So our reading is going to be
in Exodus chapter 20 and verse 16. Again it's a short verse,
this command, the ninth commandment of the 10, and it says there
in Exodus chapter 20, verse 16, thou shalt not bear false witness
against thy neighbour. Thou shalt not bear false witness
against thy neighbour. Bearing false witness is telling
lies. And the Word of God tells us
that we should tell no lies. We are not to bear false witness. We are not to tell lies against
our neighbour. And at first reading this commandment,
this verse, might seem as though this law is talking about telling
lies maybe in court or while we are under oath, that is when
a person swears or promises to tell the truth and then does
not. But it is more than that, I think. We should not bear false witness
in big public matters like going to court or when we have to stand
and give testimony or bear witness about an important matter. but also in the little things
of life, in the private affairs of the circumstances of our life. We are not to tell lies. We are to be a truthful people,
and that's what this verse is telling us. The Lord's people
should always endeavour to tell the truth in all things. And yet, This is a very hard
thing to do. Telling lies is different from
making a mistake out of ignorance or from lack of information. Telling lies is intentionally
and purposefully speaking what we know to be false against another
person, against our neighbour. Moses writes in Exodus chapter
20 about bearing false witness against your neighbour, but As
we see in the New Testament, our neighbour is anyone that
is around about us, especially those who are in need of help,
especially those who need to hear the truth from us. And we are not to bear false
witness against another person. And that is to his hurt, or to
his cost, or to his detriment. It's possible to do this in many
ways. For example, if we were in court
and we were bearing false witness against our neighbour, then that
would be to say that something we knew to be true was something
different. And that is called perjury. And
sometimes you'll see when a person goes to court, they're asked
to put their hand on a Bible or another religious book and
to swear or to promise that they will tell the truth, the whole
truth and nothing but the truth. And that is the court. trying
to show how important it is that the truth be told so that justice
can be properly dispensed and it is a crime to tell a lie in
court. But lying can be done also in
informal ways. When we deceive someone, or when
we pretend that something is true when we know that it's not
true, or we have reason to believe that it's not true. And it also
includes defamation or libel or slander when we say something
bad about a person that hurts their reputation. For example,
if we were to say that someone that we knew had stolen money
from their employer, and that was a lie, then that person might
find it very difficult to get another job because we told a
lie about them. So this is defamation or hurting
another person's character by the things that we say. And bearing
false witness can also include, as well as saying things that
are false, also giving only part of the truth. or even telling
the whole truth but emphasising some parts so that we give a
false impression. And sometimes telling lies can
seem like an easy way out of a tough situation. but it's very
complicated to tell lies, and there are many serious consequences
of doing so, even although it may seem to be an easy thing
to do. The reality is that we must always
be careful not to tell lies. And the opposite of this is also
true. Telling the truth might seem
straightforward, But that sometimes is not the case either. What
if telling the truth gets someone into trouble? What happens if
telling the truth betrays a confidence when you promise that you wouldn't
tell? And what about when you answer
the question that you're asked? But you know that the answer
has been misinterpreted and that you've deceived the person you're
speaking to. So that even telling the truth
has got shades of complexity. Is there such a thing as a white
lie? Are there big lies and little
lies? Are there lies that don't do
any harm? Is it always right and good to
be brutally honest? Is it always necessary? And do
we really know what happened? Or are we making assumptions
in the things that we assert to be so? Sometimes telling the truth can
be a problem too. The Bible tells us that God is
a God of truth and cannot lie. And all lies hide or oppose the
truth to some extent. And so all lies are against God
and against the Lord Jesus Christ who is the truth. And the Lord's
people You and I, if we worship the Lord and we claim to be followers
of the Lord, we are to walk in truth and we are to walk in the
light. And speaking lies is condemned
in both the Old Testament and the New. For example, here in
Exodus chapter 20, when we're told not to bear false witness.
And the Lord tells us in Luke chapter 12, and that which ye have spoken
in the ear in closets or in secret places shall be proclaimed upon
the housetops. So there will be a day in which
all the things that we have said and all the things that we have
done will be revealed for what they are. And the Lord's people
should always try to tell the truth. Sometimes it will be hard. Sometimes we will feel that we
have let people down by telling the truth. And it will seem that
telling a lie would be an easier thing to do. But Solomon tells
us that our mouths were made to speak the truth and that lying
is an abomination to our lips. And Paul says, put away lying. Speak every man truth with his
neighbour, for we are members one of another. So that lies
not only hurt those who are lied about, but they also hurt the
liar. They hurt us all. Like all the
commandments of God, these 10 commandments that we're looking
at, This ninth commandment is stated with such simplicity and
clarity that we would say that there's nothing confusing about
it. And yet, Telling lies and deceiving
one another is so easy to do and so prevalent and widespread
in our lives and in our relationships that sinful man has devised a
multitude of ways to appear to be telling the truth while misleading
and deceiving others. In doing so, The Bible tells
us we deceive ourselves. We deceive ourselves into thinking
we're being very clever. And we're also trying to deceive
God at the same time. But remember this, whatever you
might say to someone else and appear to get away with it, God
searches our hearts. and he knows our motives, and
he knows all we do, and he knows all we say, and he holds us accountable. Paul says, be not deceived, God
is not mocked, for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also
reap. The more we think about telling
the truth, if we're honest with ourselves, we shall quickly realise
that we are all habitual liars and we all fall far short of
the standard of truthfulness that God requires. In this command
here, this ninth commandment, we are soon found guilty by our
own hearts and our own conscience. Conscience and guilt will give
the believer no peace when he knows that he has purposefully
deceived someone else. And sometimes we can put things
right when we have lied. And sometimes we cannot and the
guilt remains. But we remember this for all
our sins. for all our sins, including our
lies and our false witness, there is forgiveness with God. And whether we're older or whether
we're younger, Let us be a people who confess our sins to God,
believing that the Lord Jesus Christ is faithful and just to
forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. This law, like every other of
the commandments, is beautifully simple in itself. but intensely
powerful in its consequences and ultimately it is completely
condemning because we cannot live in this world without telling
lies at some level or another. If you think that you can live
truthfully and honestly before all men and God, you are living
a lie. And 1 John chapter 1 verse 8
says, If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves
and the truth is not in us. No one likes to be told lies
and no one likes to be lied about. The Lord Jesus Christ left us
a principle that is very useful in many areas of life and it
is useful in the context of how we speak about and how we speak
to one another and with respect to truthfulness. The Lord Jesus
Christ said this, Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that
men should do to you Do ye even so to them? For this is the law
and the prophets. And when we fail to do that,
let us go quickly to God for forgiveness. May the Lord give
us courage to live honestly before men and women and boys and girls. May he give us grace to seek
forgiveness when we fail and when we fall, and may he lead
us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. Amen.