Grosey's Messages

Two of the Ten Commandments address the spirituality of speech. In Exodus 20:7, the Third Word commands, "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain." In Exodus 20:16, the Ninth Word commands, "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor."

The Lord is listening to what you say. You may talk behind your neighbor's back. You cannot talk behind God's back. Psalm 19:14 should be our daily prayer: "Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer." The God who hears all is the God of truth. Absolute truth is his righteous standard for all God says and hears. Proverbs 6:16 says: "There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him." The second on the list is "a lying tongue" (6:17). The sixth on the list is "a false witness to breaths out lies" (6:19). Proverbs 12:22 says, "Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who act faithfully are his delight."

In sworn testimony, a witness is asked to take an oath: "Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God." This is not unnecessary redundancy. These are safeguards against the various ways of lying A witness may misrepresent the truth, omit key details, or falsely embellish a story. The ninth commandment was Israel's oath to witness truthfully in court. But it was not limited to Israel's legal system. It was a divine call to be godly people. God commands his people to tell the truth. John Calvin wrote, "Just as the previous commandment ties the hands, so this one ties the tongue."

 This Old Testament commandment applies to New Testament Christians. The early church was its own welfare system. Some sold their property and gave the proceeds to help needy church members. Ananias and Saphira wanted the recognition without the sacrifice. They sold property, and gave a portion of the funds to the church, but said they gave it all. The couple dropped dead in front of the congregation. Acts 5:11 says, "And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things." This severe act of divine judgment teaches an important lesson to believers and unbelievers: God deals harshly with people who do not tell the truth. In Matthew 12:36-37, Jesus says, "I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." 

We live in a dishonest society in which truth-telling is a rare commodity. But it would miss the point to spend this message lamenting the absence of truth in journalism, politics, education, business, advertisement, entertainment, and social media. The Ten Commandments were not addressed to pagan nations. God deemed it necessary to command his redeemed people to tell the truth. Before the world will hear this commandment, the church must heed this commandment. Psalm 58:3 says, "The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray from birth speaking lies." We are all born in sin as liars. We who are born again in Christ must be people of truth. Ephesians 4:25 says, "Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another." What does it mean to be people of truth? 

Tell the Truth about Your Neighbor. 

  The Ten Commandments are often divided into sections: 

• Commandments 1-4 teach us to love God. 
• Commandments 5-10 teach us to love our neighbor. 

As the later commandments teach us to love our neighbor as ourselves, the ninth commandment is the first commandment that explicitly mentions one's "neighbor." Exodus 20:16 says, "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor." The point of this verse is the commandment not to bear false witness. The heart of the verse is this reference to one's neighbor. The Ninth Word is not the duty of love, not just the ethics of speech. The preceding commandments instruct us to respect the sanctity of our neighbor's life, marriage, and property. This commandment instructs us to respect the sanctity of our neighbor's reputation. 

Proverbs 22:1 says, "A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold." A name is more than a label to distinguish one person from another. A name represents a person's nature, character, and reputation. The Bible says it is better to have a good name than great wealth. You should guard the integrity of your name at all costs. You should also guard the integrity of your neighbor's name at all costs. 

The prohibition against bearing false witness condemns perjury. Israel's courts did not have wiretaps, video surveillance, or DNA evidence. Guilt or innocence was determined by eyewitness testimony. Justice required witnesses to be truthful. Leviticus 19:15 says, "A single witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed. Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established." Forensic evidence consisted of multiple, credible witnesses. Exodus 23:1-3 says, "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 a lawsuit."

Ahab asked Naboth to sell him his vineyard, which was next to the king's palace. In 1 Kings 21:3, Naboth answered, "The Lord forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers." Ahab went home upset. But his wife Jezebel assured him she would take care of it. She instructed the elders and leaders of the city to have "two worthless men" to charge Naboth with cursing God and the king. The scheme worked. Naboth was taken outside the city and stoned to death. Ahab got the vineyard he wanted. But the Lord sent Elijah to confront Ahab in Naboth's vineyard. Elisha prophesied the dogs would lick Ahab's blood in the place where they licked Naboth's blood and would eat Jezebel. R.G. Lee preached a classic sermon on this story entitled, "Payday, Someday." Ahab and Jezebel were not judged because they stole Naboth's vineyard. They were judged because they bore false witness, resulting in Naboth's death, so they could steal his vineyard. Lying was worse than stealing. 

The ninth commandment forbids what Ahab and Jezebel did to Naboth. But it was not just the legal implications of what they did that was wicked. It was also the moral implications. The Ten Commandments condemn the worst form of a sin. 

• Murder is the anger at its worst. 
• Adultery is the most wicked sexual sin, as it violates a covenant, not just defiles a body. 
• Stealing is the lowest expression of pride, greed, and envy.

The condemnation of the worst form of a sin is a condemnation of forms of a sin. Thus, we should not bear false witness by perjuring ourselves. Likewise, we should not bear false witness by slander, gossip, flattery, criticism, or insinuation. Colin Smith wrote: "God's commandments are like a railway with many stations on the line. The ninth commandment is about the line of lying. Perjury in a court of law is a station at the end of that track. You may never have been at that station, but you have certainly traveled the line." We should not wrong our neighbor by false words formally or informally, publicly or privately, in speech or print. Tell the truth about your neighbor. 

Tell the Truth about Yourself. 

David committed Adultery with Bathsheba. Bathsheba became pregnant. David covered his sin by having her husband Uriah killed in battle. Then David married Bathsheba, who gave birth to a son. All along, David kept silent about his sin. But a visit from the prophet Nathan revealed David's sin was not hidden from God. David repented and God forgave him. David wrote about this sordid ordeal in Psalms 51 and Psalm 32. In these penitential psalms, David does not say anything about adultery or murder. Adultery was the sin that got David in trouble. Murder was the sin he committed to cover the sin of adultery. David does not mention it either. He did not deny or downplay his violation of the Sixth and Seventh commandments. Rather, his psalms focus on his violation of the ninth commandment. In seeking to conceal his sins of adultery and murder, David did not tell the truth about himself. 

Psalm 51:6 says, "Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart." This is the great burden of David's prayer. It was bad that David committed adultery and murder. It was worse that David was living a lie. Bearing false witness against ourselves is just as sinful as bearing false witness against our neighbor. We often bear false witness against our neighbor to avoid bearing faithful witness against ourselves. To tell the truth about your neighbor you must tell the truth about yourself. Arthur W. Pink wrote: "The prohibition against bearing false witness against my neighbor equally forbids me to bear false witness about myself, which is done when I pose ass being holier than I am or when I present to be more humble of more anything else than is actually the case."

The word "hypocrite" means "actor." It was the term for performers who donned a mask, went on stage, and played a role. In our culture, actors are celebrities. In Greek culture, they were notorious. This was the term Jesus regularly used to criticize ungodly people. He did not use it for prostitutes, tax collectors, or other notorious sinners. He used it for the scribes and Pharisees. Jesus viewed the religious leaders to be play-actors who pretended to be something before others that they knew they were not before God. With rare exceptions, none of the religious leaders followed Jesus. They could not deal with the truth about God because they did not want to deal with the truth about themselves. In John 8:31-32, Jesus said, "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." To follow Jesus is to love the truth, learn the truth, and live the truth. J.I. Packer wrote, "There is no godliness without truthfulness."

There are two ways to live. You can lie about who you really are. 1 John 1:8 says, "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." 1 John 1:10 says, "If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us." To be in sin is to lie to yourself and to call God a liar. But there is another way! 1 John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

Tell the Truth about the Lord. 

God is the God of truth. Numbers 23:19 says, "God is not a man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said it, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?" "Titus 1:2 says "God never lies." Romans 3:4 says, "Let God be true through every one were a liar." In John 14:6, the Lord Jesus Christ declares, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." In John 16:13, Jesus said to his disciples, "When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come." Truth is the essence, nature, and character of the Godhead. Ultimately, truth-telling is not just a legal, moral, or ethical issue. It is a theological issue. We must tell the truth about the Lord in at least three ways. 

Sound Doctrine. In the Old Testament, God spoke to his people through prophets. The prophets were respected leaders in Israel, among the kings and the people. The critical role of the prophets prompted counterfeits. Many claimed to speak for God who did not actually speak for God. Deuteronomy 18:20-22 says, "But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die. And if you say in your heart, 'How may we know the word that the Lord has not spoken?' – when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come truth, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him." True prophets do not lie on or about God. 

In the New Testament, the ministry of the apostles paralleled the ministry of the prophets. The age of the apostles ended when the canon of scripture was complete. You do not need a prophet or apostle to hear God speak today. 

• Read the Bible. 
• Join a Bible-teaching church. 
• Sit under sound doctrine. 

Beware that false teaching remains an ongoing threat. The Bible is inspired, inerrant, and infallible. It is thus sufficient to save sinners, mature disciples, govern churches, counsel the troubled, and transform society. Yet many of the most popular preachers are men and women who mishandle scripture. 2 Timothy 3:16-17says, "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work." The Bible is God's self-revelation. Therefore, to misinterpret scripture is to misrepresent God. Faithful pastors and churches must be committed to sound doctrine. 

Al Mohler wrote: "The reputation for which we must be most concerned is the reputation of God himself. Theology is speech. Doctrine is speech. The danger of getting doctrine and theology wrong is not merely to come up short on a systematic theology exam. Getting theology wrong is to bear false witness about God. It is to lie about God."

Faithful Witness. Matthew 26:59-61 says, "Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking false testimony against Jesus that they might put him to death, but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward said, "This man said, 'I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to rebuilt it in three days." The religious leaders sought to entrap Jesus through perjured testimony. They finally condemned Jesus through the testimony of liars who twisted the prophecy of his resurrection to be a threat of terrorism. Jesus was crucified as a result of those who bore false witness against him. The one who died because of liars died for liars. 1 Peter 2:22-24 says, "He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed."

After his resurrection, Jesus said in Matthew 28:18-20, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." Before his ascension, Jesus said in Acts 1:8, "It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 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."

• Jesus died because unbelievers bore false witness against him. 
• Jesus rose to commission believers to be faithful witnesses of his virgin birth, virtuous life, vicarious death, victorious resurrection, and visible return. 

Peter Leithart said, "With the Ninth Word, Jesus calls us to martyrdom." The Greek word for "witness" is our English word for "martyr." It is to witness with your life, not just your lips. Whatever it may cost you, tell the truth about the Lord. 1 Peter 2:9-10 says, "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light."

Grateful Praise. If God were a stingy, temperamental, closed-fisted God, we would be thankful for every blessing we received. Because God is such a generous God, we tend to take his goodness for granted. Worse, filled with sinful pride, we are guilty of spiritual plagiarism. We take credit for things in our lives that only God can accomplish. To tell the truth on the Lord is to give him the highest praise, full credit, and due glory for his grace, goodness, and greatness to you. Psalm 34:1 says, "I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth." We should just praise God on good days, during favorable seasons, or after answered prayed. 

• Bless the Lord continually.
• Bless the Lord regularly. 
• Bless the Lord unceasingly. 
• Bless the Lord persistently. 
• Bless the Lord defiantly. 

When you only praise God when things are going your way, you lie on God. By holding back your praise you are saying that God is only good when things are good. That is not the truth! James 1:17 says, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change." Life is bad. Life is hard. Life is painful. Life is difficult. Life is unfair. But life is not God. God is God. And God is good! Psalm 100:4-5 says, "Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations."

# posted by Groseys messages @ 1:30 AM