Don't Be A False Witness Series

INTRODUCTION

• SLIDE #1

Famous American Fibs

- The check is in the mail.

- I’ll start my diet tomorrow.

- We service what we sell.

- Give me your number and the doctor will call you right back.

- Money cheerfully refunded.

- One size fits all.

- This offer limited to the first 100 people who call in.

- Your luggage isn’t lost, it’s only misplaced.

- Leave your resume and we’ll keep it on file.

- This hurts me more than it hurts you.

- I just need five minutes of your time.

- Your table will be ready in a few minutes.

- Open wide, it won’t hurt a bit.

- Let’s have lunch sometime.

- It’s not the money, it’s the principle. (Bits & Pieces, December 9, 1993, pp. 12-13.)

• We are getting near the end of our series on the Ten Commandments. It has amazed me just how little mankind has changed over the centuries. All of the commandments we have looked are as relevant to us today as they were when they were first passed down to Moses on the mountain.

• Today we are going to explore the Ninth Commandment. This commandment is another one that hits us where we live.

• SLIDE #2

• The Ninth Commandment says, "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” Exodus 20:16 ESV

• Today we are going to look at what this command means along with how and why we break this commandment. We will finish up with some ways to protect ourselves from breaking the Ninth Commandment.

• SLIDE #3

SERMON

I. WHAT DOES THE NINTH COMMANDMENT TELL US?

• This commandment deals with being truthful. In our society being truthful is becoming a lost art. In our nation we expect our leaders to be liars, we expect sales people to lie to us and honesty is not something that comes easy for many people.

• Lying seems to be a way of life for many people. We lie at the drop of a hat. The book “The Day American Told the Truth”, says that 91 percent of those surveyed lie routinely about matters they consider trivial, and 36 percent lie about important matters; 86 percent lie regularly to parents, 75 percent to friends, 73 percent to siblings, and 69 percent to spouses. http://www.christianglobe.com/Illustrations/theDetails.asp?whichOne=l&whichFile=lie

• Let’s examine what this command prohibits.

• Technically, this commandment deals with testimony in a court of law and the impact on the judicial system, but there are clearly vast implications of not telling the truth in our everyday lives. While many of us do not worry about false testimony in a court of law, we should worry about what ramifications there are to the daily lies as well. (Dr. Laura, The Ten Commandments p. 275)

• Let’s look at the technical side first.

• SLIDE #4

A. We are not to give false testimony in legal proceedings

• God prohibits us from giving false testimony in court proceedings. The legal system of the Old Testament and of any society is based on the honesty and truthfulness of those who participate in the system. Just think what would happen if we could not trust people who testify. This yet happens today. We can all think of examples of people giving what appears to be false testimony.

• In the Old Testament, God had a way of dealing with a person who tried to convict another person with false testimony.

• SLIDE #5

• Deuteronomy 19:15-21 (ESV) “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. If a malicious witness arises to accuse a person of wrongdoing, then both parties to the dispute shall appear before the Lord, before the priests and the judges who are in office in those days. The judges shall inquire diligently, and if the witness is a false witness and has accused his brother falsely, then you shall do to him as he had meant to do to his brother. So you shall purge the evil from your midst. And the rest shall hear and fear, and shall never again commit any such evil among you. Your eye shall not pity. It shall be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

• These verses speak for themselves.

• SLIDE #6

• PROVERBS 19:5 “A false witness will not go unpunished, And he who tells lies will not escape.”

• Exodus 23:1 “You shall not bear a false report; do not join your hand with a wicked man to be a malicious witness.