AM Sermon preached at Central Christian Church March 18, 2007
God’s Top Ten The 9th Commandment Value Truth
[OPENING SLIDES---WILL PROGRESS AUTOMATICALLY TO A BLANK SLIDE]
Rick Atchley in his book Sinai Summit relates a story about Abraham Lincoln’s work as the postmaster of New Salem, Illinois. When Lincoln was postmaster at the age of 24 he received an annual income of $55.70. The post office at New Salem ended up closing in 1836 and several years passed before an agent from Washington arrived on the scene to settle accounts with the ex-postmaster Lincoln who at the time was struggling to make ends meet as a lawyer. The agent reviewed the books and informed Mr. Lincoln that there were seventeen dollars due to the government. Lincoln crossed the open room, opened an old trunk and took out a yellowed cotton rag bound with a string. Untying the cloth he spread out the seventeen dollars. He had been holding it for all those years. “I never use any man’s money but my own,” he said. Now Mr. Lincoln could have lied about the money and probably gotten away with it. But even then, twenty four tears before he entered the White House, the rail splitter was showing the character that earned him the title of “Honest Abe.”
After relating that story Atchley asks, “Don’t you wish out government officials and American citizens were as truthful and honest today as Honest Abe?” I think we do---but at the same time I think most of us doubt we’ll ever see it again. Truth in government---what a shame that most laugh at the possibility. There was Watergate. Then there was Clinton’s looking into the camera and declaring “I did not have sex with that woman.” Recently there was Bush administrator I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby’s lying to the FBI about the leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame’s identity. Is their any wonder why we’re skeptical?
Lying is so ingrained in our culture that we’ve come to joke about some of the more common lies. Doug Mushrow has written an article titled “19 Great American Lies.” Here are a few of the classics:
[SLIDE] 1. The check is in the mail…
[SLIDE] 2. Your table will be ready in a few minutes…
[SLIDE] 3. We service what we sell…
[SLIDE] 4. One size fits all…
[SLIDE] 5. Money cheerfully refunded…
[SLIDE] 6. I just need five minutes of your time…
[SLIDE] 7. It’s not the money, it’s the principle…
[SLIDE] 8. I’m from the government and I’m here to help you…
[BLANK SLIDE]
What we sometimes forget is that our lying can get us into trouble… Like the guys who skipped school and then lied about it.. The way the story’s told---it was a beautiful unseasonably warm morning and four high school boys who weren’t quite ready for their Spring Break to come to an end decided to ditch their Monday morning classes to play Frisbee in the park. After their morning of fun they grabbed a quick lunch on their way to school. As they were getting nearer to the school they all agreed they’d blame their tardiness on a flat tire and the problems they encountered getting it fixed. The four of them walked into their afternoon class together and the most outspoken boy in the group explained their predicament of the flat tire, the spare that wasn’t any good and the length of time it took to get some help. He finished, “It’s not like we were trying to skip school. It’s just something that happened. You understand that don’t you Mr. Ray?” “Yes, I think I understand what happened. Something happened here while you were gone this morning. We had a pop quiz. So take out a sheet of paper and a pencil. I’ll be asking you the exact same questions I asked on this morning’s quiz---except for one. The first question I want you to answer is “which tire went flat?”
You know we may sometimes laugh and joke about the subject but deep down we know that lying’s not really all that funny. Ask Martha Stewart if her lying to investigators about her investments was funny since it cost her some prison time. Ask Hector Venancio Castro-Vasquez who recently lost his US citizenship status and is scheduled for deportation because he lied on his naturalization application if he thinks what he did is funny. I’m sure he would tell you it’s not.
Well folks, God doesn’t think lying is funny, either. That’s why we have this ninth commandment as part of God’s Top Ten list. The ninth commandment reads--- [SLIDE] Exodus 20:16 "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.”
The commandment brings to mind a courtroom setting in which a person is called as a witness before others. That witness is expected to tell the truth. In fact in our courts we typically swear in witnesses—they’re asked “Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you God?” And whoever they had better tell the truth because even if they’re not on trail---if their testimony proves to be false---because they intentionally lied they will be charged with perjury. In this ninth commandment God is making it very clear He does not want us to give a false testimony in a court of law. But that’s not the only point of application. As we’ve been looking at these commandments together we’ve been finding that they both discourage sinful behavior and encourage right behavior. They not only forbid but they invite. While we are not to murder we are to cherish the sanctity of life. We’re not to commit adultery but we are to honor marriage and live lives of sexual purity. We’re not to take what is not ours but we are to be generous with what is.
Looking at this ninth commandment from that perspective we find that the ninth commandment isn’t just about telling the truth in the courtroom ---it’s about telling the truth at the supermarket, in the post office and on the street. The ninth commandment is not just about not telling lies that would hurt others it’s also about speaking words of truth that build others up. This commandment is not only a prohibition against our being deceptive; it’s an invitation for us to be honest.
At this time of year especially many of us will recall the courtroom setting where Jesus is paraded before Pilate and questioned. In the course of their conversation [SCRIPTURE SLIDES] 36Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place." Pilate jumped in and said--- 37"You are a king, then!" said Pilate.
[and then] Jesus answered, "You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me." [and it was at that point Pilate asked perhaps the most important question he ever asked…]
38"What is truth?" Pilate asked. With this he went out again to the Jews and said, "I find no basis for a charge against him.
[DO NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS SLIDE]
In the same way Pilate was uncertain as to what was and what was not truth—many people today are uncertain as to what is and what is not lying. The 9th commandment forbids lying---but what is lying--- what makes something a lie?
A Sunday School teacher, so the story goes, asked her class of Junior aged children the questions “So what exactly is a lie? Can anyone give me a definition for the word lie?” One of the boys spoke up and said “a lie is an abomination to the Lord and a very present help in times of trouble.”
Seriously now---we need to know what is and what is not a lie. Have you ever had a small child accuse you of lying because you unintentionally gave them some misinformation? Say perhaps you told them “this afternoon when the ice cream truck comes down our street we’ll get an ice cream cone.” Now let’s say you said that knowing that the ice cream truck normally comes down your street every afternoon at a certain time---and you had every intention of buying an ice cream cone for the child…but what you didn’t know was that the ice cream truck had broken down and was at the repair shop getting fixed. Later that day when the truck didn’t show and you didn’t deliver on your promise to buy an ice cream cone from the ice cream truck---that small child through tears and disappointment looks at you and says “you lied to me.” [SLIDE] The way I understand the scriptures in a case like that you’re not guilty of lying because you didn’t intentionally deceive that child. [SLIDE] When you’re taking a test at school and you thought you wrote down the right answer but it turns out you didn’t---that’s not to be understood as a lie either.
[SLIDE] We need to understand that lying has as much to do with intent as it does with content. Remember Jesus words about adultery and murder and how those sins are first committed in the heart through harboring feelings of lust and anger? Lying also isn’t just a matter of what we actually physically do with our bodies---lying doesn’t just occur the minute untrue words pass through our lips---lying begins in our heart. Jesus put it this way [Matthew 15:18-19 SCRIPTURE SLIDES] “the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man ’unclean.’ 19For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.”
[SLIDE] We lie when we willfully and intentionally pass along information which we know is not true. [SLIDE] And we lie when we willfully and intentionally withhold information which we know to be both true and helpful. The Bible leaves no wiggle room when it comes to this kind of thing. God hates it.
[SCRIPTURE SLIDES] Zech 8:16-17 16 These are the things you are to do: Speak the truth to each other, and render true and sound judgment in your courts; 17 do not plot evil against your neighbor, and do not love to swear falsely. I hate all this," declares the LORD.
[SCRIPTURE SLIDES] Prov 6:16-19
16 There are six things the LORD hates,
seven that are detestable to him:
17 haughty eyes,
a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood,
18 a heart that devises wicked schemes,
feet that are quick to rush into evil,
19 a false witness who pours out lies
and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.
[SLIDE]
God hates lying and I can think of several reasons why--- God hates lying because honesty, not dishonesty, is a reflection of His character. In the book of Numbers, we read: [SCRIPTURE SLIDE]
"God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?" – Numbers 23:19
[SCRIPTURE SLIDES]
And Paul, in his letter to Titus, introduces himself in this way, "Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God’s elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness--a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time" – Titus 1:1-2
[SLIDE]
God is a God of truth, not lies. Jesus even said of Himself, “I am the way, the truth and the life.” And friends, we’re supposed to be imitators of Jesus. He told the truth, so should we. For you see when we tell the truth, we’re speaking His language.
Friday I had the opportunity to have lunch with Loren Butler. We ate at the Ponderosa. While we were eating this woman from the booth across the aisle kept coming over and talking to us about all sorts of things from telling us how to get good service at a restaurant to telling us an old joke about a boy’s letter to Santa. As the woman and her dinner companion were leaving she said something to the effect ---“well I guess from my accent you can tell where I’m from.” We guessed a southern state---and were right. She said “Georgia.” mumbled a few comments about never going back there and then left.
Just as that woman’s accent placed her as a Southerner---our words place us as either belonging to the family of God or the family of Satan. Jesus once said to some habitual liars--- [SCRIPTURE SLIDES] John 8:44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” When we lie we speak Satan’s native language---when we tell the truth we speak God’s native language. God hates it when His people tell lies because it’s a poor reflection on His character and it gives Him a bad name.
[SLIDE]
I also believe God hates lying because He knows that lies are alienating. Our lies alienate us from others. There are few things more destructive to a marriage relationship, a parent-child relationship, a friendship, or a work relationship than to uncover a pattern of lies and deceit. For example let’s say you’ve got a high school youth that’s been telling his parents he’s got to go to the library to do some research for a term paper---but instead of going to the library he’s been seeing a girl. Then it happens---one night his car breaks down and the whole charade gets blown out of the water. Even if that young man is genuinely sorry for what he did---and not just sorry about getting caught---even if he’s genuinely sorry it’ll take months, maybe years before that broken trust is rebuilt. And if his parents care enough to discipline their son, chances are they’ll draw the reins in much tighter and will require much more information and better check in system for all of their son’s future outings. He’ll hate it to be sure---but that’s part of the price he’ll have to pay for alienating his parent’s trust. Our lies alienate us in our relationships and if we continue through our lives leaving them unchecked …and they remain unforgiven our lies will eventually leave us alienated from God for eternity. Rev 22:15 desribes those people who aren’t allowed into heaven in this manner---[SCRIPTURE SLIDE]
“Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.”
[SLIDE]
I think God hates it when we lie because He knows we have a tendency to believe our lies if we tell them long enough and often enough. I saw a rerun of a Touched By An Angel show this past week that had Jessica Lang playing the part of a snobbish wealthy British aristocrat, Lady something or other (I can’t remember that detail). Anyway by the show’s end you find out that the Lady isn’t really a Lady---that is to say it’s revealed that she’s not of royal descent as she had been claiming for years. She was an orphan who had been adopted by a well to do British family. The plot of the whole show though revolved around the woman’s having lived and told her lie for so long that she had come to believe it. Of course, that was television. And that kind of thing never happens in real life, right? Unfortunately it does. Author Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote: “No man, for any considerable period, can wear one face for himself and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which one is true.” Tell your lies long enough and you’ll deceive yourself into believing their true. And one of the greatest dangers in this is that we’ll develop a spiritual callousness and come to believe we’re better than we are. Alan Perkins, a minister, writes “Walking with Christ requires an ongoing habit of repentance. And repentance requires a frank acknowledgement of our sin. Without that, we soon become proud, self-righteous…” We become like Pharisees and we start thinking that spiritually we’ve arrived---we start thinking we’re better than other people---and God’s lucky to have us on His team. At the same time we stop seeking God’s forgiveness, we stop seeing our need for God’s grace and we start thinking we’re going to get into heaven because we’ve earned it. But nothing could be further from the truth. When it comes to that Pharisee mentality--the Bible teaches us that God opposes the proud and gives His grace to the humble. And the Bible also lets us know that iF we say we’re without sin---we make God out to be a liar---and the truth is no longer in us. God doesn’t want us to drift away from Him---He wants us to remain close---so we will spend our eternity with Him in heaven---and He knows that that will only happen if we speak the truth to Him, to ourselves and to others.
[SLIDE]
God hates it when we lie because we put ourselves in bondage when we lie. At one point in the children’s story of Pinocchio, Pinocchio finds himself trapped in his room. It’s not because someone has locked him in it, it’s because he had told so many lies so quickly and so close together that his nose grew to such a length that he could barely move around in his own room. He was trapped by his lies. And when we lie we also put ourselves in bondage. When we lie we have to remember the exact lie we told. We often times have to create new lies to substantiate the old lies. And then we not only have to remember the first lies we told but also the others we told. As a result, we lie we live in the constant fear of failing to remember the lies we told . We constantly worry about being found out. But when we tell the truth we don’t live with those fears and concerns. The story’s told of a 12 year old who was a key witness in a trial. A lawyer questioning him became suspicious of the boy’s testimony and he asked him--- “besides your lawyer have you talked with anyone about what you were going to say when you were on the stand today?” The boy said, “yes sir. My father talked to me about it.” “And what exactly did your father tell you to say today?” The boy replied, “My father told me that when I was on the witness stand that the lawyers would try to confuse me or twist my words or try to get me to say things differently---and so he told me to tell the truth---he said if I tell the truth I won’t have any trouble because I’ll tell you the same thing every time.” Jesus said, “You’ll know the truth and the truth will set you free.” God doesn’t want us to be slaves to our sins. He wants us to be freed from them.
[SLIDE]
God also knows that when we lie it can destroy our witness. About 15 years ago a friend came into my office and shed some tears as he shared with me his concern for the soul of a woman he said he loved. He said that this woman cared for him too but she wasn’t taking his words about her need to become a Christian very seriously. He had come from my advice. The longer we talked, the more I learned about the situation. As it turned out ---this woman had accepted my friend’s invitation to live with him in his house. My advice to my friend—stop having sex with the woman and either have her move out or move out himself. I told him it’s no wonder the woman wasn’t taking his attempts at sharing God’s words about becoming a Christian very seriously---because she knew first hand that he wasn’t taking God’s words about saving sex for marriage very seriously. One of the realities of living the Christian life is that people are watching us. They’re watching to see if we take God and our faith seriously. They’re watching us to see if we really love Jesus enough to do what He says. If it’s obvious to them we don’t--- we lose our credibility with them. On the other hand if they can tell we’re trying to live lives that please God they’re more apt to hear what we say about Him. That’s why God hates it when we lie but He loves it when we tell the truth. [SLIDE] "The Lord detests lying lips, but he delights in men who are truthful." – Proverbs 22:12
With all the problems that lying causes in our relationships and with the fact God hates it when we lie, we ought to be wondering what can we do to become more truthful people? Let me very quickly suggest a few practical ways…
[SLIDE]
First, draw near to God and get the truth of scripture in your heart. I’m one of three volunteer chaplains for the O’Fallon police department and Friday evening I rode along with Officer Dillard for a few hours. Before we left the station he did something I’d never before seen a policeman do…as he was checking out his car---he turned on the radar device and then struck a tuning fork and held it in front of the radar. I asked him what he was doing and he explained to me that he has to check the calibration on the radar for accuracy. The tuning fork sends out sound waves at a speed of 35 miles and hour. He said if his device measured the speed of the waves off the tuning fork at 35 miles an hour he would know it was working properly. 34 or even 36 miles an hour would be acceptable---but anything more than 1 mile an hour off wouldn’t. He said “we don’t want to be giving people tickets based upon a radar device that’s not working properly.
In much the same way that that tuning fork let the officer know his radar was working properly---the teachings of the Bible and the Spirit of God will let us know when our words are right on target or when they are beginning to go beyond an acceptable range and are turning from truth to lies. The more in tune our hearts are with God’s Word and Spirit, the more truthful we will be.
[SLIDE]
Another thing we can do to help develop the habit of being truth tellers is to give some thought to the answers we’ll give to people when asked specific questions. For example---the most common and most expected answer to the question “so, how are you doing today?” is what? That’s right ---“fine.” We almost always say “fine.” Sometimes when we’re having a really good day and someone asks us, “how you doing?” We’ll say ‘Great!” or “couldn’t be better.” But most of the time we just say “we’re doing fine.” Even when we feel like life has been using us for a punching bag, we’ll answer “fine.” But when we do that, we’re lying. If you don’t feel fine, you shouldn’t say you feel fine. Now you won’t want to spill your guts every time someone asks you “how you doing?” But you don’t need to lie about how you’re feeling either. Next time you meet a friend or neighbor at the post office or next time someone at church asks you “how are you?” and you don’t feel fine---you might say something like “well I’ve had better days.” Or “It’s been a rough week.” Or “things could be worse” or “well I’m hoping next week will be better.” You do two things when you answer that way—you keep yourself honest and you open the door for additional conversation and expressions of caring.
[SLIDE]
David Seamonds believes that one of most effective ways to become a more truthful person is to develop the practice of setting the record straight. He says you should go back to the person you lied to, apologize for lying and tell them the truth. It’s humbling, embarrassing and cleansing. And after you’ve done that a few times Seamonds claims you’ll find it becomes easier to avoid lying.
[SLIDE]
And Rick Atchley suggests that we can combat the temptation to lie by developing the habit of encouraging others with our words. Atchley says we need to take every opportunity to speak good instead of evil words. And he’s right. Again the commandments we’ve been studying aren’t just about not doing what is wrong and bad they’re about doing what is right and good. The Apostle Paul tells us how we should be using our God given ability to communicate---he writes: [SCRIPTURE SLIDE] “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen” (Eph. 4:29).
[BLANK SLIDE]
As the praise team returns to the stage and we approach our hymn of invitation this morning I’d like to share one last illustration with you. When the father of the great Emmanuel Kant was an old man, he made a dangerous trip through the forests of Poland to his native country of Silesia. On the way he encountered robbers who demanded his valuables, finally asking, “Have you given us all?” and only letting him go when he answered “All.”
When safely out of their sight, his hand touched something hard in the hem of his robe. It was his gold, sewn there for safety and quite forgotten by him in his fear and confusion.
At once he hurried back to find the robbers, and having found them, he said meekly, “I have told you what was not true; it was unintentional. I was too terrified to think. Her, take the gold in my robes.”
Then to the old man’s astonishment, nobody offered to take his gold. After a moment, one robber went and brought back his purse. Another robber restored his book of prayer, while still another led his horse to him and helped him to mount. They then all asked for his blessing and watched him slowly ride away. That day, truth triumphed over thievery. And friends God assures us that His truth and all who accept it and live in it will triumph in the end. I encourage you to think on these things. And just now if you’d like to make a public decision, please join me in the front as we stand and sing…………
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NOTE TO THOSE WHO READ AND OR CHOOSE TO MAKE USE OF ANY OR ALL OF THIS SERMON: I am sharing this sermon with the hopes it will be an encouragement to others. I apologize for any blatant typing errors! If you find any I’d appreciate hearing from you so I can correct them. I try to give credit where credit is due, noting writers and or sources to the best of my ability. I have for years been drawing from a wealth of sources including this website. I recognize that my mind and writing processes are fallible. I may occasionally fail to properly identify a source. Please do not take offense if you see anything of this nature. I never intend to plagiarize. Having said that I want you to feel free to draw from my message. When appropriate I hope you will give credit as I do. But most of all I hope Christ will be lifted up and God will receive the glory in all things.
