Exodus chapter 20. Exodus 20, I'll pick up reading in verse 1. And God spoke all these words saying, I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me.

You shall not make for yourself a carved image, any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath. or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold Him guiltless who takes His name in vain.

Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work, you nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day.

Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery.

You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's.

Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking. And when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off. Then they said to Moses, You speak with us, and we will hear. But let not God speak with us, lest we die.

And Moses said to the people, Do not fear, for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin. So the people stood afar off, But Moses drew near the thick darkness where God was. Amen. Let us pray.

Father, we thank You for Your holy law. And we pray that Your Spirit would guide us in our study of Your Word. And that You would just help us, Father in Heaven, to seek by Your grace to obey these things, knowing that we have been saved under this. Knowing that we have been saved by grace through faith in Christ, so that we may live a life that is well-pleasing in Your sight.

We also pray, God, for any and all that do not know you. We pray that the law would do that work of conviction, that that law would indeed show the sinner who he is before a holy God, and that the gospel of free and sovereign grace would come as welcome relief. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Introduction

Well, this evening we're going to sort of jump right into Mount Sinai here and just take one of the commandments, specifically, the ninth commandment that deals with honesty. The commandment reads in verse 16, you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. It is repeated in Deuteronomy 5.20. Deuteronomy simply means second law.

It is the second giving of the law, the same law, to the young people that were now older when they came out of the wilderness wandering. The wilderness generation died, their posterity was getting ready to enter into the promised land, and so the law was re-read, re-ratified with them to prepare them for life in Canaan. Now, before we actually jump into verse 16, you should know that there are a few different ways to use the law of God. The Apostle Paul says in 1 Timothy 1a, we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, which implies that there is an unlawful use for the law of God.

It is unlawful to try and be saved by law keeping. We are sinners. We break that law all the time. No man can do everything written in the Law of God.

And so one of the uses of God's Law is what's called a pedagogical use. or a child tutor. The Law comes to convict. The Law comes to show us what we are before God. The Law comes to humble us and break us and display to us why we need the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

That has been called the first use of the Law. The second use is the civil use. And that means that the Law of God is good as it applies to people within society. And then the third use of the law is called the normative use.

And the normative use means simply this, that we come by grace to the Lord Jesus Christ. He saves us freely, graciously, mercifully. It's not by works that we do. It's not by law keeping.

But then once He saves us, He then shows us the will of God In the law. So the law becomes a guide for us. Again, not so that we can earn our salvation, but because we've been saved by grace, it serves as a pattern, or it displays for us what is pleasing to the Lord our God. So we're approaching this this evening with the first and the third use in mind.

Pedagogical. If you don't know Jesus Christ tonight, my hope and my prayer is that if you are a liar, God will find you out and convict you and show you that this is indeed a great and a heinous sin and that there is only one remedy and that is in the Lord Jesus Christ. than as well for Christians, those who have been saved. We ought not to bear false witness. We ought to speak truthfully.

We ought to be honest people. We shouldn't keep back. We shouldn't lie. We shouldn't be shady characters.

It ought not to be the case that people can't trust a Christian. That is simply a block on the gospel itself. And so we need to take these commandments seriously, and we need to be concerned with what they teach with reference to our Christian life.

The Two Tables of the Law

Now the Ten Commandments themselves break down into two tables or two sections. We often have the idea of the first four being on this tablet and then the last six being on the other tablet. That's probably not the way it was. There was probably all ten on one tablet and all ten on the other tablet.

The two tablets being respectively, one that the Lord our God would keep and then one that the people would keep. Similar to when you engage in a contract today. They usually give you a copy and they retain a copy. That's probably more akin to what was going on with those two tablets in terms of their structure.

They were kept, of course, in the Ark of the covenant, among other things, to show that God holds in high regard His law and His testimony. But there are two tables of the law. The first four are our duty toward God. They are summed up in that statement, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.

The last six are our duty toward men. They are summarized by that statement, you shall love your brother as yourself. And when we get into that second table of the law, they are given first to protect life. That's the sixth commandment.

Secondly, they are given to protect marriage. The seventh commandment, then to protect property. The eighth commandment, God is pro personal property. He is the one who owns all things, but He graciously gives us stuff so that we can effectively steward over it.

So if we steal or take from others, we are violating God's holy law. And then the last two commandments move from action to word and thought and forbid false witness and covetousness. And so we find ourselves in verse 16, and

Three Points on the Command

we'll look at three things with reference to the command. First of all, the prohibition of the command. Secondly, the reason for the command. And thirdly, the positive aspect of the command.

Reformed commentators and interpreters have always, or at least, long as I know, have always taken the statement, you shall not bear false witness, looked at that as a prohibition, but then implied the positive element. You look at the Westminster Larger Catechism, for instance. Or you look at Calvin's Institutes. That's the way they treat the commandments.

Not only what is forbidden, but what is prescribed in the command. So when the Bible says, you shall not murder, We haven't fulfilled the camp command just because we don't get AK-47s and gun people down in post offices. We also must try to promote life. We must also try to promote health and well-being and healing.

We must go out of our way to try and aid a brother who is hurting. When Jesus taught the parable of the Good Samaritan and He said, Go thou and do likewise, what lie behind that is a love for neighbor. Don't just walk by. I mean, it's not enough to not walk by and finish the job and make sure he's dead.

But no, you want to actually positively help him. So that's what I mean by the prohibition and then the positive aspect. But sandwiched in there, we'll look at the reason for the command. But

The Prohibition of the Command

notice first the prohibition. And I believe there are at least seven things, and I realize There could be more sad. There could be less sad. But seven seems to be the lucky number tonight.

Just kidding. I don't believe in luck.

Perjury in the Courtroom

The first is obviously perjury. Notice the language of the text. It says, you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. The idea is that the courtroom is involved.

The idea is that a man is being called to testify in a criminal or civil case. And perjury is the deliberate willful giving of false, misleading, or incomplete testimony under oath. God takes these things very seriously. You may not always think about it, but God really does desire honesty and truthfulness.

And the courtroom is a place that He is jealous about. Notice in Exodus chapter 23. Exodus chapter 23, verses 1 to 3. You shall not circulate a false report.

Do not put your hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness. You shall not follow a crowd to do evil, nor shall you testify in a dispute so as to turn aside after many to pervert justice. You shall not show partiality to a poor man in his dispute. What a beautiful statement.

We often think about showing partiality to the rich man. Johnny Cochran said, the color of justice in America is green. The idea being, he who has the most money gets the best legal representation. There is that sense where people show partiality to the rich man because he can afford it.

God says very specifically, don't show partiality to a poor man in his dispute. That's as much a temptation. We feel sorry for the poor guy. He's the downtrodden.

He has a bad life. He has a tough go. Let's just lie a little bit or sort of pat our witness a little bit so things will go favorable for him. No.

God does not condone Robin Hood. God says, do not show partiality. You tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God, is what you are required to say. Proverbs 19.

Proverbs 19. The Proverbs are filled. You go through Proverbs sometime and you just see how often lying or any form of lying is condemned by the Lord our God. Proverbs 19, verse 5, a false witness will not go unpunished, and he who speaks lies will not escape.

It's repeated in verse 9, a false witness will not go unpunished, and he who speaks lies shall perish. One of the reasons for this is stipulated in Proverbs 22, verse 1. It says, a good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, loving favor rather than silver and gold. God puts premium on our good name.

He is not about letting it get walked all over or trashed by someone who is ungodly and unjust and unrighteous with his tongue. God is about our reputation, and he has put a commandment in place to protect it. You know, sometimes people say, well, you know, my reputation isn't that important. You're not thinking biblically.

Your reputation is very important. What people think about you, now, it could be wrong, it could be skewed, but make it their problem. Let them not have a real reason to devalue your reputation. God says we are to protect one another.

In Deuteronomy 19 verses 15 to 21, I'll just sort of summarize the passage. The idea is simple, that if I allege that somebody did something to me and we stand before the judges and it turns out that I am lying, it turns out that I'm a false witness, it turns out I'm just trying to get this guy into trouble, whatever punishment would have been to him if he was guilty is given to me. That's pretty strong. You didn't play games in old covenant Israel.

You weren't so happy. It wasn't a litigious situation. Everybody didn't trip on, you know, in Walmart. I got a lawsuit here.

Quite ingenious. Do you imagine that? If you bring up a man and you accuse him of doing something, you know deep down inside that if they find out you're lying, whatever punishment would have been for him is given to you. Calvin comments, he says, whence it appears that false witnesses and murderers stand in the same light before God.

Lying in General

A second aspect of the command, or a second prohibition, is lying. Is lying in general. Not just lying in general. Lying is a bad thing.

Walter Kaiser says we ought to promote the sanctity of truth in all areas of life. So you can't reason, well I'm not in the courtroom, I'm not on the witness stand, I am not sworn under oath, I can just play loose with my language. No! You have to speak the truth.

That's what God requires of us. Leviticus 19 and verse 11. Leviticus verse 19, it says, You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another. Verse 16, You shall not go about as a tail bearer among your people, nor shall you take a stand against the life of your neighbor.

I am Jehovah. Don't be a tail bearer. Don't be a gossip. We'll deal with that in just a moment.

The idea is that you speak those things which are calculated to promote love, which are calculated to promote necessary edification. That's what Paul says in Ephesians 4. And lying, and deceiving, and tearing off the edges, and being ungodly with your speech does not do that.

Backbiting and Slander

Thirdly, backbiting or slander. Backbiting or slander. We've all been victim to this, haven't we? Probably.

You've all had somebody talk stuff about you behind your back. You've had somebody say bad things about your reputation. It hurts, doesn't it? It hurts to find out that you didn't do what people think that you did.

Or that you did what they don't think you did. But not only have we all had it done to us, you ready? We have all done it to others. Somehow we justify that.

Somehow that's okay. Somehow when I speak about others, I'm in my rights to do so. Not according to God's holy law. Backbiting and slander.

This includes false and malicious statements made about another. Malicious means evil. Malicious means bad. One of the differentiations between murder and manslaughter.

Manslaughter is if I kill somebody accidentally. They're still dead, but I didn't have malice in my heart. I didn't calculatedly take their lives. I didn't premeditate it.

And backbiting and slander is false and malicious statements made about another. Proverbs 10, verse 18, whoever hides hatred has lying lips, and whoever spreads slander is a fool. If you don't know the truth about something, shut your mouth. You don't always have to comment.

You don't always have to add your two cents. You are not being paid by CNN to give your spin on everything that comes your way. We need to shut our mouths more. We need to guard our tongues.

We need to guard against this temptation of being backbiting and slanderers. Notice in Romans chapter 1, as the Apostle is highlighting the universal condemnation of all men everywhere under sin. He says in verse 18, the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. Why?

Because they suppress the truth in unrighteousness. He goes on to describe how this manifests itself. What does it look like when we have a group of people who do not honor God as God, who do not give Him thanks, who would rather worship and serve the creature rather than the Creator, who is God, blessed forever? What does a people look like that are given over to that kind of idolatry?

What do a people look like when they are given over into abandonment to sin? Well, of course, he says in verse 26, for this reason God gave them up. to vile passions, for even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men, committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind. to do those things which are not fitting.

Being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil mindedness. They are whisperers, back biters, Haters of God. Violent, proud boasters. Inventors of evil things.

Disobedient to parents. Undiscerning. Untrustworthy. Unloving.

Unforgiving. Unmerciful. Who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same, but also approve of those who practice that. Well, you look at that catalog of sins.

There's some pretty heinous things in there. Homosexuality. Wow! It's an abomination.

Greg Bonson says, therefore, homosexuality that is publicly accepted is symptomatic of a society under judgment. Inwardly corrupted to the point of impending collapse, Paul the Apostle regarded it as the most overt evidence of that degeneracy to which God, in His wrath, gave over the nations. Homosexuality. Murder.

These are the big ones, right? Sexual sin. Vile activity. So is backbiting and whispering.

Whispering doesn't mean, you know, you don't want to be heard. The idea is you're speaking about somebody else. It's not like in church when you're saying, shh, be quiet. You're whispering under your breath, we'll eat when we get home or whatever.

That's not the whispering. God's not anti-whisper. He probably would like me to whisper more often. It's this talking behind people's backs.

You've got homosexuality. You've got murder. You've got God's wrath and judgment on a people for having abandoned Him. So, in essence, God abandons them.

That's the point of Romans 1. God gave them over. And linked with those big things that we all hate are these sins of the tongue that we all practice. Much as we rail against engaging in outward wickedness like homosexuality, let's be against speaking evil with our tongues.

Gossip and Tailbearing

A fourth way is gossip and tailbearing. Gossip and tailbearing, similar, but perhaps the maliciousness isn't there. This is more of the busybody. This is more of the person who just can't keep their nose out of someone else's business.

Not everything that comes near you is your business. Please, remember that. Rumor or talk of a personal, sensational or intimate nature. Somebody might confide something in you.

They don't want you to broadcast it. They certainly don't want you to email it to the church. Guard yourself. Watch out.

Don't be a gossip. Don't be a tail-bearer. Leviticus 19 and verse 16, we already saw that. Leviticus 19 and verse 16.

Again, the Proverbs are full of this. You shall not go about as a tail-bearer among your people. That's just simply wrong. You shouldn't do it.

I'll write this down for later. Proverbs 11, 13, 18, 8, 20, 19, 26, 20, and 26, 22 all deal with gossip or tail bearing. God actually cares about these things and He would rather you close your mouth than sin against Him and against His people.

Hypocrisy as False Witness

A fifth is hypocrisy. Isn't hypocrisy lying? Hypocrisy is bearing false witness. We see this a lot in religious circles.

People who profess faith, but do not possess faith. People who say they follow Jesus, but live like the devil. Hypocrisy is damnable. Hypocrisy is wicked.

Now, I'm speaking of reigning hypocrisy, because all of us have remaining hypocrisy. All of us do those things which are inconsistent with our profession of faith. But if your overall tendency or characteristic is to live like the devil, but to profess faith in Jesus, then you are a liar, you are a hypocrite, and you are bearing false witness and are subject, therefore, to the wrath of Almighty God. Proverbs 11, 9.

The hypocrite with his mouth destroys his neighbor, but through knowledge the righteous will be delivered. Matthew chapter 7. At verse 5, Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. Hypocrite!

First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. And then in James 3, verse 17. James 3, verse 17, describing that wisdom that is from above. And then he says, the wisdom that is from above, verse 17, is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. 1 Peter chapter 2 and verse 1.

I'm sorry, that was 2 Peter. 1 Peter chapter 2, verse 1. Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking. You see, brethren, God hates hypocrisy. And when people say, I don't go to the church because it's full of hypocrites.

I hate them. Well, so does God. God hates hypocrites as well. They should be in church because that's where hopefully they'll get healing.

It's like saying, I hate going to the hospital because there's a bunch of sick people there. Oh, really? That's why they're supposed to be there. If anybody ever says, oh, that Free Grace Baptist Church is full of hypocrites.

Yeah, it is. Come on in. Maybe God will heal you too because that's what we're looking for. We're looking for help.

We all got that in us. There is a difference between remaining corruption and reigning corruption. Professing without possessing is a sin against our God. It is to bear false witness.

So I don't know if these are actually two more, but the idea of engaging in these things, being an active proponent, being an active user of our tongue in such lying practices, but then also receiving these things.

Receiving Evil Speech

You might say, well, I never talk anything about anybody. Yeah, but do you listen to it? I don't gossip, but do your ears sort of glow when you hear gossip? I forget where I was just recently.

Oh, it was Daniel. Daniel Fields, the man who visits here on Wednesday nights. He said, boy, your ears are red. I understand my ears get really red.

Pastor Barcelos used to tell me that. I don't know why. Maybe it's just the ambient temperature causes the heat to reveal itself in my ears. Do your ears get that way when gossip is around?

Now whenever you see my red ears, you're going to think, oh, he's hearing gossip. No, that's not the case. Not that I am prone or not prone or not that I don't have it in me. But brethren, do your ears tingle?

You may not be an active proponent. You may not go out and with your tongue lash other people. But with your ears, you may be a hardy receptor. With your ears, you may receive those things.

Calvin said we must also close our ears against false and evil speaking. You don't have to listen to it. You can't ever say, well, they made me listen to gossip. Oh, really?

They tied you down? They handcuffed you? They used flex cuffs and they hog tied you in such a position and they just yelled gossip into your ear to the point where you had to hear it? That doesn't happen to us.

We're oftentimes willing participants hearing about other people's issues. Face it, we like dirty laundry. We like those things that make others look bad. You look at the news.

What do they show? People that get up every day and go to work and work hard and come home, love their families and do it all over again the next day. Who wants to watch that? Right?

Who wants to read about that in the newspaper? We gravitate toward the sensational. We gravitate toward the criminal. We gravitate toward those things which are ungodly.

We need to identify that about ourselves and we need to stop. Somebody comes along and they have to tell you something about someone else. You're free to say, I don't want to hear it. I really don't.

You should go pray about that. You should go talk to that person. But I don't want to hear it. We must also close our ears against false and evil speaking.

Proverbs 17 and verse 4. Proverbs 17 and verse 4. An evildoer gives heed to false lips. A liar listens eagerly to a spiteful tongue.

An evildoer gives heed to false lips. You are an evildoer when you give heed to false lips. That's what Solomon says there. Proverbs 18 and verse 8.

Proverbs 18, 8. The words of a tailbearer are like tasty trifles, and they go down into the inmost body. Is that how it is with you? The words of a tailbearer are like tasty trifles?

Or do you say, I don't want that stuff in me. I don't want to hear it. Proverbs 26 to 22. Proverbs 26, verse 20, where there is no wood, the fire goes out, and where there is no tailbearer, strife ceases.

As charcoal is to burning coals and wood to fire, so is a contentious man to kindle strife. The words of a tailbearer are like tasty trifles, and they go down into the inmost body. So perjury, lying, backbiting, slander, gossip, tail-bearing, hypocrisy, engaging in these things and receiving these things. They're all prohibited, plus probably a lot more things.

If you get the Westminster larger catechism and you look at their exposition of the Ninth Commandment, you will probably see that I've only touched the surface.

The Reason for the Command

The reason for the command. First is the character of God. He is the Lord God of truth. God does not lie.

God does not speak evil. God does not show partiality. God is not a false witness. He is, in the language of Psalm 32, verse 5, the Lord God of truth.

He is, in the language of Titus 1-2, God who cannot lie. Jesus Christ identified Himself as the way, the truth, and the life in John 14, verse 6. Lying is consistent with the character of the devil, not with God. Jesus said in John 8, you are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do.

He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. The character of God demands that we bear no false witness.

The Character of Man

Secondly, the character of man. God made man in his own image and calls for all of us to respect that image and to honor man. You should protect your brother's reputation just as you would protect his property. You're driving home and you see brother so-and-so's bicycle out front.

You're going to stop and put it away or tell him about it. You see Brother So-and-So's reputation on the line. You're not going to join in the witch hunt and attack him. You're going to say, give the man some fairness.

Give him some righteous treatment. Don't speak about things you don't know anything about. Brethren, this goes on way too much. Proverbs are very clear in this regard.

The first to plead his cause seems right until his neighbor comes along and examines him. I think the golden rule fits very well here. as you want to be treated. You know how it is to have people speak ill about you. Don't do it to other people.

Stop the cycle of wickedness. Don't propagate it. Don't promote it. Don't continue it.

Solomon also says in Proverbs 18, he who answers a matter before he hears it, it is folly to him. You get one bit of a situation and you're ready to render a verdict. That's ungodly. That is unholy.

That is unrighteous. Thankfully, some of our civil or criminal courts operate even more fairly than what Christian churches do. At least they have a jury. At least they do deliberate.

At least they listen to witnesses on either side. At least they look at some evidence. Very often, within the Christian church, we'll hang our own before we even know the facts, before we even understand the situation. Brethren, you need to protect your reputation and you need to protect other people's reputation by speaking the truth in love, the character of man.

Stability of the Social Order

Also, a reason for the command is the stability of the social order. I know that sounds pretty large and pretty macrocosmic, but it's true. We can't do anything in a society of lies. How do we transact business when people are lying to us?

The commandments protecting life, family, and property must necessarily include the protection of truth for the social order to maintain stability. When God, through the prophets, is indicting Israel or Judah for their manifold wickedness, specifically in Isaiah chapter 1, He is saying that their nation is messed up, and one of the contributing reasons is that they don't speak the truth. The stability of the social order depends on this. How do we do family if we lie to each other?

How do husbands and wives live in harmony with one another if they're lying to each other? How do we engage in business contracts and dealings if we lie? It's sickening. We must insist on truth.

R.L. Dabney said, lies destroy confidence. He said, in short, if confidence is destroyed, then all the bands which unite man with his fellows are loosed. Each man must struggle on, unaided by his fellows, as though he were the sole forlorn remnant of a perishing race.

Lies reduce us to this place where we can't trust anybody, so we're the only ones to fend for ourselves in the world. That's not good. The stability of the social order demands truthfulness.

The Positive Aspect of the Command

Then thirdly and finally, the positive aspects of the command. First, speaking the truth in matters of justice and judgment. If you're called upon to witness in a crime or in a civil matter, tell the truth. Not based on who's poor, who's rich, who's going to benefit, what's the circumstance.

No, you tell the truth. The whole truth and nothing but the truth. That's a requirement from the 9th Commandment. This is what the Bible affirms throughout.

Secondly, speak the truth in all areas of life. Not just in the courtroom. Be a man of your word 24-7. Be a man of your word always, constantly, fervently and earnestly.

This is the foundation for Christian communication according to Paul in Ephesians 4.25. Ephesians 4.25. describing the conduct of the new man. And he says, Therefore, putting away lying, let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. That is foundational to what follows there in Ephesians chapter 4.

Putting away lying. He'll go on to explain how we are to not talk to people and how we are to talk to people. Notice in verse 29, Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice. I'm convinced that if we asked ten Christians, probably nine and a half of them would say, if questioned, what are the sins that grieve the Holy Spirit? We are trained to think in terms of the big sins and overlook what one man calls our respectable sins. We will say homosexuality is horrible and it must grieve the Spirit.

Fornication is horrible and it must grieve the Spirit. Murder is horrible and it must grieve the Spirit. Child abuse is horrible and it must grieve the Spirit. That's not what Paul's talking about in Ephesians 4.

He's talking about the way you use your tongue. I'm not suggesting those other sins don't grieve the Spirit, but I am telling you that in the context The grieving of the Holy Spirit comes about when people in the same church engage in bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking. When you cannot control yourself, when you must say something, when you must listen to something, when you do it and it breaks God's law, you grieve His Holy Spirit. That's what Paul is saying there.

Now foundational to those positive and negatives is don't lie to one another. So speak the truth in all areas of life. Thirdly, swear to your own hurt. I don't know if you caught that in Psalm 15, verse 4.

He swears to his own hurt and does not change. Now that does not mean you knowingly engage in messed up contracts. You knowingly engage in things that are not good. But the idea is you enter into an agreement, you enter into a covenant, you enter into a contract, and then you find out that you're not going to benefit like you thought.

What does the Bible say? Breach the contract? Break the covenant? Cast shame on the name of Christ and your profession of faith?

No. Swear to your own hurt and don't change. You say you're going to do something, you do it. You say you're going to be somewhere, you be there.

Now, if you get hit by a car, you get serious illness, or there's other mitigating circumstances, you call, you make arrangements, and that's fine. But as a pattern of life, can you say that you swear to your own hurt and do not change? That's what identifies a godly man. Ultimately, that describes Jesus alone.

But Revelation 14, 5, describing those who follow the Lamb says, and in their mouth was found no deceit. The background of Revelation 14, at least in that section, seems to be Psalm 15. So I think those two go hand in hand. In their mouth was found no deceit.

That's what ought to typify and characterize those who profess faith in Jesus Christ. Fourthly, promote the truth by exercising charity toward others. Charity, love, kindness, compassion, gentleness. Cut somebody a break once in a while.

What do the Proverbs say here? He who covers a transgression seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates friends. You can't let love cover a sin. That's okay.

Now, I have my own thoughts or grid or idea on how and when to do this. If it's a repetitious thing, you may not always want to cover it. You may want to deal with it. If it's a big thing, you may not want to cover it.

You may want to deal with it. But if it is something that isn't repetitious, it isn't that severe, you can let love cover some things. You don't have to be the policeman with everybody. You wronged me.

You did this. All right. OK. But let's let love cover. a multitude of sins.

This is most helpful in a marriage. Y'all are constantly reproving one another about all of your shortcomings. That is going to be a very unhappy home. I can say this because my wife's not here.

I have to let love cover a multitude of sins. Just kidding. Actually, she has to let love cover a multitude of sins. If every single day we got up and we kept track of everything that displeased us, and we read our list, what would ever get done?

We sin all the time. And this, and that, and that, and that, and say, come on already. Let love cover a multitude of sins. He who covers a transgression seeks love.

And very often, they're not even transgressions. They're preferences. And then finally, promoting the truth by discouraging the slanderer or gossip. This is tough.

It's difficult to tell someone, I don't want to hear what you have to say. It's difficult to reprove somebody who likes to run their mouths about other people. It's difficult to cover your ears and go, ah, so you don't hear what they have to say. They're going to think you're weird.

They're going to think you're a Pharisee, or you're too pious, or you're too holy, or you're a legalist. No, that's not it at all. I just don't want that stuff rotting my soul. Because no good comes from it.

It is not calculated to promote or help. It does not edify. It does not build up. But you are not a victim in this world to the gossips.

You must take a stand. You must say no. You must be able to declare, I don't want to hear these things. So please, promote the truth by discouraging the slanderer or gossip.

Application

In conclusion, the facts about lying. We saw in John 8 that it originates with the devil. When you lie, you associate with the devil. It is characteristic, unfortunately, of mankind.

Psalm 58, verse 3 says, the wicked are estranged from the womb. They speak lies as soon as they are born. That's a tough one. Only the Reformed doctrine of total depravity can account for such a statement.

When God traces back our depravity, He goes right back to the womb. It is forgivable by Christ. We need to understand that. We've condemned, we've prohibited, we've said what is included in this command.

We need to understand that our blessed Savior said this. He said, therefore, I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men. Every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men. That doesn't mean universalism.

He's talking, of course, about those who put their faith in Jesus. He's talking about those who go to Christ for remission of sin. If you are a liar, if you bear false witness, if you are a backbiter, if you are a gossip, if you are a slanderer, if you do not promote good health with your tongue, if you love to hear gossip, there is forgiveness with Jesus. You need to believe on Him, you need to receive that forgiveness, and you need to pray for grace to change.

Stop using your tongue for such ungodliness. And then finally, it is punishable in hell. Revelation 21 describes those who will be in the lake of fire. It says, the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars. shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." Manton commenting, and James says, a tongue that is set on fire from hell shall be set on fire in hell.

You know who wished for a drop to cool his tongue. The hot words of wrath, strife and censure come from Satan and lead to Satan. When you feel this heat upon your spirit, Remember from what hearth these coals were gathered. When you want to lie or misuse your tongue, it is of the pit.

Do not give in. Look to Jesus. Look by grace through faith to the one alone who can forgive you and who can guard you and who can keep you. Well, let us pray.

Closing Prayer

Father, we thank you for the Word of God. We thank you for that Law of God that has those wonderful purposes in our lives. And we pray that You would indeed convict us and show us that mercy which is in Jesus Christ. And we pray for those in Christ that we would speak the truth in love, that we would speak those things which are good for necessary edification, that we would not tear down with our words. and that we would guard one another's reputation.

Do forgive us, Lord. We would all confess that we have broken this ninth commandment in many, many ways. We pray that you would just wash us and cleanse us and just give us a love for the truth such that anything that is contrary would be despised by us. And I pray that you would go with us now and watch over us in this coming week.

And we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Scripture References

• Exodus 20:16; 23:1-3
• Leviticus 19:11; 19:16
• Deuteronomy 5:20; 19:15-21
• Psalms 15:4; 32:5; 58:3
• Proverbs 10:18; 11:9; 11:13; 17:4; 17:9; 18:8; 18:13; 18:17; 19:5; 19:9; 22:1; 26:20; 26:22
• Isaiah 1
• Matthew 7:5; 12:31
• Romans 1:18; 1:26
• Ephesians 4:25; 4:29
• Titus 1:2
• James 3:17
• 1 Peter 2:1
• Revelation 14:5; 21:8
• John 8:44; 14:6
• 1 Timothy 1:8