The title of the message today is Times for Silence, Not Lies. This is a continuation of the so-called Justified Lying series. The series is on the sin of lying. We started with how to respond to slanders. Last week we talked about justified lying. Is it acceptable? Is it justified in the Bible in emergencies? Today, again, is times for silence, not lies, as we continue. Holy Father, we do thank You that You have given us the inspired Word of God. We thank You, Father, that You have not lied at all about salvation. We thank You, Father, You have not lied about anything. It's impossible for You to lie. And we do pray, Lord, that we will follow Your example in these last days. Help us, God, to understand Your Word. In Jesus' name, amen. Amos chapter 5, it says, "...therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time, for it is an evil time." There's a time for silence, but there's no time for lying. A quick review for last week. You have not heard last week's message, and you're interested in this subject of, is there a justified lying? Definitely listen, please, to last week's message. But we're going to continue. We opened up last week with Romans chapter 3, where Paul says, "...and not rather as we be slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say, let us do evil, that good may come." whose damnation is just. Paul says, they do not say that it is acceptable. It's a slander to say that Christians teach it is acceptable to do good, I meant to do evil, that good may come. That is a just damnation. We saw in the book of Job that it says in Job chapter 13, will you speak wickedly for God and talk deceitfully for him? No, no, God forbid. Lying will increase in the last days, as we saw from 1 Timothy 4, as well as 2 Timothy 3, and other scriptures. We quoted Jeremiah 9, that it says, take heed, every one of his neighbor, and trust you not in any brother, for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbor will walk with slanders, and they will deceive every one his neighbor, and will not speak the truth. They have taught their tongue to speak lies. Micah warns of a similar situation. In chapter seven, he says, trust you not in a friend, put you not confidence in a guide, keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom. And our Lord warned, quoting Micah, I believe, about the same type of situation in these last days. We saw that origin. was, other than the devil, among Christians, the father of holy lying. He even believed that the apostles lied inside the Bible for good. We saw Roman Catholicism and others. We quoted the Westminster Confession, where they say, who are they that plead in favor of officious lies? That means so-called justified lies. And they answer the Papists, the Socians, and most of our modern moralists. That is the Jesuits, the Roman Catholics, and these Unitarians that did not believe in the divinity of our Lord Jesus. We saw that Justin Martyr, among the early Christians, says, Millions lost their life through the centuries when all they had to do was lie. They could have saved their family by lying. They could have saved their own bodies Praise God we saw that it says in the Bible in Titus 1 that God cannot lie. We saw in Hebrews 6 that it is impossible for God to lie. And we're to follow God, we're to be perfect even as he is perfect. And we're to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, the captain of our salvation, who never lied. He never told a justified lie. Now there are objections and we answered many of them last week. A summary of answers to the so-called justified lying concept is, number one, there is not a lie in the example, only an assumed one. So when they say there's Bible characters who lied, in several cases there is no lie in the context, and we'll look at that perhaps in the future, some of these examples where there is no lie, it's an assumed lie. But number two, the lying itself is not praised by God in the Bible, as we saw with the case of Rahab last week. The language of the Holy Ghost throughout the inspired scriptures is very specific. We saw this with Sarah, calling her husband, Lord, while she was weak in the faith, laughing, and then she lied about it. It says in Genesis chapter 18, Sarah laughed within herself, saying, after I am waxed old, shall I have pleasure? My Lord being old also? Then Sarah denied, saying, I laugh not, for she was afraid. And he said, nay, but thou did laugh. But what does Peter, through the Holy Ghost, praise? He praises in chapter three that she called her husband Lord. but leaves out the fact that she lied and that she didn't have faith, because that's not his point. He's praising what was good about her. And the scriptures are very specific. It doesn't praise Rahab's lying. It praises her faith and things such as that. And number three, we are to know that the act of lying is wrong. If you see a Bible character lying, it's like any other sin you might see them commit. Even if the Bible does not call direct attention to it in the context, you are to know that it is a sin. They might even be doing some good in the process. But oftentimes, Bible characters will have some good mixed with some bad. We also pointed out that it is a very dangerous, slippery slope. And I have seen with my own eyes over a long period of time that the justified lying concept oftentimes leads to people that just lie, and that emergency becomes very justified in whatever way, even little things, and they just become liars, outright liars, that is, with no emergency. But let's begin today with some other things to look at in regard to this subject of so-called justified lying. Another major objection that is often raised is that the command against lying, the ninth commandment, is just like the sixth commandment, thou shalt not kill. So they would argue that just as there's a justified killing, even though the Bible says thou shalt not kill, Obviously there's a justified lying. The Bible says not to bear false witness, but obviously there's times when you could do so for a good cause. There's some big problems with this argument. Number one, would this be applied to other commands? Is there a time to take the name of the Lord in vain? A time to commit adultery? A time to have another God before the Lord? A time to worship idols? Number two, And this is very important. With the sixth commandment, we are told it is wrong to kill. However, the scriptures are very plain and specific when they open up the exceptions to this divine prohibition. You don't have to look at it through an illustration of a Bible character. There are inspired commands by God for the Israelites to kill the Canaanites and such like. God viewed it as a just war. It was His command to do so. There's no command by God to lie in the Bible, or worship another so-called God, or commit any other abomination. And the Bible says even the lips of the person who lies are an abomination. We also see in the Bible civil commands with due process for capital punishment. We also see self-defense legislation, such as when a thief breaks in at night. In other words, though the Bible says, thou shalt not kill, we have clear guidance from the scripture. We have commandments, we have legislation. The Bible makes it clear that there is an exception, that there is a justified killing. Where are all the holy lying commands in the Bible? Where is the holy lying legislation? There are none. All you have is some Bible characters that are seen lying. This is what we call history. Just as any other sin mentioned in the Bible that Bible characters committed. We've already covered the excuse that such lying in these characters is not always condemned in context. The fact that the sin is said to be sin elsewhere, I believe, was considered by God enough. Last week, I gave examples of sins that aren't ever directly condemned in Bible characters. And many other examples could be cited. Was it right for Abraham to bring Lot from his former homeland in the first place? Was it right or wise for Lot to pitch his tent toward Sodom? Was it right for Lot to offer up his virgin daughters to be raped? Was it right for his own daughters to commit incest? Was it right for Jacob to lie and deceive his father and steal from his brother? Was it right for Lamech to have two wives? And wow, if we opened up the book of Judges, we could go on and on till we are all weary. Clearly, it's not enough to simply argue that the ninth commandment should be viewed as the sixth commandment because we see Bible characters lying and they're not directly condemned in context. We could take it further. Where is Micah's mother directly condemned in Judges 17 for financing the making of idols? And what of Micah's house of gods and making one of his sons a priest? There was no civil king in those days, but does that give free pass to sin, even against conscience? These are very, very important things to see. The point is, shall we conclude that there is a justified lying when we have all of these cases of other sins? Is there a justified idolatry? There are times when God does not directly rebuke the idolatry. But we know elsewhere that God says it's wrong to bow down to idols or have idols. Finally, we are told directly, as clear as can be, that there is a time to kill. Ecclesiastes says there is a time to kill, chapter 3, and a time to heal, a time to break down, and a time to build up, a time to rend, a time to sow, a time to keep silence, and a time to speak, a time to love, a time to hate, a time of war, and a time of peace. The inspired writer does not tell us anywhere there is a time to lie. and a time for truth-telling and honesty, that there is a time for dishonesty. But the wise king does give us this very crucial information connected with this subject. There is no time to lie, but there is a time to keep silence. There is a time to withhold information from those that have no right to know the information. especially when there is a higher just authority that commands you to keep silence. A prime example is in 1 Samuel 16. The Lord said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill thine horn with oil, and go. I will send thee to Jesse, the Bethlehemite, for I have provided me a king among his sons. And Samuel said, how can I go? If Saul hear it, he will kill me. And the Lord said, take a heifer with thee, and say, I am come to sacrifice to the Lord. And call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show thee what thou shalt do. And thou shalt anoint unto me him whom I name unto thee. It's very important to see here. that there would be a sacrifice anyway. And God is basically telling Samuel, keep silence about the anointing of Jesse's son. That is not information that Saul needs to have. This is God himself, the King of kings and Lord of lords. He is commanding the silence. It is not a lie. He is commanding Samuel to withhold important information from a rebel king. Treasury of scriptural knowledge says the answer, which he was instructed to return, was strictly true, though he did not tell the principal design of his coming. For though no man in any circumstances should tell a lie, yet in all circumstances he is not bound to tell the whole truth. That is, there are certain situations where it's right to withhold information without lying. Those who do not have the right before God to know. When a higher authority says not to mention something, and that is a just authority, to withhold information is not lying. But this shouldn't be done when someone has a right before God to know. There should be no Rebecca's leading their children to lie, even if they conclude it's for a good cause. When there is a right to know the information from a proper authority, there should not be a sinful concealing. So there is a sinful silence, a sinful withholding of information, and there is a just withholding of information. But there is not a just lying. The Bible makes this clear. Barnes, in his notes, says secrecy and concealment are not the same as duplicity and falsehood. Concealment of a good purpose for a good purpose is clearly justifiable. Poole, the Puritan, tells us this was one cause, though not the only cause of his coming. Nor was he obliged to declare all the causes of it. Pulpit Commentary says, is it always necessary or even right to tell in all cases the whole truth? If so, quarrels and ill-feeling would be multiplied to such an extent that social life would be unendurable. All charitable, well-disposed persons suppress much and keep a guard over their lips, lest they should stir up strife and hatred. That's not hypocrisy. In many cases, this is love. We see the same type of thing in Samuel 10. Saul's uncle said, Tell me, I pray thee, what Samuel said unto you. And Saul said unto his uncle, He told us plainly that the asses were found. But of the matter of the kingdom whereof Samuel spake, he told him not. I believe that was a case of a justified withholding of information. There are times when you cannot tell all of your business, especially when it's coming from a higher authority or God. This is often a way to deal with so-called emergency situations, and some of them are true emergencies. You're not bound to tell information that would hurt somebody if it is a just situation that God would agree with. And you're allowed to be wise as a serpent. Look how the Lord Jesus Christ was very careful with his words. They're always trying to catch him in his words. He did not withhold anything that God wanted him to preach and teach. He was sinless. He was spotless. But he was careful with his words as they were trying to catch him. No lies, but very careful with his words. It says in Proverbs chapter 29, a fool uttereth all his mind, but a wise man keepeth it in till afterwards. Certainly this is against fools just blabbing everything and talking about everything and always giving their opinion about everything under the sun and not waiting for the proper time. But we also see In this, that a fool will utter a secret. A fool will report all types of news and all types of things just because he has the information. A fool will tell everybody how he feels, how he thinks in every single situation, whether it's a good time or not, whether it's hurtful or not, whether it's right or not. It's interesting that the very next verse says, if a ruler hearken to lies, all his servants are wicked. Again, we see lying is wrong, but keeping silent at appropriate times is very proper. Why are all the servants wicked of a ruler that hearkens to lies? Because people will feed the person they seek praise from, they look up to, or they are being led by. If somebody is following a person that has created a sedition and has some influence. Maybe the person was given influence by someone who's being kind, but they're going to use that influence for evil or for selfish purposes. Well, if a person looks up to somebody or is being led by a mover of sedition, then if they know he delights in gossip and slander and backbiting and exaggerations and evil surmising, they're going to feed him that information. Just as a ruler will have servants that will always be feeding him information if they know he delights in backbiting and lies. His character trains them, and this is who he surrounds himself with, liars. Because the Bible says in Proverbs 17, a wicked doer giveth heed to false lips, and a liar giveth ear to a naughty tongue. Liars love liars. They surround themselves with liars. The contrary is seen in Proverbs 25, the north wind driveth away rain, so doth an angry countenance a backbiting tongue. There is a time to reprove liars. There is a time to give them an angry countenance. There is a time to separate from them. There is a time to not be around gossip, unlike this wicked ruler, to let everybody know that you do not delight in backbiting and slander and lies and not giving people due process. And this might make people mad. If you say, well, let's withhold final absolute judgment here until, oh, they get mad at that. Oh, they get mad because they're showing what their character is. Now, I think it's very important to conclude today by pointing out that while this is all very important, there is a time to keep silent. There is a time to withhold information. I think we need to say, and we better realize, that there is a time to speak up. In the first message of this Sin of Lying series, we spoke about that there is a time to answer slanders. There is a time to answer the fool according to his folly. And there is definitely a time to defend others who are being slandered or lied about. There's a time to speak up for others and not be silent. One thing that is missing in this generation, and much of it has disappeared within just the last few decades, there is a lack of loyalty, a lack of honor for friends and family like we have never seen, and the Bible predicted this. Whether it's the father or the mother or the brother or the sister, I know when I was growing up, most of the fights, most people came to blows when I was growing up over some tale about a loved one or a friend. I've even heard directly and indirectly, I've seen it with my own eyes, of cases of people coming to blows or almost coming to blows for the honor of their church or their pastor. Even women! And I don't endorse that. Certainly not in every situation and certainly not with some of the ways that they were, the extent that they were going to. Nor am I calling for blind loyalty, but we sure are weak today on allowing others to twist, exaggerate, insinuate, and slander those who should be held in honor. Where is the loyalty? Where is the opening your mouth? Where is the standing up? We just have such a weak, passive, uncaring, dishonoring day and age. We're missing some of that fire and zeal and backbone that many had not long ago. The Bible says in Proverbs 31, open thy mouth for the dumb and the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction. Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy." There's time to open your mouth. There's a time to not be silent. It says in Proverbs 24, wisdom is too high for a fool. He openeth not his mouth in the gate. One of the things that means is he's not speaking up for those who are being slandered. Those that are being wrongly charged because of these unfaithful witnesses? We've seen that you can just slightly change a word. You could just make a very minor variation in something in the way you tell it, just like they did when accusing the Lord Jesus. It says in Proverbs 127, "'As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man, so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them. They shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.'" They're not fearful. They're not cowering. This was a mighty man, and he raised children. He pulled them back from the world like an arrow, and he aimed them where they need to be, and they grew up strong with backbones. Even the sociologists today are learning that much of the boldness comes from the father in the home. And the Bible says if he's a mighty father, if he's a mighty man with God, a strong man with God, that he will raise children who are not afraid. And unless he's hindered, and unless his influence is greatly hindered, he will have children that will speak with the enemies in the gate, the adversaries. And some believe that this even becomes a defense for him. Those that attack the home, those that attack his character, he will have strong children that will stand up and defend just like we should. A righteous pastor, a godly father or mother, or even a godly brother or sister. And we shouldn't allow injustice in any situation. in a culture that is decaying, racing into hell. We see in Proverbs 24, if thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small. If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain, if thou sayest, behold, we knew it not, doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? And he that keepeth thy soul, doth he not know it? And shall not he render to every man according to his works? We're told that all throughout the New Testament. There will be a reward according to works, and part of our works is speaking up. God is looking at not only what you do, but what you don't do. God is looking at when you're silent and when you're not silent. And sometimes it is a sin to be silent. Sometimes it is a sin to blab and not be able to keep a secret. Sometimes it is a sin to give information that will harm the plan of God or harm someone in a way God does not approve of. but it is a sin to keep quiet when God wants you to open your mouth, when God wants you to speak up. Oh, it's a time to sometimes give an angry countenance to the backbiting tongue. There's times to speak up, to defend, to have some loyalty. We also shouldn't be silent in regard to prayer, that's for sure. God help us pray more in this day and age. Psalms 22 says, oh my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not. And in the night season, and am not silent. God in due time, God in due time, will answer and respond. Though sometimes it seems that he's bearing long with us, And certainly, we should not be silent in regard to the gospel and the sharing and promoting and publishing of other truths of God. Paul says in Ephesians 6 that he wanted prayer, "...as for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel." Open his mouth. Preach the gospel. What a sin it is. What a sin of omission it is to be silent, to withhold the gospel. And pretty soon there's no shame in it anymore. Pretty soon it just becomes our habit, our habitual way. And we go through life and don't even realize that we're not like that woman at the well. Right when she got saved, a few minutes later, she's publishing that she's found the Messiah. how easy it is to be complacent, lazy, cold. We can say it's not the time. It's not the time to build the Lord's house. It's not the time to go soul winning. I'll do it later. Lord, please forgive us. Please forgive us for such complacency. Please forgive us for wanting to have the best time and the comfortable time. And we do know, Lord, that there is a time to speak and we need to be wise in those things, but God, So often we withhold the truth. Lord, help us. I'll remind us that in chapter six of Ephesians, the same chapter where Paul is praying that he can open his mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, he says, wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day. There's an evil day that sometimes comes to us all where We have trials, the devil attacks, and having done all to stand, stand therefore having your loins girt about with the truth, how about that, the truth, and having owned the breastplate of righteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. I just want to point out to us real quickly that if you're not a soul winner, if you're not a peacemaker, if you're so in discord among the brethren, if you're letting people perish, if you're letting people go to hell, if you're letting people face the consequences of sin without giving them warning as Ezekiel 3, etc., tells us about the watchman, If we are not sharing the gospel, if we are not actively, regularly trying to lead people to Christ and lead Christians to the fear of God and understand more about Him and His ways and His doctrine, if we mess up on this part of our armor, if our feet are not covered, it's very likely we're going down quickly. And you may have a lot of things going good. We may be doing a lot of things, but if we are committing a sin of omission, our feet are technically uncovered. We are vulnerable. Vulnerable in war. Vulnerable in conflict with the devil. And he's gonna go right for the feet. You may have your helmet, you may have your breastplate, you may have everything about you, but I'm telling you, if your feet are not covered, And that can include the ankles, the shin, anything that the soldier was to wear. All the devil has to do is aim, and you're going down. You're going down. Imagine people that grumble and complain and scorn and murmur at opportunities to give out the gospel, to be used by God for service. They've grown fat and lazy, cantankerous. murmur. I believe the Bible is teaching that you're soon going to find yourself back home out of the battle like much of Gideon's army. We see that God soon gets irritated and frustrated and sends the faint-hearted home. He sends the slackers that are too comfortable and unwilling to work and preach. Remember, Paul says, I'm not taking John Mark. He didn't go to the work. John Mark, for a time, lost the opportunity. And God is the same way. The faint-hearted, He wants back home. The slackers, back home from the battle. We see throughout God about to overthrow murmurers, and often He did so. But we see Moses interceding, saying, No, God, please don't. God says, I just want to wipe them out right now. Thank you that God loves us. We're thankful and grateful, but we do know that our God is serious about this thing. He doesn't like murmuring and complaining. He doesn't like laziness, slothfulness. He doesn't like cowardness. Our Lord Jesus stressed this often. Matthew 10, he says, what I tell you in darkness, that speak you in light. And what you hear in the ear, that preach you upon the housetops. And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul, but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. This is the balance. These are the two sides. We're to be wise as serpents in a holy way, but harmless as doves. But at the same time, we are not to be ashamed. You see this other side in Daniel who opened up his windows and showed everybody he was praying. There's a time to speak up. There's a time Daniel's three friends says, we're not careful to answer thee, O king. When it comes to this, we're gonna honor you and respect you, but we're not careful to answer you here. We will not bow down to your image. Fear not them which can kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul, but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. We need to have more fear of God, more desire to please God, and less desire to please man. Our Lord Jesus says in Mark 8, whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him also shall the son of man be ashamed when he cometh in the glory of his father with the holy angels. I believe, and I'm preaching to myself right now, I believe that we need to get busy. I believe the time is late. The Lord's coming is near. We need to be found working. We need to be found giving out the meat in due season to believers and to unbelievers. We need to go, as the Bible says. We need to go and teach all nations, beginning at home, beginning in our own city, beginning in those around us, with those around us. We need to teach them how to be saved. We need to teach them the commandments of God. We need to teach them to be baptized. We need to teach them about all that God has for them and life. Dear Holy Father, we give you thanks. Father, may we be silent where we're supposed to be silent. May we not be a revealer of secrets in some sinful way. May we not be a tell-bearer or a tell-hearer. But Lord, let us be faithful, true as a witness, and not slack. Let us defend those that are being falsely accused. I do pray, God, that you let us be soul winners, God. You've commanded us to be. He that winneth souls is wise. Thank you for saving us, God, and calling us to be your witnesses. In Jesus' name, we give you thanks. Amen.