Galen Call's Sermon Library
"The Ten Commandments: To tell the Truth" - November 15, 1998
Thank you, Joshua. Would you open your Bible, please, with me to the book of Exodus? As we think today about the theme "To Tell the Truth," the ninth of the commandments of our Lord can be found in verse 16 where it says, "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor." We have witnessed in our national scandal of recent months just how corrosive and addictive the habit of lying becomes. Not to do offense to potato chips, but lying is a little bit like potato chips. You can't just tell one because the first one leads to a second and so on. Sir Walter Scott is the author of that famous line that says, "Oh, what a tangled web we weave." When first we practiced to deceive Abraham Lincoln, a president of the United States, of course, and known as Honest Abe, said, "No man has a good enough memory to be a successful liar." He hadn't met everyone yet. We however are living in a culture where lying and deception are par for the course. We have not only abandoned truth in our culture, we have abandoned truth-telling as being important. And we see that in many arenas of life, from advertising to politics to religion, from media and sales. We are cynical of claims that we hear on television and suspicious of promises. We discount news stories and we distrust most leaders. Why? Because we have learned, sadly, that dishonesty is too often acceptable, even expected. There are some people who lose their jobs because they insist on being truthful. In the book entitled, "The Day America Told the Truth," a survey revealed that 91 percent of Americans routinely lie about trivial things. And on 9 out of 10 Americans believe that if it's trivial, you may lie about it and that's not a problem. Thirty-six percent lie about important matters. One out of three don't mind telling a ball-faced lie if it's important. Eighty-six percent of children, regularly high school students, rather regularly lie to parents. And 69 percent of married couples regularly lie to one another. The day America told the truth. In the USA Today poll, only 56 percent of parents teach that honesty is a virtue to the children. That's only a few more than half, teach their children to be honest, and 65 percent of students in high school would cheat on an important exam. In another USA Today article, Gerald Jellison writes, "Each of us fibs at least 50 times a day." Some of the most commonly used fibs are, "I wasn't feeling well. I didn't want to hurt your feelings. The check is in the mail. I'm just kidding. I was only trying to help." In one news program, a noted physician made this remark. He said, "Lying is an important part of social life, and children who are unable to do it are children who may have developmental problems." There's a physician with a problem. The Word of God says, "You shall not bear false witness." Why did God say that? Lying destroys people. It destroys society. Because of the damage that it does to us as persons, because of the way that it dishonors the glory of God, God commands us not to lie. He wants the very best for us, and therefore he wants us to be truthful. As we think about this command that we find in verse 16, "I want us to take a closer examination of it." What does it mean to bear false witness? The idea here is to use words or actions to deliberately deceive. That's the real meaning of it. You and I may give information that is false that we're unaware of, but when we in fact use information to deliberately deceive someone or to mislead another person, then we have born false witness. Augustine said, "A lie is a voluntary speaking of an untruth with an intention to deceive." Newton, of course, is the fountainhead of lies. Jesus said about him, "He is a liar and the Father of lies." And of course he is the God of this world, and we see his fingerprints all over it. Whether little white lies or great big whoppers, all dishonesty is a transgression of this commandment that is aimed at the protection of truth and of truth-telling. As Moses rewrites this commandment in Deuteronomy chapter 5 and the second account of the Ten Commandments, he interprets it just a little bit different by inserting a different word instead of calling it a false witness. He says, "You shall not bear evil witness." And the word evil there means to be void inside or to be hollow or to be insincere. You shall not bear hollow witness is the command of the Lord. Now why does God give this command? Because he himself is called the God of truth, Isaiah 65, 16, twice. He is the God of truth, and as the God of truth, he tells us himself that he hates a lying tongue, Proverbs 6, 17. You see, the very moral order that the Creator established blesses truth and punishes lies. God knows that honesty and integrity and truthfulness produce happy and prosperous lives, happy and prosperous homes, happy and prosperous societies. Truth was important for ancient Israel. That's why God established it in this covenant with that nation. But it's also important for every culture and every society. God established truth in Israel, and he ordered penalties for liars. Now as we think about this, I want us to notice also a broader implication because other sins may be included here besides bearing false witness. For example, we might point to the sin of gossip or tail bearing. In Leviticus 19, verse 16, God says, "You shall not go about as a slanderer among your people, and you are not to act against the life of your neighbor. I am the Lord." Isn't it interesting there that he equates acting against the life of your neighbor with slandering? In Proverbs 20, verse 19, it says, "He who goes about as a slanderer reveals secrets, therefore do not associate with a gossip." We might also point to hypocrisy, but that also is a form of lying. It's living a lie. A hypocrite plays a role that does not represent the truth about himself. We have many examples in Scripture, but none stand out more to the reader of the New Testament that Ananias and Sephira, who in the book of Acts misrepresented what they had done in giving to the Lord. And when Peter confronts them, he says to them, "You have not only lied to men, you have lied to God." You see, it was a lie, the hypocrisy of it was a lie. We could point out other things that elaborate upon this commandment, for example, exaggeration. Sometimes we exaggerate to be humorous, and of course, that is a funny kind of humor. But when we exaggerate to mislead or to deceive, then it falls under bearing false witness. A new endo, likewise, can be a sin that falls under this commandment. The story is told about two men who work on a large ocean going vessel. One was a captain, the other was a first mate. They did not get along very well, in fact, they didn't get along at all. The first mate was a man who did not normally drink, but on one occasion he became intoxicated. And so the captain entered into the log of the ship, first mate drunk today. He knew that making that comment would go against the first mate. Well, the first mate was aware of this evil that had been done in the intent of the captain, so he begged him to change the record, but the captain nearly said, "It's a fact and into the log it goes." And so a few days later, the first mate was keeping the log. And he concluded today's account by saying, "Captain Sober today, realizing the implication, the innuendo of that state with the captain ordered him to change it, and the first mate said, "It's a fact and into the log it stays." You see, innuendo can also be bearing false witness. We have to be very careful regarding this commandment. That brings me to a deeper question. Something of a philosophical question, a question of ethics, that's a question that if you think about it, all of us struggle with from time to time, and it's this, is it ever permissible to tell a lie? Is it ever permissible to tell a lie? We have only to think of some examples in the Bible to raise that question. One example would be the order that Pharaoh gave to the Hebrew midwives to kill the male infants, which they did not do, and when he questioned them about it, they came up with this rather odd statement regarding Hebrew women going into labor and giving birth before the midwives could even get there. Now, there may have been some element of truth to that, but it doesn't seem quite all truth either, and they are commended for what they did. Before we might talk about Rahab the Harlan in Joshua chapter 2, who hid the Israeli spies in her house, and then when she was questioned regarding that, told a lie, she said, "I don't know where they went," and then the men escaped, and she is commended in Hebrews chapter 11, well, we can point to some more contemporary examples. What about those people who hid the Jews from the Nazis and lied to the Nazi stormtroopers about the Jews being hidden in their house? We might even point to those who today in various parts of the world are protecting Christians from persecution that is happening in a number of countries in various parts of the world. Those countries that are still communists like Cuba, Vietnam, and North Korea, or Muslim countries like Sudan, Egypt, which recently crucified some Christians, I should say, where some Christians were recently crucified, it wasn't the government of Egypt, but they allowed it to happen and are not punishing the perpetrators. Or Saudi Arabia, one of our allies, against Sam Hussein. Christians are being persecuted, but what about those who are protecting them, and then lying about it? Let me go back to the biblical examples that I gave you for a moment, and point out to you that although both of those instances involve commendation later of the Hebrew midwives and also of Rahab, they are not necessarily commended for the lies that they told. They are commended for their faith in acting an obedience to God, but not for the lies, but the point that I'm raising is this, that we live in a world that is a fallen world, and sometimes there are conflicts of moral values. When that occurs, you and I need to learn to choose the higher principle. Because these moral choices involve choosing lying or a worse evil. For example, in the cases that I pointed out here, these people obeyed God rather than man, and they chose a higher principle, and that was the protection of life. The protection of human life was a higher, more principle than that of telling the truth in those cases. You and I are sometimes faced with the same kinds of moral dilemmas, and we need wisdom from God to know what to do. I come to this basic premise that I believe is accurate, and that is that when you and I face moral values, we must examine a conflict of moral values, we must examine what moral values are involved and sometimes make the hard decision of choosing the higher one. But I want us to come also to a further application of this commandment. What does it mean to not bear false witness? By way of application, let me point out, first of all, that it means to speak the truth. It reminds you of Ephesians, chapter 4, verse 25, where it says, "Therefore laying aside falsehood, speak truth, each one of you with his neighbor, for we are members of one another." Not to bear false witness means to speak the truth, to be honest. The New Testament says that we're to lay aside falsehood, we're to lay aside deceit, we're to lay aside bearing of false witness, and speak the truth. Why? Because we are members, one of another, and I lie to a brother or sister in Christ. I am lying, not only to that person, I am lying to God and I am lying to myself because that person and I are members of the same body. God's people of all people need to adhere to truth and adhere to truth-telling. But there's a second word of exhortation that comes along with this from the same chapter of Ephesians, where in verse 15 it exhorts us to speak the truth in love. We're to speak the truth, but we are to temper it with love. Turn where's beest stated, truth without love is brutality, love without truth is hypocrisy. Truth without love is brutality, love without truth is hypocrisy. We want to be guilty of neither brutality nor hypocrisy, and so once again we come to this important word of balance that is such a key thought, a key theme in the word of God and in our maturity in Jesus Christ. We are to be a people of truth who speak it in love. Perhaps the most serious kind of lying is the kind of lying that we do to ourselves. When we tell ourselves wise so often and so subtly that we deceive ourselves, that perhaps is the most dangerous kind of deceit there is, self-deceit, and it points us in the direction of the real problem of it. The real problem is, of lying that is, is the deceit that is in the human heart. The problem with lying ultimately is not that it's out there in the culture. It's that it's in here, in my heart and in your heart. As Jeremiah said, "The heart is more deceitful than all else, and is desperately sick." Who can understand it? And then the next verse says, "I the Lord search the heart. I test the mind even to give to each man according to his ways, according to the results of his deeds." Jeremiah 17 verses 9 and 10. The heart is deceitful, desperately wicked, it is terribly sick. Who can understand it? God says, "I can." I search the hearts. I know what is in the heart of men. You see, the heart of the problem is the problem of the heart. The greatest need that you and I have is for a heart that conforms to the truth. A heart that conforms to God's standard of right living. God gave us the Ten Commandments so that we might understand what it takes to live happily in this world. Just suppose for a moment, just suppose, that beginning at the 12 o'clock moon today, nobody in the world could tell a lie for 24 hours. A recent movie was written based upon that premise that a man could not tell a lie. Just suppose that there could be no lie out of Washington or out of Baghdad. Just suppose that there would be no lie between a husband and a wife, between a high schooler and his parents. Suppose there could not be a lie told on television, including in those interruptions called commercials. Just suppose. Imagine what kind of a world this would be. Imagine what would happen to relationships. If we say we'd rather shocking, imagine it first would be pretty tough on relationships. But think in the long run, if it went beyond 24 hours, just imagine what would happen if everyone always spoke the truth in love. Think of what a happy world this could become. You see, when God gave this commandment, He knew what He was talking about. You see, God also gave this commandment because He knows the human heart that our hearts are deceitful by their very nature, we have a sin nature. And that sin nature does not want to face up to the truth. It prefers to twist the truth to its own advantage. So what do we do with these hearts? Well, it points us in the direction of the solution, what I'm talking about now, because the solution really is a clean heart that only God can create. King David said, "Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity and in sin my mother conceived me. Behold thou thus desire truth in the innermost being, and in the hidden part that will make me to know wisdom." Here he says in verse 9 in Psalm 51, "Hide thy face for my sins and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me." That word steadfast means to be erect, to be able to stand up straight. He says, "O God, renew a spirit in me that's able to stand up with integrity and with honor and with truthfulness." Those words written after David had lived a lie for more than a year paid a terrible price, but he repented he acknowledged it. And this was his prayer, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and you know something that needs to be your prayer and my prayer today as well." Because the very best of us struggles with this whole thing of lying. The fact is that none of us can stand up straight in God's holy gaze. We all fall down. We're all guilty of lies and deceit that arise from our sinful natures. Our need is to be washed. Our need is to have our iniquities blotted out. Our need is to have a new heart created within us. When David said, "Create in me a clean heart," he chose a particular Hebrew verb. It is the same one that is used in Genesis 1-1, where it says, "In the beginning, God created out of nothing the heavens and the earth." And here he uses that word. He says, "Create out of nothing in me a clean heart, O God." The implication seems to be that David wasn't saying, "God, remake my heart. Give me a moral reformation." He's saying, "God, there's nothing there to work with. Out of nothing inside of me, create a clean heart, and God can do that." God specializes in making new hearts. We sang earlier in the service about the blood of Jesus, about the grace of God, marvelous grace of our loving Lord. That grace freely has extended to us, that our sins might be washed and cleansed away, allotted out to use David's language, but that grace is also able to create in us a clean heart, a new heart. Jerry Bridges, who is of course with the navigators, in his book The Pursuit of Godliness, honestly relates to this story. He says, "On Christmas Eve, our doorbell rang, and when I answered it, I found a little four year old neighbor girl holding out a plate of cookies. My mommy sent you some cookies," she said with a big smile. I thanked her and put the cookies down in some place and promptly forgot about them, for we were just leaving for the Christmas Eve Church service. A few days later, as I was walking out to my car, the same little girl came down the sidewalk on our tricycle. She said, "Mr. Bridges, how did you light the cookies?" "Oh, they were fine," I said, even though I hadn't even tasted one of them. As I drove away, I began to think about what I had said. I had lied. There was no question about it. Why had I done it? Because it was expedient. It saved me embarrassment and the little girl disappointment, but mostly I was concerned about myself, not her. Sure, it was only a social lie of little or no consequence, but it was a lie, and God says without qualification that he detests lying. As I thought about that incident, I began to realize it wasn't an isolated instance. The Holy Spirit reminded me of other occasions of seemingly innocent social lying, of instances of exaggeration or manipulating the facts of a story just a bit. I had to face the fact that I was not quite as honest as I considered myself to be. God taught me a valuable, though humbling lesson through a plate of cookies. There are very few of us that can't identify with what Jerry Bridges is talking about. So may our prayer today be, "Oh God, blood out my iniquities." I do well in the midst of a people, to borrow Isaiah's thought, of lying lips, and I am a man of lying lips. And God created me a clean heart, a new heart, a heart that is devoted to speaking the truth in love. Let's pray together. [BLANK_AUDIO]