Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly. His delight is in the law of the Lord. In his law does he meditate day and night. He'll be like a tree that's planted by the rivers of the water that brings forth its fruit in its season. What a treasure we have in God's word. I thank the Lord for the theme about which we've been singing this morning. When we look for stability in troublesome times, friends fail us, Even family members can let us down. God's Word is ever stable. It's a wonderful foundation, a foundation of rock upon which we build our lives. I'm going to ask you to take your Bibles with me this morning and turn, please, to the book of Exodus, the book of Exodus, the 20th chapter. If you've just joined us this morning, we've been in a series of messages under the theme, God's Love Letter Chiseled in Stone. We're looking, of course, at the Ten Commandments, and you'll find them revealed in Exodus chapter 20. In order to aid our memories, there's a bookmark that's been made available out in the foyer. You can pick one up. We've been citing together a poem that was written many years ago. entitled The Ten Commandments in Verse. So I'm going to have you, once again, aloud with me today. Read these words aloud. They'll be projected. So all together, here we go. Above all else, love God alone. Bow down to neither wood nor stone. God's name refuse to take in vain. The Sabbath rest with care maintain. Respect your parents all your days. Hold sacred human life always. Be loyal to your chosen mate. Steal nothing, neither small nor great. Report with truth your neighbor's deed and rid your mind of selfish greed. Our text this morning is found in Exodus chapter 20, the 16th verse. Exodus chapter 20, verse 16. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. This is the ninth commandment. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. Let's ask the Lord to bless as we look into his word. Father, we've been reminded today in song, we've rehearsed together the truth, that the truth of God's word can set us free. Lord, we're desiring today to open your word and hear from your spirit to our hearts to change our goings. So Lord, I pray that you do that work that only you can do, that the chisel of your word would be applied to our lives so that we could be transformed into the image of Christ. Lord, I speak this morning of a matter of sin that may for some in this room be a besetting sin. And so, Lord, give them victory today as your word is applied. May it be the medicine to the soul that's necessary. And Lord, I pray for those who are here today who would look into the mirror of your word and see themselves wanting. Oh, Lord, I pray that you draw them to yourself, that they would see that that which was chiseled in stone is really the love letter of God to us, to draw us to Jesus Christ. May the law be the schoolmaster today. May we be drawn to see the one who is altogether lovely, who took our sins, every one of them, and nailed them to the cross. May we in victory be able to shout, he's coming, and he loves me. And Lord, may we live for you until you come, or until you call us home, which in Christ's name we pray, amen. James Patterson and Peter Kim wrote a book a number of years ago under the title The Day America Told the Truth. The study in the book was conducted by telling people they could share their answers truthfully and that anonymity would be promised to all who participated. So the results of those anonymous participants who declared to be telling the truth on that day were interesting. One of the results that was discovered in the day that America told the truth, 91% of Americans said they lie regularly. In fact, most Americans said they can't go a week without lying, and one in five said that they lie every day. The survey conducted by Peterson and Kim noted that men lie more than women, young men lie more than older men, Catholics lie more than Protestants, and both Catholics and Protestants lie more than Jewish people. So lest you feel yourself proud on the lying exam. Kim concluded with these words, lying is a cultural trait in America. Lying is embedded in our national character. In fact, only 31% of the people polled agreed with this statement. Honesty is the best policy. 2 3rds could not agree. Now it's not a new problem. The 12th Psalm, the second verse says, everyone utters lies to his neighbor. This is an ongoing problem, a problem that was sown in our sinful nature at the time of the fall in Eden. And the ninth commandment stands as a moral beacon in a land filled with darkness, thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. Simply put, God wants us to tell the truth. He wants every one of us to tell the truth. He wants it to be depended upon, that when we speak, we're speaking honestly. And so in order to help you pursue truth telling, I'd like you to consider with me this morning, the prohibition against lying, And then we're gonna discover the destruction that is brought on every time we lie. And finally, a restoration that is necessary for all those who would bypass this terrible pothole that finds itself in all of our pathways. Let's start with the prohibition against lying this morning. The ninth commandment gives instruction. It's an instruction that's gonna be reflected in different ways throughout the pages of God's Word. But as we open our Bibles to the ninth commandment, we find a specific, a very specific prohibition against perjury. The ninth commandment is a specific prohibition against perjury. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor." So if you're ever called to testify in court, place your hand on the Bible and you promise to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, you're promising specifically to keep the ninth commandment. This is a specific commandment. It's far more narrow than a lot of people think. A lot of people think the ninth commandment, thou shalt not lie. That's not what it says. The ninth commandment is a prohibition against perjury. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. The ninth commandment specifically relates to solemn testimony that's given in a court of law. That surprises some people. We need to reflect on that. As God chisels in stone his love, he specifically carves the ninth commandment, and he carves it with a reason. Remember, the children of Israel have only recently come out of slavery in Egypt. It's a vastly illiterate culture. It's an ancient people. They come far before forensic science has ever been developed. There is no fingerprinting lab. There will be no DNA analysis. There's not any surveillance on camera being given to those who are seeking to find out the truth. They're living in an ancient culture, and in an ancient culture that is vested with many capital crimes. So in the nation of Israel, obviously, if you take another person's life and commit murder, your life is going to be taken. If you commit adultery, your life is gonna be taken. It's a capital crime if you strike your parents, or even if you're overtly rebellious to your parents. It's a capital crime in Israel, in the time of Mount Sinai, when the children of Israel were receiving the Ten Commandments, it's a capital crime to take the name of the Lord in vain. It's a capital crime to forget to keep the Sabbath day holy. These are all capital crimes. And so God has said to the children of Israel, and He's going to say it over and over in the Old Testament and even in the New, in the mouth of two or three witnesses, every fact is going to be established. And so when a person commits a crime, testimony is going to be necessary to find them guilty. Two or three witnesses. And in the mouth of those two or three witnesses, a fact can be established, but oh, by the way, if you're one of those witnesses, Deuteronomy 17 and verse seven says, if you give testimony that somebody blasphemed the name of the Lord and that person is found guilty, you have to participate as one of the first executioners. The witnesses became the first executioners. And if you knew yourself to have lied in court, then you have blood guilt upon your hands because your lie could cause the person that you've lied against for their life to be taken. So to protect the innocent and also to warn the accuser, God gives the ninth commandment. It's a very specific commandment. It's one that needs to be thought of in our culture. It's one that needs to be thought of by each believer who would be true to God's word. Back in the early 1980s, Bonnie Nannini, a pastor's wife who was living at the time in Jaffray, New Hampshire, was conducting a Bible study. And as she conducted her Bible study, she opened to an obscure verse in the Old Testament. She read Leviticus chapter 6 and verse 5. Leviticus 6 and verse 5 says, all that about which he has sworn falsely He shall restore it. In other words, if you've sworn, told a lie, you have a responsibility to make restitution. There was a young lady in the Bible study, her name Colleen Webb. If Colleen Webb heard that verse and it struck her conscience, it struck her heart, she was a new believer. She thought back just a few years earlier in 1977, Kathleen had witnessed falsely against Gary Dotson. She had accused Gary Dotson of rape. She knew in her heart that she'd done that to cover up for an immoral affair she'd been having with her boyfriend, and she accused someone else of raping her. Gary Dotson went to trial. She sat in the She sat on the witness stand and she gave witness against Gary Dotson. He was convicted and given 25 years in prison. So she heard the verse out of Leviticus and her heart was smitten. She did the unthinkable. She acknowledged that she had lied in court, that she had perjured herself, and that an innocent man was in jail. recantation of her testimony cleared her conscience. You know what else she found? Gary Dotson was not only discharged from prison, but he also forgave her. It made national news. She had specifically violated the Ninth Commandment, and she found the courage to do right in a culture that would never have expected it. As we give careful attention to the ninth commandment, we find a specific prohibition that becomes enlarged throughout the pages of God's Word. What do I mean? Well, I mean the scriptural prohibition against lying is everywhere in the Bible. God takes the sin of lying very seriously. He shows it specifically in the court of law. But in Leviticus chapter 19 and verse 11, we read, thou shalt not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another. Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 25 very specifically speaks, and it says, wherefore, putting away lying. Speak every man truth with his neighbor, where members one of another." It's always God's will. It's always God's will for us to tell the truth. Now, you can call it a fib. You can call it a half-truth. You can call it a white lie. You can call it an embellishment. You can be the diplomat like Winston Churchill, ever the diplomat. Winston Churchill actually acknowledged that he was perpetrating a terminological inexactitude. Call it what you want. God calls it lying and holds us accountable. In December of 2022, Psychology Rather Today published an article that listed the reasons people lie. They were interesting. One, people lie to avoid being judged or at least avoid being shamed. Two, people lie to avoid punishment. Three, people lie to protect themselves from retaliation. Some people said they lie for no good reason. In other words, they're compulsive liars. Others said they want to present something positive in order to present themselves well to others. Some said they lie to obtain rewards. Some said they lie to experience pleasure from deceiving others. Some said they lie to keep personal information secret. Some said they lie for what they called pro-social reasons, telling their kids about Santa Claus to make them feel good. Some said they lie for altruistic reasons to protect other people from being harmed by the truth. I found that interesting because as I studied this back in 1987, the Washington Post published a study conducted on lying. 98% of the respondents back in 97 said they lied to avoid hurting others. And as I read it, I wondered, is that true? Some of you will think along with me and say, how can you depend on people who lie so regularly to tell the truth in a survey? We don't know. I'll tell you what we do know. We know according to Proverbs chapter six, these six things that the Lord hate. Yea, seven things are an abomination unto him. A proud look, a lying tongue, Our God hates lying. Why does God so boldly declare his hatred for lying? Because the destruction of lying produces catastrophic results. The destruction of lying produces catastrophic results. You realize, of course, that the strongest muscle in your body is your tongue. Lounging there between your teeth and gums is the most destructive force the world has ever known, your tongue. The Bible tells us death and life are in the power of the tongue, Proverbs 18 verse 21. Oh, the challenges that we face when lies are told. Bob Harris was a weatherman in New York City. He'd become quite popular, in fact, He worked in New York City for WPIX-TV, the Independent News Network. He weathered his own public storm in 1979. Bob Harris had gone to three different colleges. He'd studied math, he'd studied physics, he'd studied geology. He wearied of all the study and so he called a news station in New York City back in the 1970s called WCBS, introduced himself as Dr. Bob Harris, claiming to have a doctoral degree in meteorology. But he didn't. He was behind the scenes in the weather forecasting business in New York City. He became so adept at his train that the Long Island Railway hired him to be a help to their meteorological team. He was even hired by baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn to be a help with meteorological studies for all things Major League Baseball. Then the unthinkable happened. Somebody who had known him for a long time wrote to WCBS and asked questions about his credentials. WCBS did a study and they found out that he'd never graduated from college, let alone earned a doctoral degree. He was fired. The New York Times picked up the story. He was widely published and widely planned, panned rather. In fact, Dr. Bob said that it was part of the reason why he lost his marriage. He confessed that he was wrong. He acknowledged his wrongdoing very publicly. He even went on the Today Show. He was rehired by the Long Island Railway. He got a new job with another television station. And he said this, he said, I took a shortcut. It turned out to be the long way around. And one day the bill came due. I'll be as sorry as I can be for as long as I can live. James chapter 3 says in verse 5, behold how great a matter a little fire can lift. The tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity, so is the tongue among our members. It defiles the whole body and sets on fire the course of nature and is set on fire of hell. What part of your life may be built on a lie? Lies give birth to cultural catastrophes. Our judicial system can't stand if the truth is not told. Our educational systems cannot prosper if the truth is not upheld. Our commercial enterprises will all grind to a halt without the benefit of the truth being told. Our national security will be compromised if treaties are meaningless and our marital vows are meaningless without the glue of truth. No wonder Proverbs 23 says in verse 23, buy the truth, sell it not. Our Savior completely understood the cost of the truth. Take your Bibles and turn with me to Matthew chapter five this morning. Jesus lived in a culture filled with lies, much like our own. We live in a postmodern culture where truth has become relative. Your truth might be equal to my truth. And there's no final truth in a postmodern culture. That is not at all what Jesus taught. As we open our Bibles to Matthew chapter five, we need to understand that Jesus lived in a culture where people put a value and grade upon truth. So the Pharisees in particular might say, I swear by the hairs on my head, Be careful, because if they swore by the hairs on the head, it might not mean much. Or they might say, I swear by Jerusalem, the holy city. Now, if they swore by Jerusalem, the holy city, and they were talking to a religious person, that might be a good promise that they were making. Ultimately, if they said, I swear by the holy name of Jehovah, now, you can trust them. Anything else might be an inferior promise. Jesus speaks to that culture, and in Matthew chapter five, he says in verse 33, again you've heard that it's been said of them of old time, thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord all thine oaths. But I say unto you, swear not at all, neither by heaven, for it's God's throne, nor by earth, it's God's footstool, neither by Jerusalem, for it's the city of the great king. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. Let your communication be yea, yea, and nay, nay, for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil. Can I ask you a question? Are you an honest person? Do you keep your promises? Do you tolerate, perhaps, white lies? White lies, you know, socially acceptable, necessary in the daily course of life lies. Do you fulfill your obligations? Are you willing to speak the truth in love? Do you pay your bills on time? Do you say to others, I'll pray for you, but your promise is meaningless? Every lie has the potential of cultural catastrophe. Lies give birth not only to cultural catastrophe, but also to spiritual catastrophe. It was Satan who lied in the garden. You shall not surely die, Jesus said in John 8 and verse 44. Satan's a liar. He's the father of it. Jacob lied to his own father. Genesis 27, he said to his father, I'm Esau. And that lie that he told divided his family for generations. Peter lied in the courtyard of the high priest Caiaphas. I swear I never knew him. Jesus looked at Peter and saw him lying. Peter went out from that place and he wept bitterly. Scurrilous witnesses lied about Jesus and broke the ninth commandment. They perjured themselves. In Matthew chapter 26, we read in verse 59 that the chief priest and the elders and all the council sought false witnesses against Jesus to put him to death. Unnamed liars who expedited the crucifixion of the Savior. But folks, when he died, he died for my lives and he died for yours. All we like sheep have gone astray. We've everyone turned each one to his own way and the Lord laid upon him the iniquity of us all. He died for all of our lives. He is the propitiation for our sins, not for our sins only. but for the sins of the whole world. The destruction of lying causes catastrophes in culture, in our spiritual lives, to our personal lives. Lies give birth to spiritual catastrophe and lies give birth to personal catastrophe. Think about it. The anorexic looks in the mirror, lies to himself or herself and sees someone that's obese. The alcoholic buys a bottle, lies to himself or herself and says, it's all right, I'm not really addicted, I don't really need it. The transgender person looks in the mirror and says, I'm a woman, when he's really looking at a man. Turn with me to Matthew chapter seven. In Matthew chapter seven, Jesus speaks of a day that's not that far off. In Matthew chapter seven, Jesus speaks of a coming day in verse 21, and he says in Matthew 7, verse 21, not everyone that says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter into the kingdom of heaven. As we continue in the text, he says, many will say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied thy name, and in thy name cast out devils? In thy name done many wonderful works, and I will profess unto them, I never knew you, Depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Who's he speaking to? As he says, depart from me, ye that work iniquity, he's speaking to those who lie to their own souls about their eternity and their relationship with God. Lord, haven't we done these many things? I mean, we've told other people for many years that we've known you, and they failed to hear the warning of Jesus, you must be born again. You must be born again. No one will enter the kingdom of heaven who's not born again. If you haven't had a second birth, a spiritual birth. You haven't had the forgiveness of God. Your account of sin has not yet been nailed to the cross where Jesus willingly died for every lie you've ever told, every sin you've ever committed. Jesus died in your place, the just for the unjust. There was no other reason for Jesus' death and no other reason for Jesus' coming. He came into this world to die for sinners. The Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. He came for you and for me. If you've never been born again, if you've never come to Him, if you've never received that newness of life that only He can give, you must be born again. Don't lie to yourself. People lie to themselves all the time, but the most dangerous lie a person can ever tell is to lie to themselves about their soul and where they'll be spending eternity. To lie when there's no peace in their heart and say, I'm okay. To lie and think that someday in the past, because something happened that you can't remember and you can't really give account of and no change has come and no spirit of God gives you that peace that passes understanding. You don't know what a day will bring, the Bible says. Jesus could come today and find you lying to yourself about your sin. The most dangerous lie you'll ever tell is to lie to yourself. The Bible says in Revelation 21 and verse 27 that liars cannot enter heaven. Praise God, we open a book this morning that we've been singing about, a book that gives us hope. In every situation in our lives, we find hope in God's word. There's a restoration that is available to everyone who's gathered here this morning. Some of you, like I, represent a generation where telling a lie might mean a trip into the bathroom to find a bar of ivory or Palmel or whatever it was. I guess that's tobacco, not soap. Didn't have any tobacco in our home, but I think I remember ivory. I remember my mouth getting washed out with soap. I remember it was a hideous experience. I wouldn't recommend it for anyone, and I'm glad they didn't have soft soap back then. Can you imagine that? Different generation. We serve a God who wants to give us hope. We serve a God who wants to take our terrible lies and wash them away. How can my lies be forgiven? Well, first, you need to assess your peril. You need to assess your peril. In Acts chapter 5, Ananias and Sapphira enter the early church. The apostles are serving as the pastoral staff, if you will. They've done a very good thing. They've sold their assets because they know the work of the Lord needs financial support. But unfortunately, after having sold their assets, before they bring their offering, they conspire together, this husband and wife. We're gonna go and tell the people in the church, the people that love us and respect us, why they're gonna respect us more because we're gonna go to church and say everything that we have, we're giving. Truth was they were holding back some. Remember the story? How Ananias comes in and he says, we've sold our property. And he lays at the apostles feet saying, this is all that we received. And the spirit of God strikes Ananias dead and they carry him out and bury him. Sapphira, his wife is waiting at home and he's not coming home and he's not coming home and he's not coming home. And finally she goes to catch up with him and she catches up with him. She goes in and she's asked the question, is this indeed all the proceeds of the sale? Yes, she says. She's accused before them all. Why have you decided to lie against the Holy Ghost? And she too dies. You say, well, that's many years ago, Pastor Phelps, but let me tell you, that's the New Testament. That's the church. These are those who someday we'll meet together with in heaven. They were chastened on the spot. They were chastened by the hand of God. Can I ask you a question? Why do you think you're better than them? What makes you think you can get away with your lies? None of us are. Ananias and Sapphira were struck dead for their lies to give a warning to all of us that God deals very seriously with the matter of lying. And be sure, the Bible says, your sins will find you out. So how do I find that restoration that God makes available? First, I need to assess my peril. And then I need to acknowledge my sin. You need to acknowledge your sin. Don't lie to yourself about it. Jesus said, after all, in Matthew chapter 12, that every idle word that man will speak, he'll give account of in the day of judgment. Every idle word. That time when you said to your boss, sorry I was late, you know, the traffic. that you knew you woke up late, traffic was fine. You'll give account of it. That time when your parents said, where were you and who were you with? And you changed the details. That time that you said that you were right with God and your heart said you weren't. Acknowledge your sin so that you can accept His forgiveness. First John 1.9, One of the most widely quoted verses in every church service I believe ever conducted because it's so wonderful. If we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all our unrighteousness. I love the song that says, I hear the Savior say, thy strength indeed is small. Child of weakness, watch and pray, find in me thine all in all. Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow. If we confess our sins, He's faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and He didn't ask for His help. Lying might be your besetting sin. For some it is. They're perpetual exaggerators. They tell stories and bend the truth. They need to pray like David prayed in Psalm 119 verse 29. Remove me far from the way of lying. David prayed in Psalm 141 in verse three. Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth. Keep the doors of my lips. It was nine o'clock in the evening on the 8th of October back in 1871. Mrs. O'Leary had just brought the milk back from the barn. Mrs. O'Leary's cow kicked over a lantern. At least that's what the news tells us. Kicking over that lantern, the Great Chicago Fire was sparked. By the end of the Great Chicago Fire, 17,000 buildings were destroyed, 100,000 people were homeless, 25 people lost their lives. James chapter three says the tongues of fire It's a world of iniquity. So is the tongue among our members. It defiles the whole body and is set on fire, the course of nature and set on fire of hell. Studies say that the average person speaks about 30,000 words every day. For every word that we ever speak, we will one day give account. God wants us to be truth tellers. God gives us the ability by the power of the spirit of God, by his power alone, to be the truth teller he wants us to be.