Chapter 5, Deuteronomy 5. We're in the 9th commandment this evening, Deuteronomy 5.20, but I do want to begin reading in verse 6 to remind us of the context. So Deuteronomy chapter 5 beginning in verse 6, I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me, but showing mercy to thousands to those who love me and keep my commandments. 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. Observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work, you nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm. Therefore, the Lord your God commanded you to keep this habit day. Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, that your days may be long and that it may be well with you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, and you shall not desire your neighbor's house, his field, his male servant, his female servant, his ox, his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's. These words, the Lord spoke to all your assembly in the mountain, from the midst of the fire, the cloud and the thick darkness with a loud voice. And he added no more. And he wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me. Amen. Well, let us pray. Father, thank you again for your written word. Thank you for your holy law, the fact that it reveals to us something of your being, of your nature. We thank you, God, for your perfections and the fact that you are the Lord God of truth, as the psalmist says. We ask that you would help us to speak the truth. Help us, Lord God, to be careful when it comes to these particular things. Grant us grace to love your law, and may it be the meditation of our hearts day and night. And may your Spirit in us help us to comply with it, help us to obey. And even now, may the Spirit take these things and show us and write them upon our hearts and in our minds, that we might not sin against you. Father, again, forgive us for all sin and transgression and anything that would keep us from receiving blessing from your glorious hand. And we ask this through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen. Well, we are currently studying the second table of the law of God. The second table of the law is summarized in Leviticus 19, 18. It says, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus was asked, What is the first and the foremost commandment? He said, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. And the second is like it. Love your neighbor as yourself. The commandments in the second table are given to protect, in the first place, the family, commandment number five, life, commandment number six, marriage, commandment number seven, and property, commandment number eight. These are given to protect against invasion and attack and the ruination of others. Now, the last two commandments, the ninth and the tenth, move from action to word and thought, and they forbid false witness and covetousness. When it comes to this particular commandment with reference to, you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor, Francis Turretin says, as our neighbor ought not to be injured by deed, so neither should he be injured by word. It is simply ungodly to injure somebody, whether by action or by word, and this commandment provides or affords protection to God's creatures so that they are not misaligned, misrepresented, lied against, slandered, gossiped about, or falsely represented in a courtroom. So I want to look first at the prohibition of the command, and then secondly at the positive aspect of the command. And in the first place, we ought to observe that it deals with the courtroom. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. Certainly, the commandment includes speaking the truth in all matters of life, in all areas of life, but this specifically speaks to matters with reference to jurisprudence. And with reference to the courtroom, this is not alone in terms of a prohibition against falsely representing or falsely presenting a case in the courtroom. The definition is the deliberate, willful giving of false, misleading, or incomplete testimony under oath And as you consider scripture, you see that there is quite an emphasis on this reality. If you go back for just a moment to Exodus chapter 23, just to see a few other passages where it deals with the act of perjury. The larger context being a courtroom will certainly look at lying, backbiting, slander, gossip, and tailbearing. But for the most part, right now, I want to consider the act of perjury. Notice in Exodus 23, 1, you shall not circulate a false report. Do not put your hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness. You shall not follow a crowd to do evil, nor shall you testify in a dispute, so as to turn aside after many to pervert justice. You shall not show partiality to a poor man in his dispute. Interesting. Don't show partiality to a poor man. Lady Justice is blind for a reason. It doesn't matter if somebody is poor. It doesn't matter if somebody is rich. Justice is justice, and righteousness is righteous, and that's the way we need to proceed in matters concerning testimony. Notice in 23.6, you shall not pervert the judgment of your poor in his dispute. Notice Proverbs chapter 19. Again, dealing with the courtroom, dealing with the matters of jurisprudence that the commandment specifically targets in its language. Do not bear false witness. Proverbs chapter 19 at verse 5. Proverbs 19.5, a false witness will not go unpunished and he who speaks lies will not escape. Proverbs 19.9, a false witness will not go unpunished and he who speaks lies shall perish. When you work through Proverbs as we did several months ago, you'll notice that there are several themes repeated. That's not because Solomon doesn't know that he's repeating himself. It's because Solomon knows how important these things are and they bear repetition. because one of the default settings of man is that they speak lies as soon as they are born. The wicked are estranged from the womb, speaking lies as soon as they are born. God knows that that is a problem with his creatures, and therefore God speaks a lot against this activity of lying. We see it in Proverbs 25 verse 18 as well. A man who bears false witness against his neighbor is like a club, a sword, and a sharp Now, with reference to neighbor, Jesus identifies or Jesus defines for us who our neighbor is in Luke chapter 10. And their neighbor, as we see, is not somebody that lives next door to us. It's not even somebody necessarily that we're familiar with. The word neighbor simply means somebody that we come into contact with. In fact, Stuart makes this observation. This is the first commandment to employ the word neighbor in its general juridical sense of anyone else you happen to come into contact with. rather than the more narrow sense of someone living near you. In laws and formal rules, neighbor has nothing to do with proximity or familiarity. Your neighbor connotes any other human being you may have dealings with, actually or potentially. So we need to understand that. It's not the case, well, I can bear false witness because he's not my neighbor. He doesn't live next door. He doesn't live on Woodbine right next to me. And I don't really know that person, so it's okay that I give false data in the courtroom. Know your neighbor as anybody that you come into contact with, actually or potentially. Now, I want to look at the seriousness of this offense, of the act of perjury, in Deuteronomy chapter 19. You can turn there. Deuteronomy chapter 19. specifically verses 15 to 21, underscore for us just how important this rule of witnesses is and how important it is to not bear false witness in a courtroom. Notice the rule established in verse 15. One witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits. By the mouth of two or three witnesses, the matter shall be established. If you look back for just a moment, Deuteronomy 17, verses six and seven. Deuteronomy 17, verses 6 and 7, whoever is deserving of death shall be put to death on the testimony of two or three witnesses. He shall not be put to death on the testimony of one witness. The hands of the witnesses shall be the first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people, so you shall put away the evil from among you. So in a capital case, it is demanded, it is absolutely requisite, according to Deuteronomy 17, 6 and 7, that there be two or three witnesses. You could not move to execute a criminal offender unless those witnesses were present. When we come to the rule of witnesses here in Deuteronomy 19, it's more comprehensive, or it's more universal, rather. It's not simply capital crimes that are involved. If you look at the language of verse 15, one witness shall not rise against a man concerning, notice the language, any iniquity or any sin that he commits. By the mouth of two or three witnesses, the matter shall be established." So in a capital crime or in a capital situation, you must have two or three witnesses to move to execute a criminal offender. But when it comes to typical, normal, regular jurisprudence, the demand for witnesses is still there. And one of the reasons why there are witnesses is that it protects or affords protection for the accused. Everybody has the right to a fair trial. The Western world didn't just stumble on this in and of themselves. It is based upon God's holy word. The rules of evidence, due process, the various things that we find celebrated in the Western world in terms of our court system come from the word of the living and true God. And this is not arbitrary, it's not capricious, it's designed by God for the good of His creatures as they conduct themselves one with another. This idea of two or three witnesses is absolutely imperative when it comes to church discipline as well. Matthew chapter 18, if your brother sins against you, go to him. If he hears you, you've won your brother. If he doesn't hear you, then take with you two or three witnesses. Those are not witnesses, most likely, to the original sin or crime, but they are witnesses to make sure that the process is carried out in a manner that is consistent with the law of God. Again, the accused gets protection all along the way. If he doesn't listen to the two or three witnesses, then tell it to the church. If he doesn't listen to the church, then you excommunicate. There is a long process involved in church discipline. It's simply not the case that if somebody messes up, we turf them from the life of the church. No, there is something involved in terms of process that is prayerful, that is filled with compassion. If he doesn't listen to the church, then you move to excommunication. But this two or three witnesses principle is found in Matthew 18. We see it also in 1 Timothy 5.19, relative to elders. Do not receive an accusation against an elder except on the basis of two or three witnesses. Why is that? It affords protection to the elder in that particular instance. Now back to Deuteronomy chapter 19, notice the problem that this passage deals with. Verse 16, if a false witness rises against any man to testify against him of wrongdoing. So this is the problem. We've got this rule for witnesses, but if it happens to be the case that in this courtroom setting there is a false witness, then this is what you're supposed to do with him. And again, I think this underscores for us how serious the crime of perjury is. Notice verse 17. Now this is a higher court. This is a higher court. It's already dealt with back in Deuteronomy 17 in verses 8 to 13. So there was your basic court, then you had a higher court. Again, the Western world didn't just stumble onto this, but rather this is rooted in biblical redemptive history. And so with reference to these two men, they're now called to this higher court. Now notice what happens in verse 18. And the judges shall make careful inquiry, and indeed, if the witness is a false witness, who has testified falsely against his brother. So they make the determination that this person is a lying, perjuring wretch. This person has misrepresented the facts, he has presented false data, he has come up short, and he has been found out by these judges doing their job. Now here's the sanction that falls upon this false witness. Verse 19 says, then you shall do to him as he thought to have done to his brother, so you shall put away the evil from among you. In other words, the false witness receives the punishment that the man accused would have received if he was in fact guilty. That's how this is so serious of an affair. Christopher Wright says, it therefore established a remarkable retributive law on perjury. Anyone discovered to have given false testimony was to be punished with the same punishment that the victim of his accusations would have received if the verdict had gone against him. Everybody gets that, right? If I go in and I falsely represent a case and I lie about you and it turns out that they figure out that I'm lying, whatever punishment you would have received if you were guilty of that crime is now meted out to me. I am going to receive that. What do you think that would do with reference to frivolous lawsuits? What do you think that would do when people know, going into a courtroom, if they give false testimony and they're found out, they could be executed as a result of that? Christopher Wright muses the same way. He says, one wonders what a salutary effect such a law might have in the modern world, which is plagued with miscarriages of justice notoriously caused by false testimony and conspiracy. John Calvin says, whence it appears that false witnesses and murderers stand in the same light before God. So again, you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. It is comprehensive in the sense that it requires the sanctity of truth in all areas. Anytime we open our mouth, we should speak the truth. especially, if I could underscore, in a courtroom. Persons' lives are at stake, and if we falsely present a case, then whatever the punishment do for them now comes upon us, and that's what happens according to verse 19. Notice in verse 20, those who remain shall hear and fear, and hereafter they shall not again commit such evil among you. You've heard it before that, say, for instance, the death penalty does not deter crime. It most certainly and most positively does. See, in Old Covenant Israel, they publicize the various findings of the court along with the executions or along with the punishments that were meted out. Why? So that the body politic would hear and would fear. They would understand that if I go thou and do likewise, then I'm going to end up stoned to death or I'm going to end up in some other sort of unfortunate situation. And then verse 21 underscores the whole situation with what we call the lex talionis or the law of retribution. Your eye shall not pity, life shall be for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. So this is a most important situation. It is very serious that we be truth-tellers in all areas of life, but especially if called upon into a courtroom. But it's not just the act of perjury. There is, secondly, lying. Lying in general. Garden variety lying. Kaiser says the sanctity of truth in all areas of life is what is demanded. Turn to Leviticus chapter 19. Leviticus chapter 19. Much is said about loving one another and caring for one another in Leviticus 19. Leviticus 19 11 says, you shall not steal nor deal falsely nor lie to one another. And then over in the book of Proverbs in chapter 12 at verse 22. Now, obviously there are more passages that deal with lying, but these are a couple of sample passages. Proverbs 20, I'm sorry, 12, 22, lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who deal truthfully are his delight. So again, it's not a little white lie. It's not a little thing. It's not, well, everybody does it sort of a thing, but rather it is an abomination to God most high. And then a third thing is the act of backbiting or slander. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. Now, many of us will never stand in a courtroom. Many of us will never swear on a Bible to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. But all of us find ourselves in community. All of us find ourselves connected to others. All of us find ourselves both hearing, receiving, and at times passing on information concerning others. And we need to make sure that we are not violating the Ninth Commandment when we do that. I think this application is a lot closer to home for most of us versus standing in a courtroom when matters of life and death are at stake. Backbiting and slander. False and malicious statements made about another. Brethren, this is something that is rampant, this is something that is addressed often in Scripture, and it is something that demands our careful attention. If we are guilty of this, we need to repent. If we engage in this, we need to stop. And it's not just the active propagation on our part, but it's the willing reception of it from others also. In fact, Calvin makes that observation. We must also close our ears against false and evil speaking. The Westminster Larger Catechism, when it asks what is required or what are the duties required in the Ninth Commandment, one of the clauses says discouraging tail-bearers, flatterers, and slanderers. Have you or I ever discouraged one of these people? Has anybody ever come to you with a juicy bit of gossip and you said, look, I don't want to hear it. You shouldn't say it. You need to be silent about things that don't concern you. If you don't, you probably should at some point or another, because it's not only propagating it with our mouths, but it's receiving it in our ears also. So this idea of backbiting and slander, if you're still in Proverbs, look at Proverbs 10, 18. Proverbs 10, 18, whoever hides hatred has lying lips, and whoever spreads slander is a fool. Proverbs 25, 23. Proverbs 25, 23. The north wind brings forth rain, and a backbiting tongue and angry countenance. Turn to Romans chapter 1. Vice lists in the New Testament are pretty comprehensive, and they include the sorts of sins that all make us recoil in horror at the thought of murder, or homosexuality, or sexual immorality, or the various other things that we as Christians say, oh, that's just despicable behavior, and yet we as Christians give no thought whatsoever to slander and to gossip. How is that the case? We would never ever ingest crack cocaine. We'd never visit a prostitute. But boy, would we not only receive, but also propagate gossip about another individual, about another believer, about another person for whom Jesus Christ died and was raised the third day. Why is it that we have this framework or this context or this grid where we sort of get rid of the sins that we are judged to be vicious and violent, very bad and wrong, but when it comes to these other sins, we practice what Jerry Bridges called, we look at them as respectable sins. They're the kinds of things that, you know, it doesn't really hurt anybody and it really doesn't bother anybody. It's not really like adultery. It's not really like murder. It's not really like, you know, ingesting crack cocaine. It's none of that. Brethren, the destruction of another human being's reputation is horrific. It is vile, it is wretched, it is godless. And if we engage in that kind of behavior, we need to stop, and we need to repent, and we need to forsake our wickedness. Notice in Romans 128, and even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind to do those things which are not fitting. being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness. They are whisperers, back biters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful, who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same, but also approve of those who practice them." Again, we look at that list and we go, oh yeah, I would never engage in that sort of stuff, that violence, that haters of God, that murder, that that abominable sexual immorality, but whisperers and backbiters find themselves in the very same vice list along with these other persons that we are judged to be very vicious and very vile and the kinds of persons that we will never be. Well, brethren, if you can appease your conscience that way, there's big problems. Notice in 1 Corinthians 6, same sort of a thing, a vice list telling us who's not going to enter the kingdom of God. 1 Corinthians 6, 9, Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers. nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you, but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God." We can praise God for the gospel, can't we? When I read Psalm 15 at the outset of worship, does anyone here say, wow, that's really a good picture of me? Not me, Jim Butler, but you. Do you read Psalm 15 and go, yeah, I'm doing pretty good here? Do you know who Psalm 15 is? That's Jesus. He's the one that abides in the presence of Yahweh. He's the one that stands in Yahweh's house. He is the one that swears to his own hurt and does not change. Because of him, he has saved us from our sins. Because of his active obedience to the law, doing everything specified there in Psalm 15, doing everything that he was under obligation to perform by the father in terms of active obedience, he satisfies those requirements. He goes to the cross, he takes our punishment, he takes our penalty, he stands in our place and takes the very judgment of God on our behalf and then is raised again and thus we have everlasting life. Whenever we consider the law of God, we ought to remember as well, and such were some of you. And such are some of us in terms of remaining corruption. And there is forgiveness with God that He may be feared. But we need to own the reality that more often than not, while we would shrink back in horror from the great sins listed by the apostle there, at times, when it comes to backbiting or slander, We like to participate in these sorts of evil things. So backbiting, slander is wicked. Next is gossip and tailbearing. Rumor or talk of a personal, sensational, or intimate nature. Back to Leviticus 19. One of the reasons why Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount says, you have heard that it was said to you, but I say to you. Again, it's not Moses versus Jesus, it's Moses and Moses' interpreters. They failed, the Pharisees for the most part, failed to see the internal nature of the law, the spirituality of the law. They thought insofar as the external man didn't kill somebody, an external man, then everything was good. Jesus says if you have this unwarranted anger or you call him raka or fool, you've already committed the sin, you've already murdered him. Same with adultery. You don't have to actually engage in the act, but if your mind engages in the act, you've committed the sin. So the Pharisees thought that as long as we don't do the actual thing, then we're okay. Well, Leviticus 19 is one of those passages that shows us how the law goes to the internal heart of man. Again, verse 11, you shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another. And you shall not swear by my name falsely, nor shall you profane the name of your God. I am the Lord. You shall not cheat your neighbor, nor rob him. The wages of him who is hired shall not remain with you all night until morning. You shall not curse the deaf nor put a stumbling block before the blind, but shall fear your God. I am the Lord. You shall do no injustice in judgment. You shall not be partial to the poor nor honor the person of the mighty. In righteousness you shall judge your neighbor. You shall not go about as a tailbearer among your people, nor shall you take a stand against the life of your neighbor. I am the Lord. Interesting juxtaposition. Don't go out tailberry and don't stand against the life of your neighbor. Again, there's a way to kill a man or murder a man without stopping his beating heart. You ruin his reputation, you misalign him in his workplace or in his family life, or you misrepresent things that you know nothing about, it can bring damage to the reputation of another human being, and that is strictly prohibited by God Almighty. So it's not only that we can attack somebody in a courtroom, we can attack somebody in the back of the church. We can attack somebody via email or via text when we talk about things, brethren, that are not our business. If somebody asks for prayer in the context of a prayer meeting, that's legit, that's fine, that's great, that's wonderful. You can talk about that. But if you find out something about somebody that may compromise that particular individual, May I gently and graciously say, shut your mouth. You're not supposed to repeat that stuff. You are not supposed to be a whisperer. You're not supposed to be a gossip. You're not supposed to be a tale bearer. You're not supposed to be a slanderer. Notice in Proverbs, again, the sin comes under constant and frequent condemnation by the wise man Solomon. 11, 13, a tale bearer reveals secrets. But he who is of a faithful spirit conceals a matter. Are you the kind of person that is trustworthy? Are you the kind of person that somebody can confide in without having that piece of data sort of published to everybody in your community? Brethren, this is what God says relative to the ninth commandment. We see it in Proverbs 18. Proverbs 18, verse eight. The words of a tailbearer are like tasty trifles and they go down into the inmost body. Now it's at that point I would suggest, again, it's not just the active propagator of a piece of data, but the fact that it comes to the hearer as tasty trifles indicates there's something on the part of the receptor that enjoys this. They like this. They themselves may not go out and propagate it, but they're not going to shut down, they're not going to discourage, and they're not going to stop somebody who wants to hand them tasty trifles for their delight and for their pleasure. So it is the case that it's not only the active promotion, but also the active reception of these things as well. Proverbs 20 and verse 19, he who goes about as a tail bearer reveals secrets, therefore do not associate with one who flatters with his lips. Notice in Proverbs 26 at verse 20, Proverbs 26 and verse 20, where there is no wood, the fire goes out and where there is no tail bearer, strife ceases. It's pretty simple, isn't it? It's almost like a mathematic equation. It's a formula for happiness. And that formula simply says that tail-bearers shouldn't be. They should be quiet. They shouldn't be tail-bearers. They should repent and be true tellers. But where there is no wood, the fire goes out, and where there is no tailbearer, strife ceases. As charcoal is to burning coals and wood to fire, so is a contentious man to kindle strife. The words of a tailbearer are like tasty trifles, and they go down into the inmost body." And then 26, I'm sorry, that was it. But the New Testament as well speaks against these particular infractions. And as I said earlier, I don't think our first issue is that we're gonna stand in a capital case and give evidence that we'll end up in a man's execution. Well, certainly that's not gonna happen in Canada because there is no death penalty. But if we were in certain states or in certain other countries, I doubt that that's sort of what's gonna happen to most of us But it's at this level. It's at the gossip level. It's at the tail-bearing level. It's at the slandering level. It's at the level where we think we know things, so we just blab all about it, when it turns out we really don't know it at all. What is Proverbs 18? The first to plead his cause seems right until what? Until his neighbor comes and examines him. I think you've all been in a position, probably most of you have been in a position, where persons have misrepresented you or misaligned you, and you've heard that, and then you've said, oh no, that's not what happened, here's what happened. And then the light bulb goes on on the person, they say, oh wow. You kind of want to say, you shouldn't have said anything, because you don't know what you're talking about, right? Where is that mindset today? If it's not our business, why do we cravenly want to make it our business? What is it about gossip? What is it about slander? What is it about these things that are like tasty trifles to us in receiving them? So the prohibition of the command, perjury, lying in general, backbiting slash slander, gossip slash tailbearing, twofold manner of committing these sins, not only the active participant, the one with the lying tongue and the big mouth, but the passive receptor, the one who's got the big ears that are always open to that next tasty trifle and delights to feed upon them and have these vicious thoughts of people that may or may not be true. Brethren, we need to guard our hearts when it comes, as I said, with reference to these quote-unquote respectable sins. Jerry Bridges has a book by that name. I haven't read the book, but I know the thesis. He says within the church today, we shrink back in horror from these sins that we see that are horrible, wicked, big things, but we don't take time to deal with the stuff that we're actually engaged in. Hence, respectable sin. It's okay if I don't murder. It's okay if I don't ingest crack cocaine. But boy, I'm going to go ahead and gossip or slander or tailbear. I'm going to say things about stuff that I have no business speaking about, that I have no business knowing about, that I have no business discussing whatsoever. You need to ask yourself the question, is this information that is pertinent to me? Is this information that I need? Is this something that puts this person in a negative light and that's all it's going to do for me? Brethren, ask, think, consider, so that you don't violate the ninth commandment when it comes to these particular issues. Now secondly, the positive aspect of the command. I could read Westminster larger, but I want to just bring out a few things. First, the need to speak the truth in matters of justice and judgment. If we are called upon to give testimony in a courtroom, and we swear, which we saw this morning, is lawful. Oaths and vows are lawful in this new covenant era, not for every little thing that happens to you in a day. I swear there's cookies in the pantry. No, but for things of weight and seriousness and for a confirmation of truth, oaths and vows are legit. Well, when we stand in a courtroom and we say, I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God, that is an oath in front of men and a vow before God that I'm going to tell the truth. We need to take that seriously. Calvin says, for if A good name is more precious than all riches. Proverbs 22, 1. We harm a man more by despoiling him of the integrity of his name than by taking away his possessions. You ruin somebody when you destroy their good name. That's why, you know, we've seen this. We have seen this in our immediate history, not just in our church or in our church, but we see it in the political realm. We see it in civil ethics. We see it always being just destroyed. Brethren, we don't want to live in a situation where truth doesn't matter anymore. That is a horrific way to operate. Secondly, the need to speak the truth in all areas of life. Look at Colossians 3, one sample passage here. Colossians chapter 3. The idea of speaking the truth in all areas of life. Verse 9. Do not lie to one another since you have put off the old man with his deeds and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of him who created him. Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all in all. That's the end of a rather long list of things, again a vice list, that we're not supposed to engage in, we're not supposed to do. But very clearly, do not lie to one another. Why? Since you have put off the old man with his deeds. It is not consistent behavior for the new man to lie. That is consistent behavior with the old man. But we, by the grace of God, have put off the old man. Therefore, the injunction comes, do not lie to one another. Why? Because you've been created anew in the image of your beloved Savior. Thirdly, the duty to promote the truth by exercising charity toward others. The duty to promote the truth by exercising charity to others. Notice in Ephesians chapter 4. Ephesians chapter 4. Verse 25, therefore, putting away lying, let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. Be angry and do not sin, do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil. Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth. Now, I think typically we approach that text and say, well, we shouldn't say these four-letter words, these bad words, we shouldn't engage in such things. Now, I'm not condoning the use of that, and I'm not suggesting that we have warrant to use those words, but I don't think that's the point. I think the contrast, or rather the juxtaposed statement, indicates what Paul's point is in 29a. Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth. Notice what he goes on to say, but what is good for necessary edification? So corrupt words are not good for necessary edification. If we have things that are not good for necessary edification, Paul tells us to shut our mouths, to keep it closed, to not say anything. Remember our mothers taught us that when we were five? If you don't have something nice to say about somebody, say nothing at all. Mother was right at age five, and we should abide by that principle. That is precisely what Paul highlights. Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. So you might ask the question, is my destroying the reputation of another brother or sister in Christ going to actually edify that person? Is it going to build that person up? Is it going to stabilize them and give them security and happiness? Well, I think you all know the answer. It's not going to at all. So invoke Mother's rule and don't say anything at all. Why do we always feel the need to say something anyway? It's just an amazing thing. I think God, by design, has taught us we should listen twice as much than we speak. We've got two of these and one of these. And I think we need to look at basic physiology and operate in a manner that is consistent with the way God designed the human head. You should listen more than you talk. James tells us that specifically in his book. And then the duty to promote the truth by discouraging the slanderer or the gossip. Now, again, if somebody comes to you and says, did you hear? And you shut them down, they're not going to rejoice over that, in my estimation. They're not gonna say, typically, now I speak as a pessimist, I guess, God is good, the Spirit is powerful, they may receive it and say, oh, you're right, it's a struggle that I'm having, it's a sin, I confess and I'm sorry. But they probably will be a bit irritated if you try to shut them down as they're trying to pass on these tasty trifles. But brethren, that's the way to shut it down. It's the way to stop it. We say to people, you're not supposed to be talking about things that you know nothing about. You're not supposed to be talking about things that don't involve you. Whenever somebody says, did you hear? That's like the alarm system goes off for me. Did you hear? I'm always of the mind that the next thing out of the mouth is going to be something that's not real happy. Did you hear, typically isn't, I found a bag of money and I want to take you to get a cup of coffee. That's not been my experience. Did you hear usually doesn't end well. It's kind of like those people that say, I don't want to offend you, but, and then they go right ahead and offend you. I'm not a racist, but, then you kind of know what's going to follow at that particular point. Did you hear? Typically is the avenue of approach for a gossip. And if you want to continue down the path of receiving those things in direct contradiction of the ninth commandment, I'm not going to say go ahead. I'm going to say you got big problems and you need to stop it then and there. If you are an active promoter of gossip and slander, Stop it here and now. It is destructive to people. It is destructive to families. It is destructive to churches. It is destructive to a body politic. Now, by way of some application, in the first place, the fact's about lying. Lying is a horrific practice. Lying is terrible. First of all, it originated with the devil, and it's contrary to God. Remember John 8, 44? What did Jesus say? You are of your father, the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer and a liar from the beginning. He has no ability to speak the truth. It is contrary to his very nature. It is contradictory for the devil to speak the truth. Secondly, it is characteristic of man in Adam. Turn to Psalm 58. I know when I cite that, people probably wonder, is that really in the Bible or is he just throwing that out there to try and get one past us? Psalm 58, verse three, the wicked are estranged from the womb. They go astray as soon as they are born speaking lies. Now, I know the posture of some would say, well, that's the wicked. That's them. That's those people. Brethren, who does the Bible define as a wicked man or a wicked woman or a wicked boy or a wicked girl? It's those dead in Adam. The wicked go estranged or are estranged from the womb. They go astray as soon as they are born speaking lies. A third fact about lying, it is forgiven by Christ when we believe the gospel, and we ought to praise God for that. In other words, when we came to Christ, the Lord Jesus forgave us of all our sins, all the big ones, or at least what we are judged to be big ones, but all those lies, all that subterfuge, all that gossip, all that slander, And there is forgiveness with him currently that he may be feared. If we fall into this particular trap, if we engage in something that is untoward, ungodly, unrighteous, we confess our sins and he's faithful and just to forgive us, but that does not condone it. It is ultimately, fourthly, punishable by death and hell when men don't repent, when they do not believe the gospel. Those in the lake of fire, according to Revelation 21 at verse 8, the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. And then again in verse 27, but there shall by no means enter in or enter it anything that defiles or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. Consider, by way of contrast, that God Most High is the Lord God of truth. That's what David says in the Psalms. Jesus, speaking, says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to me except, no one comes to me, I'm sorry, I'm the way, the truth, and the life. I'm missing the text here. That's, what is it? Except through me. That's right. Thank you. I was juxtaposing two texts there, conflating two texts. So the bottom line is that lying is contrary to the very nature and being of God. Secondly, by way of the use of the commandment, I spoke concerning living in a society where lying is pretty rampant, where it's commonplace, where truth is not valued, where lies find their way often into the political arena and into the arena of civil ethics. Dabney makes this observation concerning lies destroying confidence. He says, in short, if confidence is destroyed, then all the bands which unite man with his fellows are loosed. Each man must struggle on, unaided by his fellows, as though he were the sole forlorn remnant of a perishing race. Now, you may say, that sounds pretty epic there, Dabney. But it's true. If we don't have the ability to trust one another, If we can't ask for prayer in a way that we don't want to compromise and let everybody know, I shared this at the AGM, if you want a prayer request publicized in our church, tell me. Because there are some people that don't want them put out. There are some people that want privacy, and they don't want to tell everybody of their particular prayer request. And I try to respect that as a pastor. So if you want your prayer request out there, the onus is upon you to ask me to send it to the list. Because there are many people, several people, that don't want the list to know. And again, I don't think that's wicked or vile or reprehensible. That's just their choice. They're free to do that or not do that. But if we can't trust somebody, hey, I want to confide in you this particular area, this particular thing. Imagine if you wanted to engage in accountability. I mean, that's something churches do, right? I want to be held accountable by a brother. I want to be held accountable by a sister. So I confide in that brother or sister, and then they go out and tell people. That's just not right. You get that, right? That's just a terrible, vile, wretched practice. We should have no truck with that whatsoever. There should not be anything in us that would ever relate or compromise somebody else just because we like to talk about things, or we like to gossip, we like to slander, or we like to backbite. So the civil use, if our society does not see the value of truth telling, We are in big problems. The pedagogical use? Brethren, you ought to think about this ninth commandment all the time relative to how appreciative you are of the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In other words, when you read Psalm 15, when you read this onus or emphasis upon law-keeping, Praise God Almighty for Jesus. And if that law comes to us and it brings that conviction of sin, which one of the purposes is of the law, to bring that knowledge of sin, then may it provoke in us close or quick dealings with God through Christ, fetching forgiveness at the hand of a merciful Savior. And then in terms of the normative use, how do we live in light of the ninth commandment as blood-bought children of God who have the Holy Spirit? I would suggest in the first place we recognize the power of the tongue. Certainly guns and knives, if used in that particular manner, have the ability or potential to end someone's life. But so does the tongue. We can end someone's life if not the cessation of a beating heart, the cessation of a good reputation. Proverbs 18.21, death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit. Proverbs 26.28, a lying tongue hates those who are crushed by it, and a flattering mouth works ruin. So I was sort of moving through Spurgeon in preparation for the call to the ministry. I noticed something that I have said, and I saw where I got it. I think it was Spurgeon. Actually, somebody preached a sermon, and Spurgeon was the president of a pastor's college. And that sermon that this fellow preached sounded very familiar to C.H. Spurgeon. In fact, C.H. Spurgeon thought it was his sermon. So he calls the young man into his office, and he says, I heard the sermon, and he asked him about the sermon, and the young man said, oh, I got that sermon from William Jay. And Spurgeon had to muse and said, oh, yeah, I think I got it from William Jay, too. But he was the president of a pastor's college, and he mentioned this whole idea that when people respond to pastors or preachers, again, it's lectures to my students by C.H. Spurgeon. It was done on on Fridays. So these guys would have their Greek, their Hebrew, their theology. They do all their coursework during the week, and on Friday afternoon, they'd have C.H. Spurgeon just drop pastoral nuggets of wisdom on that. But he says, you're never as good as some people will say, and you're never as bad as other people will say. You're probably happily right in the middle. Flattery is wicked, too. Oh, you're the best thing since sliced bread. Oh, you're the... No, that's just not true. Flattery is ruination as well, and that's what Solomon says. So, the recognition of the power of the tongue. Secondly, the willingness to shut our ears to falsehood. John Calvin said, we must go further and not be suspicious or too curious in observing the defects of others. For such eager inquisitiveness betrays malevolence, or at any rate, an evil disposition. Let me just read that again because I think it is gold. We must go further and not be suspicious or too curious in observing the defects of others. In other words, we don't need to know all the ins and outs and the gory details of our fellows. He says, for such eager inquisitiveness betrays malevolence, that means bad things, or at any rate, an evil disposition. Thirdly, the necessity of godly restraint in the use of the tongue. The necessity of godly restraint in the use of the tongue. How is a wise man judged at times? Because he doesn't open his mouth. In fact, Solomon says he's a fool, but he looks wise because he just shuts up. Brethren, we can all be wise men and wise women. The pathway to wisdom is clear. Just be quiet. People go, wow, he's a thoughtful, contemplative person. Oh, he's thinking about coffee at Tim Hortons on Thursday. That's what he's thinking about. But he's smart enough not to share things, so he looks like a wise old sage. Psalm 39.1, I said, I will guard my ways lest I sin with my tongue. I will restrain my mouth with a muzzle while the wicked are before me. I love Psalm 141.3, set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth. Keep watch over the door of my lips. You ever see those guards at the palace in Britain? They don't move. I mean, you can say things. kind of look at them and, you know, whatever, and they don't move. They just do what they're supposed to do. Those are the kind of guards, those are the sentries we need on either side of our lips to help us to shut our mouths. James 1.26, if anyone among you thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless. The word useless there translates a Greek word that is often used in scripture to characterize idolatry as vain or meaningless. The religion that people who do not control their speech have is no better, James suggests, than idolatry. If any man thinks he is religious but does not control his own tongue, this man's religion is useless. And then finally, the necessity to love the truth. The necessity to love the truth. What does Solomon say in Proverbs 23, 23? Buy the truth and do not sell it. Also wisdom and instruction and understanding. Much to the consternation of many around us, there is something more valuable than toilet paper. It is the truth of God Almighty. And the people of God Almighty must love that truth, they must speak that truth, and they must guard their hearts and minds from receiving falsehood and error. Let us pray and ask God to help us in these things. Father, we thank you for your Word. We thank you for the clarity that we have in this issue of truth-telling. I pray for each and every one of us that you would help us to set a guard over our lips, help us to restrain that native disposition, to want those tasty trifles. Help us, Lord God, to treat others with respect, not only their physical persons, but their reputations, their good names, and help us as a church to guard against the gossip and the slander and the tail-bearing and the whispering and the backbiting that so often obtains among the professing people of God. And Lord, thank you for Jesus. Thank you that he swore to his own hurt and he didn't change. Thank you that he is that righteous man set forth in scripture that is our champion, that is our victor, that is our redeemer and our king. God, we pray that you'd help us to walk in light of that reality and conform us evermore unto his most blessed image. And we ask that you would go with us, help us to bring glory to you in this week, and we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. We'll close with a brief time of meditation.