“THOU SHALL NOT BEAR
FALSE WITNESS” (EX.
1. Picture, if you can, this scene:
2. Your family lives in a desert.
3. Along with you and your family,
4. There are about 2 million other people in the desert with you; you are all together.
5.
2 million people is pretty
close to the number of residents in
6. As you live in this huge desert society, you are made aware of the rules.
7. There is a standard that your family must live by.
8. This standard is somewhat rigid.
9. Several of the rules, if they are broken, will result in your death.
10. The scenario I have given you is not make-believe.
11. This
image is very close to what the Hebrews experienced after they left
A.
Once the exit form
B. It is estimated that about 2 million people were out there with Moses.
C. These people began to receive laws from God.
D. Many of these laws, if they were broken, required a death sentence.
12. Because capital punishment was attached to many crimes, something was important: truth.
I. IF WE LIVED IN A SOCIETY WHERE WE COULD BE PUT TO DEATH BECAUSE TWO OR THREE PEOPLE TESTIFIED AGAINST US, TRUTH WOULD BE A VERY IMPORTANT PART OF THE TRIAL. ASSUMING THAT WE WERE INNOCENT, WE WOULD WANT THE TRUTH TO BE TOLD.
A. The Hebrews lived in this kind of society.
B. With many crimes, 2-3 witnesses could say: that man is guilty.
C. This testimony was sufficient to put a person to death.
D. God had to insure that truth had a prominent place among the Hebrews.
E. Thus, the subject of lying was covered in the ten commandments.
F. God said, as we heard in our scripture reading, “Thou shall not bear false witness”.
G. This command covered several areas.
H. Tonight I want to set forth things that were included in this commandment.
I. As I do this I want to note the application for our day and time.
J. We are not under the 10 commandments, but we are to learn from them.
K. One of the things condemned by the 9th commandment is outright lies.
L. Most of us remember the story of how Peter denied the Lord.
M. Peter said, concerning Christ, “I know not the man” (Mt.26:27).
N. This was an outright lie.
O. When Peter told this lie, the 9th commandment was still in force.
P. This lie caused Peter to head downhill very quickly.
Q. Peter’s sin did not stop with this lie.
1) Matthew adds that Peter began to “curse and swear”.
2) This is stated in v. 74—READ.
3) Some well-intentioned brethren have misused verse 74.
4) Gospel preachers have stood up and said things like:
a) Peter was a faithful brother for a while.
b) After a time the world regained a hold on him.
c) Peter slipped back to his fishing boat days—
d) He started to again use foul language.
5) This view of Matt. 26:74 sounds good; will preach. But it’s WRONG.
6) When we see the words “curse and swear”, we think of foul language.
7) Matthew is not describing foul language.
8) Looking at the original text, Matthew describes oaths.
9) Peter was saying, “I swear that I do not know Jesus.
10) May God curse me if I am not swearing the truth to you.”
11) This is what is being described.
12) Matt. Tells us that Peter not only lied about knowing Jesus,
13) The apostle compounded his lie when he lied under oath.
R. In our time, outright lies like this are also wrong.
S. Paul said in Col. 3:9—QUOTE.
T. There are times when it is tempting to lie.
U. There are times when brethren do lie.
V. There are times when young people lie.
W. God says that the truth is right; lying is wrong.
X. No matter how painful it is to tell, the truth must be told.
Y. This is 1 facet (aspect) of the 9th commandment.
Z. The commandment “Thou shall not bear false witness” included more than just outright lies.
A. It included flattery.
1) One definition for flattery is:
2) “False, insincere, or excessive praise.”
3) If praise is not true and honest, it is false. It’s a lie.
4) Scripture says a lot about this kind of lie.
5) Two passages are Prov.26:28 and Ps. 12:2-3. Prov. 26 says,
6) As we turn back to Psalms, we have these words in ch. 12:
7) READ Ps. 12:2-3.
8) Praise is a good and valuable tool. It needs to be offered.
9) Flattery is destructive and wrong. God condemned it.
B. As we look at the 9th commandment, we find other ways that it could be applied.
C. One of these additional ways was false accusations.
D. If someone wrongfully accused another person, the 9th commandment was violated.
E. I have known of situations where false accusations were made.
1) One case involved 2 children who were home by themselves.
2) While the parents were away, one of the children broke something.
3) The parents came home and learned about the incident.
4) When the parents said, “Who did it”,
5) The children pointed to each other.
6) This is one of the joys of being a parent.
7) We’ll talk about this more in the adult class Wed. night.
8) In this illustration, one of the children told the truth.
9) The other made a false accusation to escape punishment.
10) False accusations may be made and are made to escape blame.
F. False accusations may also be made when sufficient proof does not exist.
G. For example, let’s take the illustration that I gave and modify it.
H. Both parents are away from the house.
I. Two children and a cat are the only living things at the residence.
J. While the parents are away, an expensive vase is broken.
K. The parents return and say, “Which one of you children broke the vase?”
L. The parents would be making a false accusation.
M. There is not sufficient proof to conclude that the children did the damage.
N. The vase could have been broken by the cat.
O. We want to avoid false accusations at all costs.
1) The right approach for the parents would have been,
2) What happened to the vase?
3) How did it get broken?
P. Another thing to be avoided is half the truth.
Q. This type of lying is what advertisers frequently do.
1) I know a man who is a finance manager for a large car dealership.
2) Some time ago this man filled me in on a business trick.
3) He illustrated this trick by talking about mini-vans.
4) Let’s say that a GM Dealership is trying to outsell a CD on mini-vans.
5) People from the GM sales staff will go to the Chrysler Dealership.
6) They will pretend to be a buying customer.
7) They will ask to take one of the mini-vans for a test drive.
8) The vans that are picked up are taken back to the GM lot.
9) GM salesmen will then check them out inch by inch.
10) Some of the examination involves measuring.
11) Let’s say for the sake of illustration that the Chrysler mini-van is 9’ 1 7/8”.
12) General Motor’s mini-van is 9’ 2” in length—1/8” longer.
13) An eighth of an inch is really no difference at all.
14) Yet, when it comes to selling a mini-van, GM will say:
15) “OURS ARE BIGGER; YOU GET MORE SPACE WITH OURS.”
16) What does “bigger” and “more space” suggest?
17) It sure does not sound like an eight or a sixteenth of an inch.
R. We live in a world where half truths (shaded truth) are common.
S. Scripture shows that this kind of behavior is not new.
T. Gen 12 and 20 show that Abraham said of Sarah—“She is my sister”.
U. This was partly true. Abraham shaded the truth.
V. Isaac made the same kind of claim regarding Rebekah—Gen. 26:6.
W. There are different ways to tell a half truth (bear false witness).
X. I have listed one method.
Y. Another way is to remain silent.
Z. Suppose that you are listening to a conversation.
A. As you are listening someone is being slandered.
B. You know that what is being said is false.
C. Yet, you say nothing about the erroneous info that is being stated.
D. Silence in this situation indicates that you agree with the comments.
E. The truth is being distorted and you are not disagreeing.
F. You are not presenting an alternative view.
G. In the broad sense of the 9th commandment, false witness has been offered.
H. In far too many cases, false witness ahs been borne against the church.
I. The church (members of the body) have been maligned.
J. The church has been bad mouthed.
K. Brethren have sat by and silently listened.
L. Again, we need to think about the 9th commandment in a broad sense.
M. When we look at this commandment in this way,
N. We find that silence can allow people to be guilty of false witness.
O. Let’s go on to other applications of the 9th commandment.
P. False witness occurs when people embellish their stories.
Q. All of us have heard about fishermen who improve their stories.
R. A five-ounce bluegill weighs five ounces when it comes from the pond.
S. When the fisherman gets home it weighs eight ounces.
T. At work the next day, the fish’s weight increases to 15 ounces.
U. By the time bowling night comes, it is close to a pound and a half.
V. Adding to the truth is false witness.
W. With things like fish, this may seem to be a harmless matter.
X. Harmless or not, it is still wrong.
Y. In some circumstances adding to one’s statements is very serious.
Z. Listen to Mk. 14:58 and 57. READ AND COMMENT ON INDIVIDUALLY.
A. When people mix error with truth, they bear false witness.
B. In the religious world this is what happens on a continual basis.
C. Denominational evangelists preach a lot of truth.
D. There are denominational preachers who can out preach most of our brethren.
E. Some of the lessons that are preached are 100% right.
F. Billy Grahm has had some excellent lessons on morality.
G. The problem is that not every message is 100% true.
H. Denominational evangelists mix error in with the truth when they preach.
I. When a sermon ends, people are invited to “receive Christ”.
J. The lost are told to “say the sinner’s prayer”.
K. This is not the truth; this is error.
L. The Bible does not talk about a sinner’s prayer.
M. The Bible says that lost people who believe are to: Repent, Confess, and be Baptized.
N. Errors about the Holy Spirit are often mixed in with Biblical truth.
O. When this kind of info is given, the speakers are guilty of false witness.
CONCLUSION:
1. The Bible clearly states what will happen to liars (people guilty of bearing false witness).
2. Their fate is described in Rev. 21:8. READ.
3. There are no occasions when it is right to lie/shade the truth.
4. Telling half truths is wrong.
5. This sin is one that can get a hold on people.
6. We want to make sure that this hold is not on us.
7. If false witness is a problem for you and you are a Christian,
8. Perhaps you would like the prayers of your brethren.
9. If you are not a Christian, lying is surely part of your past.