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In our sermon this morning, we
are going to look at the ninth commandment, which is, Thou shalt
not bear false witness against thy neighbor. And in connection
with that, we're going to read a couple of different passages
from scripture. The first is James chapter three,
James chapter three. James chapter 3, one of the outstanding
chapters in the Bible on the use of the tongue, especially
as we speak of one another. James chapter 3, My brethren,
be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater
condemnation. For in many things we offend
all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man,
and able also to bridle the whole body. Behold, we put bits in
the horses' mouths, that they may obey us, and we turn about
their whole body. Behold also the ships, which
though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet
are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the
governor listeth. Even so the tongue is a little
member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a
little fire kindleth! And the tongue is a fire, a world
of iniquity. So is the tongue among our members,
that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course
of nature, and is set on fire of hell. For every kind of beasts,
and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is
tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind, But the tongue can no
man tame, it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. Therewith
bless we God, even the Father, and therewith curse we men who
are made in the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth
blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought
not so to be. Doth a fountain send forth at
the same place sweet water and bitter, Can the fig tree, my
brethren, bear olive berries, either of vine, figs? So can
no fountain both yield salt water and fresh. Who is a wise man
and endued with knowledge among you? Let him show out of a good
conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if ye have bitter
envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against
the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from
above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and
strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. But the
wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle,
and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without
partiality and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness
is sown in peace of them that make peace. And then I want to read from
Romans chapter 3, Romans chapter 3, and we're going to read from
verse 9 through verse 18. You have in Romans chapter 3
a description of the depravity of man and one of the outstanding
features or characteristics of that is what comes out of the
mouth of man. Deuteronomy, Romans chapter 3,
verse 9. What then? Are we better than
they? No, in no wise. For we have before
proved, both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin. As it is written, There is none
righteous, no, not one. There is none that understandeth.
There is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of
the way. They are together become unprofitable.
There is none that doeth good, no, not one. So there's a total
depravity of every human being. And then verse 13, the evidences
of it. Their throat is an open sepulcher.
With their tongues they have used deceit. The poison of asps
is under their lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed
blood. Destruction and misery are in their ways, and the way
of peace have they not known. There is no fear of God before
their eyes. Ephesians chapter 4. We want
to read just two verses here. Ephesians 4, verse 25 and 29. Paul says this, Wherefore, putting
away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor, and then the
reason, for we are members one of another. And verse 29, Let
no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which
is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto
the hearers." And then in the book of Leviticus
chapter 19, you don't have to go here, it's just a short phrase. In Leviticus 19 and verse 16,
thou shalt not go up and down as a tailbearer among thy people. And that's a command concerning
behavior in the church of God. It's on the basis of those passages
in Scripture and many others that we have the teaching of
the Heidelberg Catechism in Lords Day 43 in the back of the Psalter
on page 24. The back of the Psalter, page
24, we're treating here the ninth commandment, thou shalt not bear
false witness against thy neighbor. And the catechism asks in question
112, page 24 in the back of the Psalter, what is required in
the ninth commandment? And the answer that I bear false
witness against no man, nor falsify any man's words, that I be no
backbiter nor slanderer, that I do not judge nor join in condemning
any man rashly or unheard, but that I avoid all sorts of lies
and deceit as the proper works of the devil, unless I would
bring down upon me the heavy wrath of God, Likewise, that
in judgment and in all other dealings I love the truth, speak
it uprightly and confess it. Also that I defend and promote
as much as I am able the honor and good character of my neighbor. As we come to this commandment
this morning, beloved, it's good for us to be reminded of the
purpose, the lasting purpose of the law of God. And there
are three main uses of the law of God. The first is for social
morality. The law is the standard for human
existence. When the law is obeyed, then
humans can live together. Second, the law has this purpose
that it's the schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. And it does
that for us by showing to us our misery, our sin. In the light
of the law of God, we see the impossibility of our obedience. We see our utter depravity. And then third, the law is given
to us as a rule for thankful living, to give us direction
in how we should love God, because the law is a summary of what
it is to love God. Now, all three of those purposes
you see here in the ninth commandment. The ninth commandment says, Thou
shalt not bear false witness. And that refers to a legal setting
when someone is on the witness stand before a magistrate in
a social societal setting, and he's under oath, and he may not
invent or twist the truth and give false testimony that would
bring injury to another. Thou shalt not bear false witness
against thy neighbor." There must be truth in society for
there to be the possibility of humans existing together. But
then you see also here the second use of the law that I referred
to, and that is that the law is a schoolmaster to bring us
to Christ by showing to us our misery. And then you think of
the two passages that we read together that reference the use
of the tongue. James 3.2, a very indicting and
condemning judgment of every one of us, especially in the
church. In many things we offend all. James says, if any man offend
not in word, the same is a perfect man and able to bridle the whole
body. The Christian life is a life
of struggle and a fight against sin. And James says this is the
greatest struggle if a man is able to control his words, his
tongue. Then he's really achieved and
attained in the struggle against sin. And the point is this, that
none of us, none of us, are able to find complete victory in the
struggle with sin in the use of our words. And so Romans 3,
when it describes the evidence of the depravity of man, again
and again refers to the tongue and what comes out of a man's
mouth, the throat. It says, their throat is an open
sepulcher. With their tongue they've used
deceit. The poison of asps is under their lips. Their mouth
is full of cursing and bitterness. Destruction and misery are in
their way, and the way of peace have they not known. And so when
we understand our sinfulness, or if we would understand our
sinfulness, we look at our words, we look at what we say. And there's
an evidence, a very clear evidence of our depravity. And we need
to recognize our sin with regard to this commandment if we are
truly to be brought to repentance and to Jesus Christ. And then
the third thing here is that the law is a rule or gives us
direction in how we show our love to God because the law is
not just that external thing. It doesn't just deal with external
behaviors. It doesn't just say, well, be
careful what you say. But it goes much deeper than
that. Behind this law is the principle that every person has
a reputation and that we have a calling with regard to the
reputation of our neighbor. to defend it and to promote it.
The Catechism gives that real brief summary in the last phrase
or the last line. It says, this is the requirement
of this commandment that I defend and promote as much as I am able
the honor and good character of my neighbor. That's how we
show our love to God. The law is all about love for
God. And we show our love to God by
recognizing the neighbor's character, the neighbor's name, and we promote
it. We don't tear it down for our
own selfish reasons. And that's especially necessary
in the church between believers. Ephesians 4, verse 25, we read
that verse together. Paul says in Ephesians 4, putting
away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor. And then Paul
gives a reason. For, he says, we are members
one of another. When we don't speak the truth,
when we tear down the name of others in the church, we're sinning.
not just against other people, but against the unity of the
body of Jesus Christ. We are members one of another. This morning we want to look
at this commandment by focusing on the two major sins that are
involved in our communication with and about others. The sins
of slander and backbiting. That is what this commandment
really gets at. The Scriptures have a wealth
of material on this subject. And we want to look at that this
morning under the theme, the commandment against, or the commandment
which forbids, slander and backbiting. Let's notice three things here. First, the instrument that we
use for slander and backbiting, and that's the tongue. And then
the second, the destruction of slander and backbiting, and we
want to see how that's destructive, especially to the unity of the
body of Jesus Christ and our place in the body. And then third,
we want to see the calling that we have to avoid slander and
backbiting, not just avoiding the sin itself, but also the
situations that put us in a place where we're tempted to this sin. So, the commandment against slander
and backbiting, the instrument, the destruction, and then the
calling. The instrument that's used for
slander and backbiting and that this commandment talks about
is the tongue. Communication with language.
Now we want to say some things to begin with about the tongue.
It's a wonderful part of our makeup as human beings. Psalm
139, David says we're fearfully and wonderfully made. In the
book of Psalms, Psalm 8, David says we're made higher than all
the other creatures and just a little lower than the angels. And what is it that makes man
such a wonderful creation? It's this, that as one created
in the image of God, he was created as a creature to communicate. He was created for fellowship,
for fellowship with God and for fellowship with others. The most
amazing thing about the creation of a human and what a human being
is, isn't his physical being. That is amazing! You study health
sciences and human biology and you understand, you begin to
understand how amazing the human body is. You look at the development
of a child. You look at a newly born child
and everything is functioning and it's the most amazing thing.
But that physical aspect of our being really we share with the
other creatures. What's amazing about man is that
he's created as a creature to communicate. to communicate with
God, and to communicate with others, to understand God's speech,
and to talk back to God Himself. So, when Adam and Eve were created,
God came in the cool of the day, and He walked with them in the
garden, and He talked with them, and they had communion with God. And so, the most amazing aspects
of the human being, of our creation as human beings, are the instruments
that God has given us to communicate. Our ears, our mouth, our heart,
and our mind. And the tongue is given not just
for communion with God, but for communion between men. As an
instrument in which we express not just our love and praise
to God, the third commandment is all about that when it tells
us we should not take God's name in vain, but also now in the
ninth commandment for our communion with each other. God created
us for relationships. He didn't create us to be individuals,
separate hermits from the rest of humankind. But He created
man to be a part of the human race and a part of the body now
in the church of believers. And then the fall came. And the fall corrupted man's
ability, man's creation to communicate. The man's entire... being, his
entire makeup was brought under sin and under the power of sin
by the fall. And the result was this, that
the most glorious aspects of man's creation in the beginning
became the most vile ways in which man would express his sinfulness. And the Bible describes the natural
man this way, as one who has ears but cannot hear, and eyes
but cannot see, hands that cannot do, mouths that cannot speak. This is the natural man. All
the parts of him that God made for communication are corrupted
so that he becomes a child of Satan who is a liar and himself
a communicator of that which is false. And so you have that
description in Romans 3 of the depravity of man which focuses
on these gifts of communication. The Fall has turned us into the
opposite, and so James talks about the tongue as an unruly
evil, and under our tongue is the poison of asps, and every
other animal and wild beast can be tamed, but the tongue can
no man tame. And the tongue is referred to
or compared to the smallest of things, a small spark, a little
flame that starts a wildfire. or little rudder that turns a
ship, and the tongue has that potential for evil. But the tongue,
we understand, is created by God, not just for this potential
for evil, but also for potential for good. And so James 3 verse
9, James acknowledges that with the tongue we bless God, and
with the tongue we will curse man. And he says it shouldn't
be that way, but there is that potential there in the tongue,
as God has given it to us. Think of all the things that
the tongues of man have said through the history of the world
in the praise of God. Think of all the sermons that
have been written, all the songs that have been sung, all the
praises of God that have been spoken, the adoring of Him as
God, the adoring of His wondrous works in creation. The tongue
is a great instrument for good. therewith bless we God. But then
think of all the evil that the tongue has caused. It has the
power to destroy, to tear down, to curse God, to curse man who
is made in the image of God, to tear things apart in the human
existence. And the chief way And this is
what we want to focus on this morning. The chief way that the
tongue brings destruction is through slander and backbiting. I hardly have to tell you this
morning what those things are. Really, the two of them are the
same thing. They are the use of the tongue
to attempt to malign to drag in the dirt the character of
another, to expose somebody else to ridicule and to contempt and
hatred in the eyes of the other. And that can be done by lying
about another person, which is slander, telling things that
aren't true, or it can be done even by telling truths behind
the back of another that injure their personality. That's backbiting. And this sin, this sin of maligning
the character of another, by our words we so easily fall into
and commit. We embellish our gossip with
concern and we try to make our rumors sound like deep concern
for another person. Did you hear about so and so? And then we have something to
say about them. But we express it with sympathy, emotion. I feel so sorry for this person
because of this. And we're talking about the sins
of others and bringing their name down. Or we mix it with
truth. Sometimes we'll hear something about someone else and we'll
say, well, yeah, I've heard that too, but that's not quite true.
And then we add something to what has been heard. Or someone
is slandered and We say, well, yes, I expect that
because this is what they've done to me, and we add to the
snowball of slander against another person. That's what this is about. All unnecessary exposing of secrets
and confidences and information about others that would malign
their character and their name, that would injure them. Now,
sometimes it is necessary to speak about others behind their
back. I can give you an example. You
have children who have misbehaved, and their parents need to know
about it. And so you, who as an adult was
in a position of responsibility where those children were, you
need to talk to their parents. But that's out of love. That's
so that they're helped and corrected for their sinful behavior. But
very often, most often, We do this with nothing like that in
mind, more often simply to put down others and exalt ourselves,
to judge others by our own character and name that we think is so
good and important. Now, we have to understand the
destruction that this sin brings. And it's a destruction you understand
that centers on the communion of the church, the unity of the
body of Jesus Christ. Again, Ephesians 4, putting away
lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor, for we are
members one of another. Here's the reason that we ought
not be involved in this sin of slander and backbiting. God has
called us together in the church as one body in Jesus Christ,
and whenever We take the name of another person and we bring
it down. We're tearing apart the body
of Jesus Christ for which He gave Himself. We're going against, we're grieving
the Holy Spirit. Paul brings that out later in
the chapter. In verse 29, he talks about communication
again, and he says, "...let no corrupt communication proceed
out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying."
So he says, if you're going to say anything about anyone, let
it be only that which is going to build up, edify, build up
the name and character of somebody else, that it may minister grace
to the hearers. If it's not worth saying, don't
say it. And here's the reason, another
reason. And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit
is the Spirit by whom we are all brought into communion with
Jesus Christ as one body. And when we tear the body of
Jesus Christ apart by slander and backbiting, we are sinning
against the Spirit. We're grieving the Holy Spirit. And so this is the destruction
of the sin, first of all. It's a sin not just against other
people, but it's a sin against the church, and it's a sin against
the saving work of Jesus Christ in which He gathers the church
into one body. It's a sin against the unity
of the church. When we began, we said that this
commandment tells us how we are to love God. And over and over
in the scriptures, when we're told about love for God, we're
told that that involves also love for the brother. And if
a man says, I love God, but he doesn't love his brother, he's
lying. So you see here the importance
of this commandment. But then we can see how that
works out from the scriptures in the relationships that we
have with one another as fellow believers. And I want to just
go through some biblical principles here that have to do with slander
and backbiting and its destruction. First of all, slander and backbiting
will ruin your ability to be a true friend. to be a true member
of the body of Christ to other members in the church. Listen
to what Solomon says in Proverbs chapter 11, verse 13. He says,
A tale-bearer revealeth secrets, but he that is of a faithful
spirit concealeth the matter. He's saying there's somebody
who is a person that's known for slander and for backbiting,
for telling stories, bearing tales about others. That person
reveals secrets, and you can't have a person like that as a
friend. The value of a true friend is this, that you can bear your
heart to them. You can share your secrets. You
can do that in confidence. You can let them know your weaknesses.
They'll pray for you in your sins, but a tail-bearer will
hear that, and he'll run and tell others. And it's impossible
for that kind of a person to have friends. to live in communion
in the body of Jesus Christ. He that is a faithful spirit
concealeth the matter. He hides it. You can have confidence
in somebody like that. And so, Proverbs chapter 20 and
verse 19 says we should avoid friendships with people like
this. He that goeth about as a tale-bearer revealeth secrets,
therefore meddle not with him that flattereth with his lips."
Avoid him. Now, that's quite a statement.
Maybe the best way to understand it is to turn it around and look
at yourself. What's my place in the church? And is it true that I can't be
trusted? Is that because I'm a tail bearer,
and people can't be confident in me as a friend and member
of the body of Jesus Christ. And so slander and backbiting
will, first of all, ruin your ability to function in the body
of Christ as a true friend to other believers. Then second,
slander and backbiting will ruin friendships between others. It's
not just your ability to be a friend that you ruin by slander and
backbiting, but you'll tear apart other friendships. In Proverbs
chapter 16, verse 27, an ungodly man diggeth up evil, and in his
lips there is as a burning fire. A froward man soweth strife,
and a whisperer separateth very friends. And you get the idea
of somebody here who is always digging into other people's affairs
so that he can find some, what he would think is nugget of information
to put out there to disseminate to others. And a person who does
that destroys relationships. He separates chief friends. And so, Proverbs 17, verse 9,
looks at the opposite to this and it says, He that covereth
a transgression seeketh love. but he that repeateth a matter
separateth very friends." The opposite is covering a matter. And that's the way we promote
unity in the body of Jesus Christ. These kinds of people are usually
busy, busy looking for something that they can share that will
destroy the relationships that others have, sometimes motivated
by jealousy. You have a biblical example of
that in the story of David and Mephibosheth. Children, you probably
know this story. Remember, after the death of
Saul and Jonathan, David became the king. And then David wanted
to show kindness to the house of Saul. And he had made a vow
to Jonathan that if he became king, he would preserve the family
of Jonathan. And so Jonathan's son, Mephibosheth,
came into the house of David and he ate at the king's table
and he became a very close friend of David. He lived in the palace
with the king. And David gave him important
responsibilities and possessions in the land. But then later on
when David's son Absalom tried to take the throne and David
was forced into exile to leave the city, a man came to David when he was
in exile who was a servant both of David and this friend of David,
Mephibosheth, and that man was Ziba. And this is what Ziba did. He came and he brought an evil
report about Mephibosheth to David. He said that Mephibosheth
had stayed behind in Jerusalem, saying this, that, Now shall
the kingdom of Saul be restored to my hand. And it was an evil report, and
it wasn't a true report. But this is what it did. It drove
a wedge between David and Mephibosheth. So much so that David became
bitter against the house of Saul and went after the descendants
of Saul, even, because of this lie that Ziba brought to David. That's what tail-bearing does.
It separates friends. You're building a relationship
with somebody. You don't know them very well yet, but you're
beginning to appreciate them as a fellow member in the church
of Christ and a believer, and then somebody comes and tells
you about some evil thing from their past. or something that
they maybe have said about you, and it drives a wedge. So it not only destroys your
ability to be friends, but it destroys other friendships in
the church of Jesus Christ. And then third, slander and backbiting
will create and will maintain quarrels and fights between believers. Proverbs 26 verse 20 puts it
this way, where no wood is, there the fire goeth out. So where
there is no tailbearer, the strife ceaseth. Now very often, again, we think
of these nuggets of information about other people as jewels,
as treasures. I've got something on them. The
Bible says they're firewood. And what they do is they promote
fire, which is discord, fights between believers. The best thing
to do is to get rid of the wood. Don't look for the wood. Where
no wood is, the fire goes out. where believers refuse in the
body of Christ to talk about others in a way that tears down
their character. The strife ceases in the church,
and there's a promotion of unity between believers. Again, this
is probably something that you've seen and that you've experienced.
Two people had a disagreement. Maybe one sinned against another,
but they resolved it. They resolved it. There was repentance
and there was forgiveness and the two came together again but
then somebody else heard about it and so they start spreading
it to everybody else. And soon mistrust builds between
the two who had reconciled because wood was put on the fire and
the fire kept burning. God hates that. Proverbs 16,
verses 16 through 19 tell us that there are seven things that
God hates. And it's very striking to look
at those verses and see what those are. Because so many of
them, again, come back to the tongue. The tongue. It's amazing. You look at the Ten Commandments.
Two of them have to do with our speech. You look at the way the
Bible describes depravity in Romans 3. has to do with speech. You look at the life of sanctification,
James chapter 3, and if we are able to bridle the tongue, we're
having victory in sanctification. We're able to keep every other
member of the body in check. And now here in Proverbs chapter
6, verse 16, there are six things that the Lord hateth, yea, seven
are an abomination unto Him. What are they? A proud look,
and then a lying tongue, the tongue, hands that shed innocent
blood, a heart that devises wicked imaginations, feet that are swift
in running to mischief, a false witness that speaketh lies, and
he that soweth discord among brethren." Three of the seven
specifically have to do with the tongue. God hates it. It's an abomination because it
goes against this, that we are members one of another. And then
one more thing, slander and backbiting will cause wounds that are deep
and never healed. Maybe healed, but difficult,
difficult to heal. Proverbs chapter 26 verse 22,
the words of a tail bearer are as wounds and they go down into
the innermost parts of the belly. It's like a knife in your back,
and then it's turned, and there's a deep pain. Words are like that. Maybe you heard the expression,
sticks and stones will break my bones, but names will never
hurt me. It's not true. Sticks and stones
might break my bones, but my bones will get better. But names,
the wounds of evil words, They never go away. They can be so
deep. I think of the school environment
and the school playground and two boys and they're going to
fight it out during the lunch hour and then the bell rings
and they're in the middle of their fight. Nobody won and they're going
to go back to class. So they go back to class. Maybe
there was some injury, maybe some hurt, pain, physical. But
out of that fight, maybe even there comes this, a deeper respect
for one another. But then, there's a child in
school who's called names and is picked on and is bullied,
and that's a pain that can last a lifetime. Twenty or thirty
years later, that person might see the child who is so spiteful
and mean, and those wounds are still there. Because words are like the piercing
of a sword that go deep into the soul. They injure. They injure more than just the
body. They sow a discord, a wound that's
very hard to heal. And so the Bible calls us to
avoid slander and backbiting. And God puts it very clearly
in that verse we read from Leviticus 19, verse 16. Thou shalt not
go up and down as a tail bearer among thy people. It's talking
to Israel, the church and the people of God, and it's saying
to one of them about his behavior towards the others in the body,
don't go up and down bearing tails, telling stories about
others in the church. Slander and backbiting are forbidden
by the word of God. This is the principle. This is
the standard for our conduct in the church of Jesus Christ.
And we have to understand how to avoid this sin. We do that
by recognizing the situations, the mindsets, the behaviors,
that will tempt us to the sin of slander and backbiting. One
of those is idleness. In Leviticus 19 verse 16, thou
shalt not go up and down. And you have there the idea of
a person who's really got nothing to do, so the best thing they
can find to do is to go around to different people and dig up
information. meddling in other people's affairs. The Bible in the New Testament
gives us a very clear warning about this, especially to young
women in the church of Jesus Christ. 1 Timothy 5 verse 13,
And withal, that they learned to be idle, wandering about from
house to house, and not only idle, but tattlers also, and
busybodies, speaking things which they ought not." And Paul is
talking there about young women who are widows with no children
and no responsibilities. And he's saying it's good for
them to marry so that they can have children and have the normal
responsibilities that God places on young women. Otherwise, in
their idleness, this is what they're going to do. We need to recognize that, all
of us, as believers. If there's too much time, too
much leisure, This is what we'll be tempted to do. So there's one situation. Another,
and it really follows on it, is this, being busy, too busy
with the lives of others. Now, it's not wrong to be busy
with the lives of others. It's good for us in the church
to be aware of what's going on in the lives of others so that
we can serve the other members of the church of Jesus Christ.
But there's a wrong approach to that, and it's this. I want
to know all about what's going on in the lives of the other
members of the church so that I can get these tidbits of information
and pass them on to others. Paul talks about going from house
to house. Today, it's so easy to go from
house to house. You get a little information
here, and you take it to this house, and you spread it all
around. We live in an age of communication.
Now it's not just the telephone, but it's texting, and it's Facebook,
and it's everything else. And you can get these little
bits of information and disseminate them and cause injury and pain
that's so difficult to heal. And the point is this, we can
be too busy with the lives of others in our communication about
the lives of others. too busy talking about others. And then another way, another
thing that tends toward this sin is a sinful disposition towards
negative and critical judgments and evaluations of others. We need to recognize that that
is sinful When we're always critically evaluating others, what are we
going to do? We're going to form our judgments
and then we're going to talk about them. And very often the
very reason that that's done is so that we can promote our
own name and put down the name of others. We want to be in the
middle of it. But it shouldn't be that way.
Philippians 4, verse 8, I preached on this a couple of weeks ago.
Finally, my brethren, whatsoever things, and think about this
in regard to relationships and peace in the church and other
people and their names and their reputations and what you're going
to say about them, how you're going to think about them. Finally,
Paul says, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are
honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure,
whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good
report, if there be any virtue, if there be any praise about
others, think on these things rather than the negative and
the critical. A regenerated child of God. As he thinks about other
members of the body of Jesus Christ, desires to think this
way, why would he want to think about the dirt? We see the beauty of Jesus Christ
in the other members of the body of Jesus Christ. Then there's
one more thing, and it's this, that we often want to be the
first with the news. That's a good characteristic
for a journalist, but it's not a good characteristic for a member
of the body of Jesus Christ. The wise man, the Scriptures
say, keeps it in until afterwards. The faithful friend conceals
a matter. But we want to be first. We want
to be the first to tell others about it. Did you hear what so-and-so
did? And we want to disseminate evil
reports. James says, my brethren, it shouldn't
be that way. It shouldn't be that way. Those
things ought not so to be. Instead, the alternative, what
should characterize the Christian in his communication about others
are these things. First, that he follows the principle
and the way of Matthew 18. Moreover, if thy brother, verse
15, shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between
thee and him alone. between thee and him alone. And
if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother." And that's
the end of the matter. That's what Jesus is saying.
If you're so shocked by what someone else has done that you
feel like you've got to say something about it, then go to that person,
Jesus is saying, and say something to him. about it. Don't go and
seek the counsel of ten others who will go and seek the counsel
of ten others, and supposedly you're all doing it at a good
spirit. No. If you're so shocked, go between you and Him alone. Leviticus 19, verse 17. The next verse, verse 16 says,
don't go up and down as a tail bearer. Verse 17 says this, "...thou
shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart, thou shalt in any
wise rebuke thy neighbor, and not suffer sin upon him." So,
you can hate him in your heart and go around as a tail bearer,
or you don't allow that sin to rest on him, and you go and you
talk to him. That's not just Jesus' principle,
but it's there in the life of the Old Testament saints. So
you put your tongue then to a noble use, the use of edifying, building
up and not tearing down. And then, as you do this, you
pray. You open the scriptures, you
pray. If you're going to talk to anybody
about it, you talk to God. about it. You open the scriptures
and you pray. And you pray the prayer of Psalm
141 verse 3 as well. Set, Lord, a watch before my
mouth. Keep the door of my lips. You pray that God will help you
to check whatever you say with the Word of God, with truth,
with love, with necessity. with, is this helpful? Is this
edifying? And you go to your brother and
you talk to him and you pray with him as well. And then, most
important, as we fight against this sin, we discipline ourselves
to be silent. we say nothing rather than open
our mouths. Proverbs 10, verse 18, He that
hideth hatred with lying lips, and he that uttereth slander
is a fool. In the multitude of words there
wanteth not sin, but he that refraineth his lips is wise. In the multitude of words about
others there's no lack of sin. A fool utters all his mind, but
a wise man keepeth it in till afterwards." James says, if any
man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man. If you can
discipline yourself to be silent in speaking about others, James
is saying, you've progressed in sanctification to the highest
point that any sinner here on this earth will progress. Here's
where the real battle with sin is. How are we using our words
as we talk about others? And that's important because
we love not just the neighbor, but we love the church of Jesus
Christ. We love Christ Himself. And because we love Him and His
church, we're careful how we speak. You look at yourself in
light of this Word of God this morning, and you see what the
law does. It exposes our sin, and it shows us our need of the
gospel of Jesus Christ. There is repentance and forgiveness to
be found in Jesus Christ. We seek Him not just for forgiveness,
but for sanctification. In the death of Jesus Christ
on the cross, it became very clear in the circumstances of
His death that He died also for this sin, the sin of slander,
the sin of backbiting. What was it that brought Jesus
to the cross? It was false witnesses that came
and testified against Him that brought false accusation. that
bore a false witness against Him in an official courtroom
setting. It was the reviling and the lies
and the mockery of men that was a part of His suffering on the
cross. But yet, when He's hanging on the cross and hearing these words, His word was, Father, forgive
them. Who? Those who slandered and
mocked and crucified Him. those of His sheep among them. Father, forgive them, for they
know not what they do." In the cross there's forgiveness for
this sin, and then not only that, but in the cross we have an example
of the response that we ought to have to this sin when it's
committed against us. Think of Christ in His suffering.
When he was reviled, he reviled not again. When they spoke false
accusations and blasphemies against him, he opened not his mouth. He was willing to suffer." That's
telling us that there's never an excuse for slander and backbiting,
no matter how much you've been hurt by the injustices of others. Silence. It's not tit for tat. Too often,
that's the way we look at it. He said this to hurt me, so I'm
going to do this to hurt him. Now, repentance means we follow
Christ. We're willing to suffer reproach
for the name of Jesus Christ. And so, we need to pray. We need
to pray for the Holy Spirit. We need to pray that we understand
our place in the church of Jesus Christ and the work of the Holy
Spirit. We need to pray with the psalmist in Psalm 51, created
me a clean heart, O God, renew a right spirit within me, and
then open my lips and my mouth shall show forth thy praises. Because too often when we're
talking about others, we're singing our own praises. May we truly
glorify God so that the name and the way that we treat the
name of the brother is an evidence of our love for him. Amen. Father, we thank Thee for Thy
Word. We thank Thee for the way in
which we've been created and renewed by the Spirit and brought
into the body of Jesus Christ and able to show love for Thee
and one another in our communications. Lord, forgive us where we've
sinned in this regard. Help us to recognize this sin
and help us, Lord, to continue in the battle against this sin.
For the glory of Thy name, for peace in the church, and for
the promotion and good honor of others in Jesus Christ. We pray it for His sake. Amen.
The Sin of Slander and Backbiting
| Sermon ID | 86121343 |
| Duration | 51:30 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday Service |
| Bible Text | James 3; Leviticus 16:19 |
| Language | English |
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