THE PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION

Gracious Father, Your Word is truth, and Your Son is the Truth in human flesh and blood; so help us, we pray, to be people of the Truth: people who heed the truth, speak the truth, and walk in the truth. Teach us, by the power of Your Spirit, to follow Your decrees, and we will keep them to the end. Give us understanding, by Your Spirit, and we will keep Your law and obey it with all our hearts. Direct us in the path of Your commands, and there we will find our delight. By the power of Your Spirit, renew our lives according to Your Word; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

THE ASCRIPTION OF PRAISE

"Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength, and honor, glory, and blessing" — praise be to Jesus Christ! Amen.

THE SERMON

As Pastor Etheridge said last Lord’s Day, "What could be easier ...what could be easier than to tell Christians not to steal?" Likewise, what could be easier ...than to tell Christians not to lie, to tell the truth, especially with regard to our neighbor, whom we are commanded to love as we love ourselves. The Ninth Commandment is "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor." Though this commandment has specific reference to false testimony against another person, it also applies generally to all matters of our speech, what we say. The Children’s Catechism says it simply and clearly: The Ninth Commandment teaches us "Always to tell the truth."

Truth-telling is at the heart of godly character, because truth-telling is one of the character attributes of God: His Word is Truth (John 17:17). God cannot lie; it is impossible for God to lie because falsehood is alien to His eternal being (Titus 1:2; Hebrews 6:18). Jesus Christ is the living, human embodiment of Eternal Truth (John 14:6), and in the Book of the Revelation, Jesus is identified by the name "Faithful and True" (Revelation 19:11). So, remember, the Ninth Commandment is all about godly character — godly character being exemplified in us; for we were created in God’s image to reflect His holy character for the sake of His glory; and we have been redeemed by the blood of His Son, and by "the word of truth" (James 1:18), in order that we might "walk in the light as He is in the light" (1^st John 1:7), and "put off falsehood and speak truthfully to (our) neighbor," (Ephesians 4:25) and "slander no one" (Titus 3:2).

And consider this: if truth-telling is a matter of godly-character, reflecting an eternal attribute of God Himself, then what is lying, truth-twisting? Every time we twist the truth, every time we tell a lie, and in any way engage in deceit and duplicity, we are acting as the disciples of the devil. Satan is, first of all, a liar. Jesus called Satan, "the father of lies," saying,

...(the devil) has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language (according to his own character), for he is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44).

You remember that it was by a sly and subtle twisting of the truth that Satan deceived Eve in the Garden of Eden. Anytime we twist the truth, or craftily deceive our neighbor, we are boldly imitating Satan; and anytime we tell a lie, we are choosing to conform our character to Satan’s evil character, to our eternal peril. And our lies are most like Satan’s lies when they are most subtle, sly, artful, and elusive, and intended to put a smear on someone else. Only a very desperate person, or a very stupid person, or perhaps a very powerful and well-protected person will tell an out-and-out "bold-faced" lie. And though we may not tell such outright, naked lies, we are natural masters of the art of deception. How often do we play "mind games," even with our friends, colleagues, and spouse, in order to "shade the truth"? Listen: little lies are Satanic lies, and in God’s ears, all lying is serious business, as serious as spiritual death.

Romans 1 gives us the divine diagnosis of the fallen human condition, and strife, deceit, malice, gossip, and slander are listed right along and right beside sexual perversion and murder as illustrations of human sinful depravity. It is no wonder, then, that the Scripture says that the LORD hates and detests "...a lying tongue ...(and) a false witness who pours out lies, and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers" (Proverbs 6:16-19), and Proverbs 19:5 gives the warning that "A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who pours out lies will not escape."

But God is always good, and God’s law is always good, and God’s good law is always for our good. The Ninth Commandment, "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor," is God’s good law, given to protect, preserve, and promote truth in society and truth in our relationships, to protect and to preserve the good name and reputation of our neighbor, and our own name and reputation. Without truth, there is no justice in society. Without truth, there is no foundation for freedom in society. Without truth there is no trust in human relationships. Where there is no respect for the truth, then there is falsehood and lying, darkness, deceit, and duplicity, gossip and slander, chaos and confusion, and injustice. Proverbs 16:27-28 says that,

A scoundrel plots evil, and his speech is like a scorching fire.

A perverse man stirs up dissension, and a gossip separates close friends.

Therefore, the Ninth Commandment forbids all forms of gossiping, suspicioning, and ill-speaking which are intended to hurt another person, stir up strife, separate friends, or make ourselves look good by comparison.

Now, as the Church of Jesus Christ, the people of God, we are called to live as people of the truth, who speak the truth, and live according to the truth, and who careful to protect the truth about others. Christ’s character of truth, to which we are called to be conformed, is beautifully expressed in Psalm 15:1-3:

Lord, who may dwell in Your sanctuary? Who may live on Your holy hill?

He whose walk is blameless, and who does what is righteous,

who speaks the truth from his heart, and has no slander on his tongue,

who does his neighbor no wrong, and casts no slur on his fellow man ... .

Colossians 3:9, addressed to us, Christian believers, says

Now, (because we belong to Christ), you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your mouth. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator (Colossians 3:9-10).

In conformity with Christ’s character of truth and love, we are to relate to one another in truth and love, and specifically, among other things, this means that we not speak ill of one another, that we have nothing to do with gossip and rumor-mongering, and that we take no delight — no delight — in hearing a bad report about someone else.

Many of you probably remember the old saying, "If you can’t say something good about someone, then don’t say anything at all." Well, in a way, really, that rule is a guideline for Christian civility and Christian charity. It is intended to teach us to treat others as we ourselves would want to be treated by them. You don’t like the idea of being "talked about" negatively, do you? Well, then, you ought not to talk negatively about others. It is particularly unbecoming for Christians, because as Christians we know that we are sinners ever in need of grace and mercy — which means that I know, without a doubt, I know that there is plenty of negative "stuff" about me that you could say — and you could say it without bearing false witness, according to the letter of the law; it would be true! And I need to remember that, lest I slip, lest I fail to obey the spirit of the law, lest I fail to follow the Spirit of Christ, and begin to speak unkindly about you.

But, it is not enough for us not to gossip or not to speak ill of someone else — we should not even listen to malicious slander or ill-speaking about another. Proverbs 17:4 says, "A wicked man listens to evil lips; a liar pays attention to a malicious tongue." The message is clear: don’t be a party to gossip and destructive rumor. If the matter is a serious one, and needs to be dealt with, and in some way relates to you, then go privately to that person in question. But don’t get caught on the "party line," or in the rumor mill, or in the feeding frenzy of blood-thirsty, gossip-hungry sharks.

And what about this: do you ever have those "imaginary encounters" — imaginary conversations in which you "imagine" what another person might have said, or imaginary scenarios in which you imagine what the other person might have done, putting a negative light on that other person? The problem is that if we dwell on those imaginary encounters, and let our imagination run away with us, we will begin to believe and act and feel as if those imaginary conversations and scenarios really happened; and that’s just what Satan wants us to do. The fault-finding imagination is the devil’s playground. Satan wants us to find fault with one another, he wants us to believe the worst about each other, he wants us to know and believe how much better we are and how much more right we are than everyone else. And so Satan is very happy when we are quick to find fault, or just to imagine fault, so that, in our minds, we begin to destroy one another and tear down the Body of Christ. Many marriage conflicts take place in the realm of the imagination, as spouses, in anger, hurt, and frustration, falsely accuse one another, but never communicate the truth in love.

But we, in Christ, have been called into the way of truth and peace and love. Proverbs 10:12 says that "Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers all wrongs." Proverbs 17:9 says that "He who covers over an offense promotes love, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends." Now, those proverbs do not mean that we should cover-up someone else’s wrong-doing and sin to enable them to get away with it. But it is a word of wisdom teaching us to deal graciously and charitably with our brothers and sisters, in love, not wishing for their faults to ruin their reputation, not seeking ways to expose their faults, or blow them out of proportion, not taking the opportunity to hold their faults against them and turn other people against them. In Christ, we are called to forbear with one another, to be patient and long-suffering with one another. First Peter 4:8 says it beautifully: "Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins." And, as First Corinthians 13:4-5 says, "Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things"; therefore, loving one another in Christ means bearing with and enduring the faults of one another, and believing and hoping the best about and for one another.

Now, of course: there is a time for confronting our brother or sister with the truth about the sin in his or her life, but when we do that, we are to speak directly to that person, and to speak the truth in love, to restore that person. And yes, there is a time and place for the reporting of wrong-doing to a rightful authority, and giving a true report to a rightful authority is the right thing to do — in the home, in the school, in the church, and in the world at large. Speaking directly to the other person, or, if need be, speaking to a rightful authority, is an appropriate way of observing the Ninth Commandment. And if a rightful authority calls us to testify on a matter then we must speak the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. The Ninth Commandment requires us to speak the truth, defend the truth, promote the truth: because we serve the God of truth, who will judge us and all people in righteousness and truth.

That Judge is Jesus Christ. He is the Living Word of Eternal Truth — the human embodiment of eternal truth. Yet, think about it: if ever slander was spoken against a man, if evil gossip was ever whispered against a man, if false accusations were ever hurled against a man, if false witnesses ever conspired against a man, it was against this Man, Jesus Christ, who lived the life of perfect truth, yet who was unjustly condemned and crucified by wicked liars. As the Scripture says,

"He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in His mouth." When they hurled their insults at Him, He did not retaliate; when He suffered, He made no threats. Instead, He entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly. He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness; by His wounds you have been healed (1^st Peter 2:22-24).

This is the mystery of the gospel — this is the mystery of Good Friday and Easter Sunday, the mystery of amazing grace: that it was for our malicious slander, our Satanic lies, our false witness, our gossip and ill-speaking that Jesus was condemned to the cross, and for which He died. And the gospel — the good news — is that the Judge of righteousness and truth is also the Savior of mercy and grace. And He calls us even now to repent of all our lying ways, to speak the truth to one another, to speak the truth in public and in private, to speak the truth in love just as He speaks the truth in love. Remember: the Ninth Commandment is a matter of character — and if we claim Christ as our Savior then we must follow Him as our Lord and we must imitate Him as our example, and our character must be conformed to His character, by His grace. And as we praise Him and pray to Him this morning, may we also consecrate our lips to His glory, so that our lips speak only the truth, to the glory of the eternal God of everlasting Truth. Amen.