
3. The exceptions are Atypical
i. Explanation
1. The problem
a. Let’s talk about what do I do if the Nazis come to the door asking if I have Jews hiding in my closet
2. There are examples of people lying in scripture
3. Turn to Exodus 1:15-21
a. The midwives ignore the Pharaoh’s command to kill the male Hebrew Children
b. They say, the Hebrew women have their babies so quickly, they are already there before we arrive
c. This was at best a half-truth as v17 says they let the boys live
d. & look at v 21- God gives them families
i. But not because they lied… nothing is sad positive or negative about their lies here
ii. They are praised because they fear God and not the king
1. But how about Rahab the Prostitute in Joshua 2
a. The men of Jericho ask her where they are, and while she has them hidden she says, “I do not know where the men went. Pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them.”
a. Rahab is commended in the so-called “hall of faith” in Hebrews 11:31 “because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies
a. Again, it doesn’t commend her lie, but her love for and that list if full of sinners who do sinful things
But we do have one challenging situation as
4. God commands Samuel to hide the truth in 1 Samuel 16
a. God tells Samuel to go anoint a new king because He has rejected Saul
i. But Samuel is rightly concerned what he should say if current King Saul finds out
ii. He might not be happy… so Yahweh responds
1 Samuel 16:2–3- And Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.” And the LORD said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.’ And invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do. And you shall anoint for me him whom I declare to you.”
b. Is this lying? NO, because
i. Honesty does not generally require us to explain everything we could say about our intentions every time we speak. As Proverbs says, “A prudent man conceals knowledge, but the heart of fools proclaims folly” (Prov. 12:23)
ii. We should do all things to the glory of God (1 cor 10:31) and for the sake of the great commission… but that doesn’t mean a missionary going into a closed country needs to announce, I’m here to talk about Jesus
iii. Instead, here God declared it was legitimate for Samuel to publicly state a secondary goal of his trip in order to conceal and accomplish the primary goal
1. God does not lie (15:29), so this cannot be considered God telling him to lie
2. He is going to offer a sacrifice after all
c. Jesus evades a direct answer at times such as Mark 11 where the leaders ask when whose authority does Jesus rest on
i. Instead of answering them, he asks them to tell him John the Baptists
ii. What he lying by omission? No!
he was not giving them the whole information
d. There is a problem if we say a situation can arise where the only solution is to lie. I can choose killing or lying?
i. Hebrews 4:15 says Jesus is “one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin”
ii. that would mean that Jesus actually disobeyed a command of God, and if disobeying any of God’s laws is sin, then Jesus could have not been tempted in that way
iii. So, it must not be necessary to chosen between sinning or saving a life
5. Lies are never ok, but the definition of lying matters
a. Robert V. Rakestraw saws lies are defined in 3 parts
b. 1) “speaking words which are untrue, 2) when you know they are untrue, 3) with the intention of deceiving someone.”
c. Jesus never did this
ii. Illustration
1. Exceptions are rare, but any do not require sin for a Christian
2. Transition to Illustration- we must be so careful in how we make exceptions for our lies
a. Or my advisor in seminary was a cop who was called in because a man was threatening people with a knife.
He comes up to the man seeing him hold the knife and after talking tells him, drop that knife or I’m going to shoot you.
Well, he can’t actually shoot him, but the man drops the knife
a. But let’s be honest, most of us are not in a situation like that, our jobs are not to save lives that require a lie
a. I’m not one to condemn a copThe bible doesn’t condemn the midwives trying to save lives, so I don’t want to church discipline someone who lies to protect Jews in their homes, but we must be careful because the list of exceptions grows
b. Roman Catholic Jesuits taught that the obligations to promote the good of the Church absorbed or superseded every other obligation. So but perjury, robbery, and assassination became lawful if committed with the design of promoting the interests of the Church
c. That slippery slope takes you right down the hill
3. Instead Jesus said
Matthew 23:23- “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.
a. He doesn’t give a priority list, instead the weighter matters are like a skyscraper
b. can’t build the higher floors without the foundation underneath
c. But if you ignore the higher floors than you do not have the building
4. We must be careful about making exceptions because they’re rare
iii. Application- So let me cover a free specifics:
1. Am I lying if I leave my lights on when I’m not home to make it look like I am home?
a. No, it’s ok to withhold the information that you’re out
b. It’s not sin to not put up a sign saying I’m gone
2. What about Jokes?
a. Even St Augstine who believed no lie was ever allowed A joke, even if involving factual falsehoods, is not a lie because everyone knows from the tone of the voice or the mood of the person telling it that it is meant to be taken not literally
3. Deceit is contextual to some degree
a. If you're an actor, those watching expect you to be acting, not showing your real emotions, and you’re not trying to deceive them.
b. If you’re playing basketball and you juke left then go right, it’s not deceit, it is withholding information
c. If a customer asks you if the food is fresh, and you have been told that anything that comes in the past 2 days is fresh, you can say yes without explaining every detail
4. But if you boss comes to you and asks you to cook the books to make a little more money
a. You know there is intent to deceive others and you know the information you’re being asked cannot be true in any way
b. Then it would be sin to join into this
a.
· Remember that truth is contextual
o What are they expecting from you?
§ If you’re an actor, then they expect you to be acting, not showing your real emotions
§ If you’re a solider then don’t expect the enemy to tell you their battle stategy
§ When the customer asks if it is available, do they need the technical reasons of it’s available this way or that way.. or do they mean you will get it
1. I don’t have to say everything I’m thinking or feeling
a. For example, candor—being totally frank, or saying exactly what is on one’s mind—must be used judiciously. Charity should temper how one responds to another person.
a. Women… please do not ask your men if that dress makes you look fat
a. But men, you are not lying if see something you consider unattractive and you keep it to yourself
1. Tact is a Christian virtue. In any case, the obligation never to speak a falsehood does not imply that one has an obligation to tell everything that one knows. There are many times when silence is appropriate (cf. Matt. 26:63)
5. We need to have a theology of being fired… yes, I said fired to honor God
Why is it better to be fired than to lie? Because the 4th reason to avoid lying
4. Your Testimony will be Ruined
i. Explanation
1. Augustine, the great Bishoip of Hippo Africa
a. Argued lying would ultimately undermine the gospel by destroying all certainty that one is telling the truth. If one cannot be trusted to speak truthfully about some things, how could one be believed when it comes to matters as important as the resurrection of Christ? [i]
2. Jesus laid out the believers mission in the different version of the great commission saying
Acts 1:8- But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
3. There is nothing more important than living our lives as faithful witnesses
a. So our words must be trustworthy to others
b. But our witness is not that Christians are a perfect people, but we are repenting people.
4. If we find lying in our lives, we must confess that sin and put it off
Colossians 3:9–10- Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.
a. Take off the old clothing, put on new
b. Confess that as sin and instead speak truth
ii. Illustration
1. We should hate lying because lying ruins our testimony
2. let me state this in even a way kids can understand
3. Illustration
a. The price of lying is not something new that is being discussed, it was written in the Shorter Catcheism back In, I believe 1830
b. It told the story of Peter, who was a good swimmer but would swim into deep water and pretend that he was drowning… yelling for help
c. People would rush to help him, but he would laugh and swim away
d. So, what happens to the boy who cries wolf?
e. One day Peter saw someone else struggling in the water… he starts screaming that they need help, and everyone has heard it before, they just ignore him
4. How does lying over small things make our warnings about heaven and hell seem?
5. Lying ruins our testimony to speak God’s truth
i. Application
1.
The truth of God, too, is the foundation of all knowledge. How do we know that our senses do not deceive us; that consciousness is not mendacious? that the laws of belief which by the constitution of our nature we are forced to obey, are not false guides? Unless God be true there can be no certainty in anything; much less can there be any security; we can have no confidence in the future: no assurance that evil will not ultimately triumph over good, darkness over light, and confusion and misery over order and happiness.[ii]
1.
III. Conclusion
1. Cohesion- Let me give you a definition of lyingDon’t be a liar because
i. Lies ruin lives
ii. Lies distort God’ image and give Satan’s instead
iii. Lies give you all the excuses, but the hard situations are Atypical
iv. And lies will cause your testimony to be ruined
2. Resolution- We should end where the 10 words doNot lying is supposed to be scary hard
i. the fear should make us fall for Christ
ii. Read Ex 20:18-21
1. The people are terrified by the God of these standards
2. But verse 10 says they’re not supposed to be afraid
3. Satan wants people to dread God
4. But Jesus makes us run to God in our sin
iii. When you lie, whether you are a Christian or not you are living our how you were born. IN sin and like your father Satan. Even as a Christian, you have much training to work off
iv. So you are just reminded once more how you need Jesus
IV. Closing prayer
1. Lord, we need your work to hate lies which seem to make our lives so easy
2. May we trust you instead Lord and when we find lies in our hearts, take them to you to be cleansed.
[i] Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 2556.
[ii] Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, vol. 3 (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997), 438.