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As we continue our series on
the Ten Commandments, we're going to be looking at the Ninth Commandment,
which is found in Exodus 20, verse 16. Thou shalt not bear
false witness against thy neighbor. Turn with me, if you would, to
Leviticus 19, 15-18. And I'll read a brief passage
there. Leviticus 19, 15-18. Ye shall do no unrighteousness
in judgment. Thou shalt not respect the person
of the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty, but in righteousness
shalt thou judge thy neighbor. Thou shalt not go up and down
as a tailbearer among thy people, neither shalt thou stand against
the blood of thy neighbor. I am the Lord." Thou shalt not
hate thy neighbor in thine heart. Thou shalt in any wise rebuke
thy neighbor and not suffer sin upon him. Thou shalt not avenge
nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou
shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. I am the Lord. Ye shall keep
my statutes. Thou shalt keep..." Oh, excuse
me, just stop right there at 18. Then turn with me, if you
would, to Proverbs 26. Proverbs 26, and I'll begin reading
at verse 17 through the end of the chapter. He that passeth by and meddleth
with strife, belonging not to him, is like one that taketh
a dog by the ears. As a madman who casteth firebrands,
arrows, and death, so is the man that deceiveth his neighbor
and saith, Am not I in sport? Where no wood is, there the fire
goeth out. So where there is no tail-bearer,
the strife ceaseth. As coals are to burning coals,
and wood to fire, so is a contentious man to kindle strife. The words
of a tail-bearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost
parts of the belly. Burning lips and a wicked heart
are like a potsherd covered with silver dross. He that hateth
dissembleth with his lips, and layeth up deceit within him,
when he speaketh fair, believe him not. For there are seven
abominations in his heart, whose hatred is covered by deceit.
His wickedness shall be showed before the whole congregation.
Whoso diggeth a pit shall fall therein, and he that rolleth
a stone, it will return upon him. A lying tongue hateth those
that are afflicted by it, and a flattering mouth worketh ruin."
Thus ends the reading of God's holy, inspired Word. Now, this
Lord's Day morning, as I said, we... Yes, Mr. Cooksey? I'm not sure where you're reading
from. No, my intention is not to explain
that this morning. This morning, we're looking at
the Ten Commandments. We've considered eight thus far,
and we're now in the ninth. We've considered the first table,
the object, the matter, the manner, and the time of worship covered
in the first four commandments. And now we've been looking at
the second table of the commandments for a number of weeks. We've
been considering the sanctity of authority, of life, of marriage,
of property, and now we come to name, or good name, or credibility. The sanctity of one's credibility. Now, I want to remind you that
two weeks ago, we looked at the requirements related to the Eighth
Commandment regarding property. We talked about restitution.
And I suspect that there are more than but a few of us that
probably needed to make restitution over the last two weeks regarding
property, I hope. that you've done so. I hope you
didn't see yourself in the mirror two weeks ago and recognize that
something needed to be done and then left off doing it, forgetting
what you looked like two weeks ago. If you have, I would again
counsel you to rectify it and deal with it. Now, this morning
we come to look at Exodus 20, verse 16. Thou shalt not bear
false witness against thy neighbor. This command comes in the negative,
as most of them do, and that's why we are looking at the prohibitions
first and then the duties second. Even though the catechisms, the
shorter and the larger catechism, consider the duties first and
then what's forbidden, I think I chose to go with thinking about
what's forbidden first and then consider what are the duties
because Paul tells us in Colossians and Ephesians, we see this metaphor
over and over again in the New Testament, that we're to put
off and where to put on. And so, I think it's appropriate
for us to consider what are those things we ought not to be doing,
stop doing those, but what are the replacements? We're not just
to stop stealing pulses, but we are then to labor with our
hands that which is good that we might have wherewith to give. So, we're considering first the
negatives. So, we're not to bear witness or we're not to declare
We're not to declare something contrary to truth, is what the
verse says. We're not to do so towards our
neighbor. We learn from Luke 10.30-37,
and the story of the Good Samaritan, that our neighbor includes all
people. All children of Adam are our
neighbor. Now, there are a couple assumptions
in this commandment that we need to address, but before Before
doing so, I want us to recognize that this commandment isn't the
only commandment that deals with our speech. We can violate all the other
commandments with our tongue. So, this isn't the only commandment
that deals with speech. Atheistical speech is forbidden
in the first commandment. Inappropriate speech in worship
or swearing inappropriately is a violation of the second commandment.
Vain speech of God is a violation of the third. Inappropriate speech
on the Sabbath is a violation of the fourth. Disrespectful
speech is a violation of the fifth. Angry speech is a violation
of the sixth. Filthy speech is a violation
of the seventh. Deceptive speech in order to
steal is a violation of the eighth. And discontented speech or murmuring
is a violation of the tenth commandment. So, all the commandments address
the tongue. They address speech. But this
commandment addresses speech in relation to truth and necessity
and, I would contend, love. Because we are called to speak
the truth. We're called to speak it in love. Paul tells us we're
to speak that which is necessary for edification. So there are
three questions we can ask ourselves regarding what we're about to
say to consider, and we'll look at that, Lord willing, next week
as we consider how we are to bridle our tongue and what we
are to speak about. But I think there are two assumptions
in this commandment. That is, first, the seriousness
of judicial witnessing. In the old covenant economy,
it only required two or three witnesses for someone to be found
guilty. And those witnesses had the power
of life and death. There were a significant number
of crimes that were capital crimes. And if two or three people said
this individual did this crime, that individual was going to
die. And he was going to die by stoning
at the hands of the witnesses. That's how I understand John
6 where the immoral woman is brought before Jesus. How did these Pharisees catch
an immoral woman committing immorality without a man involved? Where
was the man? It's pretty clear to me that this was a common
hooker that they all knew. And when Jesus says, who's going
to cast the first stone? In other words, who's going to
say that they're innocent of this crime and bear witness that
she's guilty, they're not, and be prepared to cast the first
stone at her? And so we see the very seriousness
of judicial witnessing. Also we learn in the Pentateuch
that a false witness that was found out received the penalty
that would have come upon the individual if they were found
guilty for the crime. So you get a sense of the seriousness
of witness. A false witness could put someone
to death, but it also could put you to death if you were found
out. And it gives us a picture of
how God views the truth. The truth in all of our speech. The other thing that this assumes
is that a good name is precious. We read that in Proverbs 22.1,
a good name is rather to be chosen than great riches. Now, how many
individuals today in our culture, even in our congregations, if
they had a door one offer to them, great riches, or door two,
a good name, how many would choose door two? But the Bible says the answer
is obvious. A good name should be chosen.
John Calvin said, if a good name is more precious than all riches,
we harm a man more by despoiling him of the integrity of his name
than by taking away his possessions. If a good name is more valuable
than possessions, than slandering someone is more serious than
stealing from them. Solomon says in Ecclesiastes
7.1, a good name is better than precious ointment. Let's consider
the violations or the sins forbidden in this commandment. The first
is unrighteous judgment. That's mentioned in Leviticus
19.15. You shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, we just read. It's
very interesting there that not only are the rich considered
regarding potential partiality towards, but God also warns the
judge regarding partiality to the poor. The poor don't deserve
a better than fair deal because they're poor. They deserve fairness
and justice. So your economic status doesn't
alter the justice, whether you're rich or whether you're poor. We learn in Job 29.16, he could
say of himself under inspiration, the cause which I knew not, I
searched out. Job apparently was an elder in
the gates. He apparently was an elderly
man and a man of wisdom that had been called to that office
and when he had a cause, he searched it out. It was his responsibility
to know what really happened before he adjudicated a decision. And so unrighteous judgment or
even calling good evil and calling evil good by a judge officially
or by us in judging some evil deed good or some good deed evil. Secondly, frivolous lawsuits
are also forbidden in this commandment. We learn of one in Acts 24. In
verse 1, there's a mention of this individual that the Jews,
the Pharisees bring up, Tertullius. And we learn in verse 7 of chapter
25, as they bring him up to prosecute Paul, that he laid many and grievous
complaints against Paul which they could not prove. He didn't have the proof, but
yet he was willing Obviously, for some moolah. And they were
willing to pay him to come up, even though there wasn't adequate
evidence, because maybe they could get the decision they wanted.
Maybe they could spin things in such a way as to get what
they wanted, even though the proof wasn't there. I think that's
why lawyers in the Scriptures are often like tax collectors,
not looked upon very well. in the Scriptures. That's not
that either of those vocations are unlawful. They're both lawful
vocations. But obviously in the context,
the cultural context, they were two vocations that many crooks
were involved in. It's an easy thing for a lawyer
to not be clear and to almost encourage more litigation because
then they get a cut of the proceeds. And so, they're certainly in
a vocation that has a temptation. And so, frivolous lawsuits are
also forbidden. Thirdly, and this is I think
the central issue in this commandment, false witness in court. Proverbs
6, 16-19 talks about six things that the Lord hates. Yeah, you
seven are an abomination to Him. And in that list of seven, three
Sins of the tongue are referred to. A lying tongue, a false witness
that speaketh lies. So there you see the similarity
between lying and lying in court. And he that soweth discord among
brethren. And here's a sin of the tongue
that's not necessarily speaking untruth, but it's speaking something
that maybe is unnecessary or unloving. And then creates disunity
amongst a society This is what Cain did in Genesis 4-9. God
asked him, where's Abel? He says, I know not, in verse
9, am I my brother's keeper? He was asked to give testimony.
The King of kings, the Lord of lords, the judge of all the earth
asks him, where's your brother? He knew where his brother was.
I know not. We have witnesses brought against
Naboth, if you remember, in 1 Kings 21.13, false witnesses. False
witnesses, we read in Psalm 35.11, did rise up. They laid to my
charge things that I knew not. David writing that psalm, but
clearly it's speaking of the greater than David, Jesus Christ
Himself. In Proverbs 19.15, we read, a
false witness shall not be unpunished. He that speaketh lies shall not
escape. God holds us accountable for
our words. When we bear false words in a
court, in a civil court, in an ecclesiastical court, after we've
taken an oath to tell the truth and the whole truth and nothing
but the truth, then we are more culpable because we've not only
violated now the ninth commandment, but we've also violated the third
commandment. Also, we're called to speak the
truth Or a sin forbidden is speaking the truth to a wrong end. One example that I'll give you
there is in 1 Samuel 22.9, Doeg, the Edomite, gives a true statement
about David, but he did it so that David would be brought down.
What David did was obviously approved of by God. We have the
Scriptures declaring that it was acceptable for the priest
to give him and his brethren of the showbread and the like.
But Doeg the Edomite brings it up to bring down David. Fifthly, another sin, forbidden
is false witness in routine conversations. Not in court, but just in conversation. Recounting things, but adding
or subtracting to things. We need to all consider that.
How do we recount things and add a little here or take a little
bit away just enough to change the picture? Isn't that what
the serpent did? Satan himself in Genesis 3, 4,
and the serpent said unto the woman, ye shall not surely die. You're not really going to die. We can also do so by using the
same words but with a different meaning. Peter calls that twisting Scripture.
Isn't that again what Satan did in Jesus' temptation in Matthew
4? In verse 6 he says unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast
thyself down, for it is written, He shall give His angels charge
concerning thee, and in their hands they shall bear thee up,
lest at any time thou shalt dash thy foot against the stone. Here Satan quotes Scripture Word
for word. It's just he misapplies it. That's why Scripture memory alone
is not sufficient to build an individual up in the faith. Because
you can take Scripture passages out of context, you can misunderstand
what you've memorized and be wrong. So, accurate interpretation
is necessary as well. Nothing's wrong with laying up
God's Word in our heart, but we need to lay it up in its proper
understanding. We also can bear false witness
in common conversation by changing the circumstances or burying
things slightly in the circumstances in which something was said so
as to present a whole different situation to someone than what
really took place. I know an example in my own life
where an individual, and I know I'm guilty of the same thing,
but an individual told me of a situation in which someone
told them something that they thought was a little over the
top, was a little excessive. But upon later understanding
that the individual that told me the information actually requested
the individual to make some statement that the individual wasn't prepared
to make and finally drug the statement out of them. then it
changes the individual's statement and the culpability of that individual
when someone's trying to drag it out. You see, if someone's
countenance is a little bit off towards you and you pry, what's
wrong? What's wrong? What's wrong? Tell me what's wrong. Tell me
what's wrong right now. And they tell you something and they don't
reprove you exactly the way you think you should, is it the fact
that you were pushing them? Part of the situation? I mean,
if you don't tell all the facts, then you can't get an accurate
explanation of the situation. We're all guilty of this in many,
many cases. Proverbs 4.24 speaks against
this. Put away from thee a froward
mouth. And literally that word froward
means crooked. Put away a crooked mouth that's trying to alter
the angles, trying to change things or spin things in our
common vernacular versus being straightforward. and frank about
what took place." Solomon goes on and says, "...and perverse
lips far from thee." He likens crooked speech with perverse
speech. We also violate this command
when we lie about ourselves or others. Colossians 3.9, "...lie
not to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with
his deeds." The argument here is You're a new creature in Christ. You're a new man in Christ. Stop
lying like you once did. Psalm 34, 13, Keep thy tongue
from evil and thy lips from speaking guile. Now, why would we lie
about ourselves or others? I'm just going to give us a few
reasons why. One is to injure someone. We'll
lie because there's hatred in our heart and we desire to injure
someone. It's a lot safer to just injure them with our words
than to actually fight them or kill them. We desire to bring
them down, but it's a lot safer for us to bring them down with
our words. We also can do so to entertain. There's a cultural acceptability
to tall tales. to spin things, make things a
little bit more elaborate for the humor aspect. We also can do so to receive
honor. Isn't that what the man did in
2 Samuel 19 where he comes to David and says, I'm the one that
killed Saul? He didn't kill Saul. If he knew
what he was going to get per se he killed Saul, I'm sure he
wouldn't have said he killed Saul. But he thought he was going
to get a pat on the back, maybe get a little reward, get a special
place at David's entourage. And David says, you've convicted
yourself. It really didn't matter at that
point whether he was telling the truth or not because he bore
false witness and so he was given the death penalty. we can lie about ourselves or
others to avoid dishonor. And I would speak to you children
regarding this. Is this not very easy to do when
you've been caught? And your mother or your father
says, what's going on here? What came from your lips? What's
going on here in this tussle? To immediately, to avoid dishonor,
deny What's so obvious? Not only to receive honor, but
we lie to avoid dishonor when questioned by those in authority.
To do so, to lie about ourselves or others, is contrary to God
the Father. Hebrews 6.18 says it's impossible
for God to lie. We're to be like God. We're to
be holy like Him. It's contrary to Christ the Son.
In John 1.14, we learn that He's full of grace and truth. It's contrary to the Holy Spirit,
which is the Spirit of truth. Not only is lying contrary to
God, it's like the devil. Jesus could say in John 8.44,
He was a liar and He's the father of it. He's been a liar from
the beginning. He's the originator. He's the
propagator of lies. He's the fountain of lying. And we also violate this command
when we whisper or we backbite. And I would include that phrase
in Proverbs 6.19, so with discord among brethren. The next few
of these violations are intimately related. Whispering, tail-bearing,
speaking evil of others, slandering. And yet there are different words
used for these different cases. A Dutch theologian said, there
is no sin which is common among all manner of individuals as
this vicious serpent which disturbs peaceful societal living and
injures the honor of our neighbors. His conclusion was this is the
most common of a very common sin, bearing false witness. Paul could say in 2 Corinthians
12.20, "...let there be no debates or envyings, wraths, strifes,
backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults." He puts all these things
in one big pile. You start backbiting, you start
whispering, strife and wrath and envy and swellings and tumults,
they're all in there. They start from envy and wrath,
they lead to strife, They come from swellings or boastings. Now, how do we do so? We can
do so by stating untrue things about an individual. That's lying
about them, but we can also do so by recounting things of which
we're not certain of, as well as recounting things that are
not necessary or loving to repeat. In Exodus 23-1 we're told, "...thou
shalt not raise a false report." Often this can come about by
expressing suspicion. 2 Samuel 10-3, remember the princes
of Hanan, king of Ammon, were suspicious of David sending his
ambassadors to him to comfort him at the loss of his father. But Hanan's princes say, David's
coming here to spy you out. And then Hanan mistreats David's
ambassadors, if you remember. He cuts their beards off and
rips the back of their skirts. And so he sends them away shamed. And it all started with some
suspicious men that surrounded the new king, Hanan, king of
Ammon. We also can do so by tail-bearing,
number 8. We saw in Leviticus 19.16, "...thou
shalt not go up and down as a tail-bearer among thy people, neither shalt
thou stand against the blood of thy neighbor. I am the Lord."
You see there in 19.16 of Leviticus, God speaks against tail-bearing.
Thou shalt not go up and down as a tailbearer among thy people."
In other words, you shouldn't be going from house to house
that didn't have cell phones or emails. They actually had
to walk somewhere to tell somebody something. But he goes on to say, "...neither
shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbor." That's
speaking about false witness in a court. That's speaking against
them so that their blood's going to be spilled. Proverbs 18.8 and 26.22, we have
the same words. The words of a tailbearer are
as wounds and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly. Tailbearing brings wounds and
not superficial wounds, not flesh wounds. They go down into the
innermost parts of the being. Sticks and stones may break my
bones, but names will never hurt me is not a biblical principle.
Names do hurt. Augustine or Augustine, depending
on how you'd like to pronounce his name. My church history professor
said, St. Augustine is in Florida. St. Augustine is in heaven. Augustine said this, the wounds
of the tongue no physician can heal. And to pretend friendship
to a man and slander him is most odious. But if you noticed in
that Proverbs passage that we read, flattery was tied in there
with slander. Slanderers often still flatter
face to face and then slander. It's being of a double heart. We're also, ninthly, not to speak
evil of others. James 4.11. This is closely related. Speak not evil one of another,
brethren. Again, James adds the word brethren
there as part of the rationale. Why we shouldn't do so is because
we're brothers. We also shouldn't give mocking
words. like Shimei did of David in 2
Samuel 16. Or as the children did, mocking
Elisha the prophet in 2 Kings 2, 23-24. He was elderly. He was bald. He wasn't culturally
with it. And these kids, I believe, picked
up the words that mom and dad were probably saying about Elisha
because he was stepping on their toes, about their behavior. It appears these children were
young. They had picked these things
up somewhere. And they come with mocking words to the prophet.
And God puts them to death through she-bears that He sends to eat
up the children. It also can be done by sarcastic
or snide remarks. Psalm 52, 2-4, "...thy tongue
diviseth mischiefs, like a sharp razor working deceitfully. Thou
lovest evil more than good, and lying rather than to speak righteousness."
See law. "...Thou lovest all devouring
words, O thou deceitful tongue." Here it's speaking of someone
that loves to use words to rip somebody to shreds. They love evil more than good.
And they've learned to use their tongue as a very effective weapon
to tear people to shreds. So, we've talked about slandering,
but I also want us to consider the eleventh sin mentioned, and
that is listening. or receiving an evil or a false
report. A report that's not true or a
report that's true but is being brought for evil motives. In Psalm 15, verse 1, we find
these words, "...Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? Who
shall dwell in thy holy hill?" The psalmist asks that question
and then in verses 2 and following, gives this description, this
picture of the righteous man. And it says in verse 3 of this
man, "...he that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil
to his neighbor, nor taketh up an evil report against his neighbor."
He doesn't start the report. He doesn't take it up and pass
it on. In Jeremiah 20 verse 10, God
says through Jeremiah, "'For I heard the defaming of many,
fear in every side. Report,' they say, and we will
report." Sounds a lot like our media, doesn't it? Give us some juicy morsels and
we'll pass them on. We won't verify them, but we'll
pass them on. Give it to us and we'll send
it on. We've got the distribution networks.
Just get it to us. And we'll cover the distribution
of this falsehood for you. You don't have to go house to
house yourself. And we live in a society where it's much easier
to bear false witness because all you have to do is push the
send button. You don't have to walk to somebody's
house to pass it on anymore. And there's also very few of
us as God's people that will stop someone that brings it.
Whether it comes through an email, or a phone call, or someone sitting
in our home. But listen to Proverbs 17.14.
A wicked doer giveth heed to false lips, and a liar giveth
ear to a naughty tongue. This is a synthetic parallelism.
A wicked doer and a liar are synonymous. False lips and naughty
tongue are synonymous. A wicked doer giveth heed to
false lips, a liar giveth ear to a naughty tongue. You can
lie without speaking. You can lie by wanting and listening
to lies. Poisoning your own well. Listening
to lies and then from that, then being suspicious about someone.
Because you've been told something about them that's not been verified,
that may not be appropriate for you to have anyway, even if it
was verified. So receiving an evil or false
report is also a violation of the ninth commandment. In addition,
undue silence in a just cause is a violation of this commandment.
Leviticus 5 verse 1, "...and if a soul sin and hear the voice
of swearing and is a witness, whether he hath seen it or known
of it, if he do not utter it, then he shall bear his iniquity."
God says through Moses in Leviticus 5 that there are some sins that
are so heinous and so scandalous that if you know they've been
committed as a public sin, you have a duty to make it known.
To not utter it would be a sin. Now, to make it known isn't to
go from house to house and be a tailbearer, but it's to tell
the appropriate authority in the state or in the family or
in the church. Children, there are some things
that you ought to report to your father regarding something that
your brother or sister has done. We live in a society where oftentimes
it's viewed as that's tattletaling. And many of us have been brought
up to think that all tattletaling, all telling authorities of something
that someone's done is sinful is not biblical. It's not biblical. If your brother or sister swears,
it's not enough for you just to reprove them yourself. And there are sins of that nature
that ought to be brought to bear. We become an accomplice if we
know someone is a thief and doesn't report it. To undo silence in
a just cause. Also, evil surmising or suspicions. Consider this individual in 1
Timothy 6.4. He is proud, knowing nothing,
but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh
envy Strife, railings, evil surmises. Picture a man that's proud. He
doesn't know as much as he thinks he knows. He dopes. He's concerned about questions.
He wants to make a big deal out of differences and strifes of
words. And Paul says, this is where
envy, strife and railings and evil surmisings are intimately
connected to this kind of behavior. They come from it and they lead
to it. They stem from envy and a desire to strife, they lead
to railings or an explosive situation. They come from evil surmisings,
questioning, suspecting someone that doesn't bring the same words
as we bring. And if we can't convince them
of ours, then there can be additional surmising regarding the individual. So, suspicion, evil surmising. Also, one sin closely related
to this is what I'm calling rash and unwarranted judging. Jesus says in Matthew 5, 1-3
that we're not to judge, lest we be judged. Jesus, again in
the Sermon on the Mount, as it's described in Luke, speaks to
the same point. It says, by the judgment that
you judge, you'll be judged. Now, most of us know our Bible
well enough that we've moved from the position that we probably
first held the first time we ever read Matthew 7-1, where
we probably concluded that we're not to make any evaluation. Most
of us probably very early in our Christian life read that
and said, oh, we're not to make any evaluations. Then we got
a little bit more mature and we said, hmm, the Bible does
say we're to make evaluations. False prophets will be known
by their fruits. Obviously, we have to look at
fruits. Yes, we're to evaluate. But when we come to that position,
have we now ignored potentially the fact that Jesus still does
say that judging's wrong? Evaluating's not, but judging
is. And particularly judgment that comes when we're not the
authority in that sphere. And it comes when it's rash or
it's unwarranted. It's hasty. It's without all
the information at hand. And that goes back to the first
one. In improper, sinful judgments. When we are in the proper place
of judging. We are the father in the home.
We are of the civil magistrate. We also commit this sin by much
talking and by idle talking, and these are closely related.
Proverbs 10, 19, "...in the multitude of words there wanteth not sin,
but he that refraineth his lips is wise." If you talk too much, don't be
surprised that eventually you're going to say some things that
aren't loving, that aren't truthful, and aren't necessary. The fool uttereth all his mind,
but a wise man keepeth it till afterwards." There it's suggesting
that sometimes we can be a little provoked and then start spilling
everything. Every wicked, evil, malicious
thought in our hearts just wells up and we spew it all out on
someone. Versus keeping it back till after.
Okay, that wasn't appropriate, but that doesn't mean I need
to let loose on all the filth in my heart and let it all come
out of my mouth." So, much talking, hasty talking, idle talking.
2 Timothy 2.16, Paul says, "...shun profane and vain babblings, for
they will increase unto more ungodliness." Clearly, there
was, in that day in Ephesus, a lot of babbling going on and
Paul knew about it. And he wanted to squelch it.
And he calls Timothy to don't be involved in it. Shun it. Keep
away from it yourself because all it leads to is more ungodliness.
These questions that can't be answered. But also, every word that we
speak will be judged for. Jesus says in Matthew 12.38,
every idle word that men speak, they shall give account thereof
in the day of judgment. We all know that we're going
to be accountable for all that we do, and yet how often we forget
that every word that we speak will be accountable for. It's
not okay, it's not a just excuse to say, I didn't mean it. Everything that you say, you
did mean. You willed to say it. You chose
to say it before you said it. There may be one or two legitimate
diseases where someone might speak a word that they're not
making a decision. But I don't know anyone in this
congregation at present that has that physical condition.
So, I do want to make that exception. Every idle word that men speak,
every single word that we speak will be held accountable. Also, flattery is a violation
of this commandment. Psalm 12, 2 and 3, they speak
vanity, everyone with his neighbor with flattering lips and with
double heart do they speak. Here's what I said, that the
flatterer is after something. They have a double heart. They're
after some good themselves and they're flattering someone that
some benefit will accrue to them either in possessions or in power
or in influence Or this double heart referring to the fact that
they're buttering someone up for the kill. But they have a double heart.
They're not doing it out of commendation. This is not forbidding commendation.
It is forbidding, commending to do so for your own benefit
or commending just so as to cover up the dagger in the back. And that relates to what I'm
calling hypocritical acting. Genesis 4-8, it says that Cain
talked with Abel and then he rose up against Abel. It appears
in this verse that what God is saying is that Cain didn't reveal
to Abel his anger. He duped him. He didn't know.
He didn't show his frustration and his anger with him. so as
to cause Cain to protect himself. This is exactly what Absalom
did concerning Ammon in 2 Samuel chapter 13. We just recently
read of this in our family worship. But Absalom's sister had been
violated by Amnon. And Absalom at that day set about
to kill Amnon. But he pretended like everything
was well between him and Amnon until the perfect time and then
he took his life. He acted in a way that wasn't
consistent with his real heart's desire and his disposition toward
the man. These are at least 18 sins that
are subsumed under the ninth commandment. I encourage you
to read question 145 in the answer to the larger catechism. A number
of these are covered and there are additional ones alluded to
there. But in application and in closing, have we not been hit afresh with
the fact that we have unclean lips? And we dwell in the midst
of a people of unclean lips. We haven't seen, like Isaiah
saw, the thrice holy God in his temple. But have we not, as we've
considered the standard of God's Word regarding the tongue, have
we not come to see that we have unclean lips? And we dwell in
a culture, in the world and in the church, of people with unclean
lips. But praise be to God, there was
one. Peter described in 1 Peter 2.22,
neither was guile found in his mouth. Praise be to our Savior
that He kept the ninth commandment just as He kept all the commandments
and all the ceremonial and judicial laws perfectly. And He that knew
no sin became sin for us. that we might be the righteousness
of God in Him. Praise to our Savior who has
kept the law of God for us and who now calls us to obey God's
law out of thankfulness for our great salvation in Him. Let us
pray. Great God and Heavenly Father,
we do thank Thee for Thy holy Word. We thank Thee for Thy law
that doth convict us of our sins, that doth bring us to acknowledge
of our sins that we might flee to Christ, but we thank Thee
that Thy law has also been given to us as a standard by which
we ought to seek to live as we seek by Thy grace to be conformed
more and more into the image of Thy blessed Son, whose name
we pray. Amen.
The Ninth Commandment #1 - Ex. 20:16
Series The Ten Commandments II
| Sermon ID | 2130653838 |
| Duration | 47:11 |
| Date | |
| Category | Teaching |
| Bible Text | Exodus 20:16 |
| Language | English |
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