A God who Speaks: The Ninth Commandment

I, some of you know that I used to have hair that went down to my waist, down to my belt,

and a big bushy beard sort of looking like a cross between, I don't know, somebody with

really long hair and Alexander Solzhenitsyn.

And I used to be sort of very much into radical politics, and I've demonstrated in my wayward

youth, I've demonstrated on Parliament Hill and on the Spark Street Mall and in front of

the War Memorial and Department of National Defense Headquarters and in front of embassies,

and I'm probably missing some, oh, Queen's Park, I can't forget Queen's Park.

And I have to, if I was doing confession to you folks, I'd say, you know what, I was probably

wrong on virtually every issue as well, but that's a whole topic for another sermon.

But one time, and I have repented of some of those things, you know, just one thing, you

know, I think that more Vietnamese people died in the first year of Viet Cong rule, in the

first two years of Viet Cong rule, more Vietnamese people died than in decades of civil war.

And I just, every time I think about it, I repent of demonstrating against that war, but

that's a whole other topic of conversation.

One time, I was with, at a demonstration in front of the Department of National Defense

headquarters, and very few people showed up, but the press showed up.

And this is like 29 years ago or something like that, a long time ago, and the press,

the reporter and the photographer were very sympathetic to us.

So they said to us, after they'd interviewed us, they said, listen, if you folks could just

sort of demonstrate in this type, just line yourselves up this way, and we'll stand with

our camera here, and that'll make it look like there's lots of people demonstrating.

And we went along with it.

And sure enough, in the press, they gave us a very, very favorable view, gave us exaggerated

numbers, and the picture gave us exaggerated numbers.

And I thought about that a lot this week, as there's been lots of things in the press about

how the press has been lying, with a lot of its pictures about what went on in Lebanon,

and how it's been distorted.

And you know, there's nothing new under the sun.

That's what the book of Ecclesiastes said a long time ago.

And today, in our ninth of our ten sermons on the Ten Commandments, we come to the commandment

that says, you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

And the false witness, it could also be said, you shall not bear untruthful witness about

your neighbor.

You shall not lie, give a lying witness about your neighbor.

You shall not do anything which is a falsehood, an untruth, or a lie.

And as I was thinking about how to try to preach about this today, I was thinking at first,

you know, I could try to deal with how do you do this and this and this and different examples

and stuff.

And then it really struck me in prayer.

You know, we are inundated in our social context with a culture that violates this all the time.

Like, how many of us believe the advertising?

I'm not going to pick on anybody here, folks.

This isn't like, you know, radical politics 101 revisited George Havina, you know, now that

he's turned 50, pretending he's young again and ranting against the man or anything like

that.

But, you know, you think about it, you know, advertisements, you know, by their very nature

are trying to make things look far better often than they really are.

And they're trying to convince us of needs that we don't really have or tell us that we

have needs that we don't really have.

And how many of us really believe the politicians when they speak?

And how many of us believe everything that we hear in newspapers and televisions?

And to be honest, how much do we believe what's said by our leaders or by our church?

And on and on and on and on.

And in fact, we are completely and utterly inundated because very few cultures in the

history of the of the earth have been as bombarded with words and images as ours.

I mean, you think about it in Jesus's time or in Moses's time when the Ten Commandments

were said.

I mean, there could have been little nomadic tribes that other than the couple of people

in the family, they would have seen nobody or no no image other than just natural world.

And they could maybe go weeks and weeks and months and years, maybe being in the desert

or being in other places and seeing virtually no people.

And our culture, we are completely and utterly inundated with words, with songs, with images.

And in the midst of all of this, time after time after time, our culture wants to exaggerate,

manipulate, undercut, tell a lie, slander, position themselves this way, spin this, spin

that, spin that.

And then it dawned on me, you know, we live in a culture which is so much at variance often

with this commandment that we are inevitably blunted to the force of this commandment.

And so I said to myself, how on earth can I unblunt myself?

Well, let's look at Jesus.

And I'm going to take a bit of a risk today.

Those of you who are in our TESO, I am doing, I'm going to flunk Sermon 101 by having us jump

around in the Bible, and I'm going to start backwards in the Gospel of John.

So you need your Bibles this morning for sure.

If you haven't brought your own, use the Pew Bible.

We're going to look at the end of John's Gospel, close to the ends of John's Gospel, and we're

going to work backwards from this.

John's Gospel is constantly mentioning the truth.

I think true or truth is mentioned, I don't know, it's like 30 times, lots and lots of times

in John's Gospel.

But we're going to begin with one of the last times that truth is mentioned in John's

Gospel, and it's right towards the end.

It's John chapter 18, verse 37.

John 18:37

And it's page 939 if you're using your Pew Bibles.

And this is the famous story, famous for Christians, of Jesus before Pilate.

And Jesus is before Pilate in a sense.

He is before Rome.

And Roman power, secular power, is standing before Jesus.

He's being examined.

His life is hanging in the balance.

And this is how the conversation continues.

Pilate therefore said to him, verse 37,

Are you a king then?

Jesus answered, You say rightly that I am a king.

Now listen to this.

This is really significant.

Jesus is on trial before Rome.

And he is on trial before the civil power.

And listen to how he describes his purpose to Rome.

For this cause I was born.

This is why I was born.

For this cause I have come into the world.

This is why I have come.

That I should bear witness to the truth.

Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice.

Pilate said to him, What is truth?

What is truth?

And then Pilate just figures out ways the balance of this probability and that probability.

And then he has Jesus put to death.

Jesus' purpose is to witness to the truth.

And given that that is one of Jesus' purposes, it should be one of ours.

And we see in this text the murderous purposes and the harmful purposes that come when we ask the question,

What is truth?

And dismiss it and choose something which is untruth as the way that is going to guide our behavior.

And to choose that which is untruth as the way forward effortlessly and easily coexists with murderous intent.

And we see it perfectly put to the person of Jesus.

John 17, 17.

This is the reason I'm saying that.

I'm flunking Sermon 101.

We're looking at seven of the key texts.

And I'm not going to spend a long time in each of them.

It's just a matter of trying to bring us before the word of God time after time after time.

And by going beginning at the end and moving to the beginning, see how the truth is constantly pushed to us.

And the truth is trying to, God who speaks truth to us is trying to clarify what we should understand as truth.

Inflame within us a desire for that which is true.

Inflame within us a repulsion of that which is lie and untruth and falsehood.

In a sense, the scripture here can heal us.

Or can begin the process of healing us.

John 17, 17.

It's just the page earlier.

It's page 937 if you're using your pew Bibles.

Those of you who are familiar with the gospels will know that this is John's gospel.

13, 14, 15, 16, and 17 are all Jesus' final words to his disciples.

It's Maundy Thursday.

Shortly after Jesus says these words, he's going to be betrayed by Judas.

He is going to be brought up on false charges.

And I don't know what it is, 12 hours or something like that, or 16 hours after this event,

Pilate is going to say, what is truth?

And have Jesus crucified.

And Jesus here ends his words with his disciples by what is called the high priestly prayer.

It's Jesus praying for his disciples.

Friends, if you are in Jesus, he's praying for you.

If you want to have a bit of a sense as to how does Jesus intercede to the Father for you and me, listen to this.

You know, if you can just imagine Jesus up there in heaven all the time, he's saying,

Oh, Father, this is what I hope for George.

This is what I hope for the people of St. Albans who have come to know me.

This is what I hope for my followers and my friends and my disciples here on earth.

And listen to what Jesus says, what he prays.

Verse 17 of chapter 17.

Sanctify them by your truth.

Your word is truth.

Sanctify them by your truth.

Your word is truth.

Sanctify means to become holy.

It means to become set aside for God to use us as we desire.

It means that not only are we his precious treasure and his precious possession,

but that we become more and more one that God can use us as he desires,

and that we more and more can say, not my will, but your will be done in my life.

And that's the heart of sanctity.

And here we see that God is truth.

Sanctify them by the truth.

Your word is truth.

God can only speak the truth.

If God had a DNA, truth is part of God's DNA.

There is nothing in God that is not true.

He is true in his judgment, in his mercy.

He is pure, unadulterated, unending truth.

And so to become like God, to be set aside for God's use,

is to have to know the truth,

and to be in the truth, and to be people of the truth.

Those of you who are in university,

and many university professors mockingly say,

like a pilot, what is truth?

Do not despair.

All the professors, and all the theologians, and all the editorial writers,

and all of the people in the world can say what is truth,

but God is truth, and that cannot stop that.

And it's woven right into the fabric of the universe.

Do not despair.

Seek truth.

The third thing.

John 16, verse 13.

John 16:13

We don't have to even turn our pages if you're using the Pew Bibles.

John 16, verse 13.

John 16:13

And here's Jesus still in the upper room,

still his final moments of teaching with his disciples.

And here Jesus says,

Listen again to the first part of the verse.

Friends, the Holy Spirit has come.

Hallelujah.

Isn't that fantastic?

The Holy Spirit has come.

Jesus did triumph over sin and death and hell and the evil one,

and he poured out his Holy Spirit upon those who are his people.

Not only is the Holy Spirit come,

the Holy Spirit is the one who is in our midst.

And he only leads one way.

He only leads towards truth.

To choose untruth,

to choose lies,

to choose falsehoods,

to choose slander,

to choose exaggeration,

to choose flattery,

to choose character assassination,

to choose any of these things

is to step out of the Holy Spirit.

It is to quench the Holy Spirit.

It is to resist the Holy Spirit.

It is to feed a contrary impulse

than what the Holy Spirit is trying to put into us.

It would be as if we go to a doctor

who's giving us medicine to heal us,

and then at the same time,

as soon as we leave the doctor

who's putting in medicine to heal us,

we immediately go across the street

to take poison to kill us.

And the Holy Spirit is like the doctor

who is in our lives,

moving in our lives,

and he moves in our lives

to foster within us

a longing for truth,

a yearning for truth,

a desire for truth.

He heals us

so that we can start to recognize

what is lie and falsehood and untruth

and what is truth,

to hunger for truth,

to be able to receive truth,

to be able to speak truth,

to live by truth.

That's the direction of the Holy Spirit.

There's no other direction that he has.

The fourth text,

John 14, verse 6.

John 14:6

Those of you who are Bible scholars

know that that's the verse

that I just quoted to the little children

before I prayed to them.

It's on page 934,

John 14, verse 6.

John 14:6

And here we see Jesus

talking about himself.

As I said,

he's describing himself,

and he says to his disciples,

he's still in the upper room,

final teaching with his disciples,

he says,

I am the way,

the truth,

and the life.

No one comes to the Father

except through me.

Jesus said to him,

that's Thomas,

who's asked him a question,

I am the way,

the truth,

and the life.

No one comes to the Father

except through me.

You know,

one of the first names

for the Christians,

or one of the first ways

that the Christians

described themselves,

if you read the book of Acts,

is that they were followers

of the way.

That's who they were.

They were followers

of the way.

And in a sense,

this text then

is asking us to choose,

to we choose

to be people of the way

or people not of the way.

And if we choose

to be people of the way,

we are choosing

to be people of the truth.

And we cannot choose

to be people of the lie,

people of the untruth,

people of the falsehood.

We are invited

to be the people

of the truth.

And like God,

the Father,

Jesus is only truth.

You know,

I could try to describe

to you complicated

ethical dilemmas.

You know,

what do you do

if the Nazis

are knocking on your door

and you're hiding

Jewish people?

You know,

gosh,

I'm a fallen human being

and I live

in a fallen world

and I don't possess

the wisdom of Jesus

and I don't possess

the foresight of Jesus

and I don't abide

in the Father's will

like Jesus does.

And Jesus,

because he's pure truth

and not only pure truth,

but purely

and utterly obedient

to his heavenly Father

and purely

and utterly obedient

to the leading

and the guiding

of the Holy Spirit

and pure goodness

and all of those things.

I mean,

you know,

he just went through

his life

that there was nothing

ever that he did

that was in contradiction

between mercy

and justice

and love

and goodness

and purity

and the truth

and all of those things

and we're disjointed

and broken people

until we come

to know Jesus

and throw our lives

into his hands

and trust him

and ask the Holy Spirit

to start to work

a work of healing

in our lives

and submit to his word

that we can start

to be healed

and all I want to tell you,

I'm not going to try

to analyze

for you complex

moral questions.

I'm going to say to you

that Jesus is the way,

the truth,

and the life

and that truth

is not thin

or narrow

or abstract

or disjointed

but when Jesus says

that he is the way,

the truth,

and the life,

he is telling us

that the truth is real,

that it is pure,

that it is thick,

it is deep,

it is powerful,

it is living,

and it is a person.

In a sense,

the truth is a face,

the face

that we were built

to know,

the face

that we truly

were made

to long for

and yearn for,

that everything

within us

was designed

that we would see

the face of God

through the person

and the face

of Jesus Christ

and friends,

I urge you

to do what you need

to do

to be right with God

so that at the end

of your life

when you appear

face to face

with God,

you will see

the face of Jesus

and see him smile

and you will say

to him,

I have been longing

to see you

all of my life

and he will say

to you,

well done,

my good and faithful servant,

come into the kingdom

prepared for you

from all eternity.

The fifth passage

of scripture

tells us

of that,

of another face

and it's John

John 8:44

chapter 8

verse 44,

it's page 928

and gosh,

this is a powerful text,

it's part of a

controversy

with the religious leaders,

the leaders

of culture,

the leaders

of religion,

the people

who get on the cover

of People magazine,

the movers

and the shakers

of Jerusalem

and at the end

of this long conversation

in verse 59,

they took up stones

to throw at him

because they wanted

to kill him

and here's what

Jesus says to them

in verse 44,

talking to these people,

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

according to his own nature

for he is a liar

and the father

of lies.

Whoa!

Listen to that again.

You are of your father

the devil

and the desires

of your father

you want to do.

In fact,

these are the people

who are going to conspire

with false charges

to have Jesus

put to death

and are going to

put pressure

on a man

who says,

what is truth?

So that he will agree

to have Jesus

put to death.

He is completely

and utterly bang on.

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

really I should say

he speaks his own

native language.

He speaks according

to his nature

for he is a liar

and the father

of lies.

To choose untruth

to choose lies

or falsehoods

slander

character assassination

to use language

to manipulate

to belittle

to hurt

is to step

towards hostile

spiritual powers

and persons.

It does not mean

in this text

that every time

one of us

say we have a lie

or an untruth

we have a demon

not saying that at all

but it does mean

that demons

always lie

and those

who are afflicted

with the demonic

harassed

by demons

oppressed

by demons

possessed

by demons

believe lies

and tell lies

and that when

we lie

and tell untruth

we are not

learning the language

of heaven

but the language

of the demonic.

That's a very hard word

and friends

before we leave this

let me tell you this

those of you

who have ever had

any dealings

with the demonic

demons always

begin by telling you

something like

come with me

and you will be

like God

and they end

when they have

power in you

by telling you

you are worse

than dirt

and you are

completely

and utterly

under my thumb

and to leave me

who is really God

will be the end

of you.

Jesus says

come to me

all who are broken

and heavy hearted

and weary

and I will give you rest

take my yoke upon you

and learn from me

for I am gentle

and humble of heart

and you will find rest

for your soul

for my yoke is easy

and my burden is light

and the work of Jesus

in our lives

is sometimes

he confronts us

of our brokenness

sometimes he comes

to us in despair

sometimes he comes

to us in the midst

of consciousness

of sin

time after time

he comes to us

when we feel

that things are

out of control

and that maybe

we are worse than dust

and about to be

oppressed

and destroyed

or broken

by powers

far greater than us

and Jesus

comes to us

unlike a demon

and reaches down

to us

in that state

of affairs

and when we place

our hands

in his

we find this

wonderful

unbelievable

shocking

pronouncement

you will be

like me

the most broken

person

the most sinful

person

the weakest

person

you like me

will be like

Jesus

not by works

but by grace

those lies

are terrible

folks

just in the same

passage

the same

conversation

John chapter 8

John 8:32

verse 32

and you know

one of the things

I found

is when I was

working backwards

in John

earlier things

in John

made more

and more sense

you're able

to understand

things

in the case

of John's

gospel

when you know

the end

and you go

backwards

you can understand

the beginning

better and better

and better

and listen

to what

John

Jesus says

oh you have

to turn the page

John chapter 8

John 8:32

verse 32

and you shall

know the truth

and the truth

shall make you

free

come to me

all who labor

and are heavy laden

and I will give you

rest

take my yoke

upon you

and learn from me

for I am gentle

and lowly of heart

and you will find

rest for your souls

for my yoke

is easy

and my burden

is light

truth here

we now see

is more than

two plus two

equals four

but even

tiny tiny

tiny truths

like that

give us some

freedom

no if you're

in Canada

and you can't

read

and you can't

count

you aren't

free

even

abstract

thin

narrow

truths

give us

freedom

but the deeper

the truth

the deeper

the freedom

and friends

you and I

we are very

deep

God has

created us

not to be

shallow

but we

in our

very nature

are very

deep

and we

need

deep

truth

not thin

narrow

abstract

little

bits

and pieces

of truth

we need

deep

truth

because

we are

deep

and there

is nothing

deeper than

God

who is

truth

nothing

deeper than

God

who is

truth

friends

one of the

purposes

of the

ten

commandments

there's two

purposes

in the

ten

commandments

the ten

commandments

are the

outline

of sanity

and they

are the

outline of

sanity

the outline

of freedom

the outline

of truth

the outline

of hope

they are

the outline

of sanity

and for

those of

us who

have not

yet come

to know

Jesus

the fundamental

purpose of

the ten

commandments

is to

make us

realize that

we need

a savior

like you

take this

one here

even this

ninth

commandment

and maybe

you hear

this commandment

and you say

okay from

now on

I'm only

going to

speak the

truth

know the

truth

love the

truth

yearn for

the truth

and if you

even made

that commitment

today it would

not take

very long

if you have

any type

of self

examination

before you

fail

but even

if you had

sufficient

power to

somehow or

another only

live in the

truth for the

rest of your

life what

would possibly

atone for

the lies and

the deceptions

that have

characterized

your life

for the last

in my case

50 years

nothing that

I can do

can atone

for that

or change

that

and so the

commandments

are pushing

us when we

see what

sanity means

and our

inability to

hit sanity

by ourselves

to finally

call out to

God and

say God

I need

a savior

and then

Jesus says

I am the

way and the

truth and the

life come to

me all who

labor and are

heavy laden and

I will give you

rest take my

yoke upon you

and learn from

me for I am

gentle and

humble of heart

and you will

find rest for

your souls

for my yoke is

easy and my

burden is light

for those of us

who have come to

the person of

Jesus trusting

him as our

savior committing

to follow him

as Lord and

open to the

Holy Spirit

then we have

here before us

the outline of

what it is

how it is

that we are

to live

how are we

to live as

people of the

truth and not

as people of

the lie

learning the

language of

heaven not

the language

of demons

learning that

to love God

who is truth

learning the

truth is deep

and so there

is within us

here something

that can

that's why

the prayer

book go back

and read page

68 and 69

of the book

of common

prayer the

little red

books in

your pews

and after

every one

of the

commandments

there is

a prayer

and the

prayer is

Lord have

mercy upon

us and

incline our

hearts to

keep this

law

praise God

final one

and this

all I can

really say

this really

all it teaches

us is to

adore

just to

adore

this

final passage

is just

teaching us

to be

thankful

to adore

God

to meditate

upon his

son Jesus

Christ

to understand

that Jesus

is not only

full of truth

but he's full

of grace

that there's no

contradiction

between truth

and grace

between truth

and love

but that Jesus

is only grace

only mercy

only truth

and that he

comes to be

amongst us

so that we

might know

the grace

and the truth

of God

through the

mercy of God

he comes to

us

so that we

may say

yes to

him

and by

saying yes

to him

that we

might learn

to adore

John chapter

one

verse 14

actually you

know what

I think we

have time

we're going

to begin

verse one

John chapter

one

verse one

the beginning

of the gospel

see sometimes

it's worth it

to read the

book backwards

in the beginning

was the word

and the word

was with God

and the word

was God

he was in

the beginning

with God

all things

were made

through him

without him

nothing was

made that was

made

in him

was life

and the life

was the light

of men

and women

and the light

shines in the

darkness

and the darkness

did not comprehend

it

there was a man

sent from God

whose name

was John

this man

came for a

witness

to bear witness

of the light

that all through

him might believe

he was not

that light

but was sent

to bear witness

of that light

that light

was the true light

which gives light

to every man

who comes into the world

that light

was in the world

and the world

was made through him

and the world

did not know him

that light

that word

came to his own

and his own

did not receive him

but as many

as received him

that word

that light

as many

as received him

to them

he gave

the right

to become

children of God

even to those

who believe

in his name

who are born

these new

children

not of blood

nor of the will

of the flesh

nor of the will

of man

but of God

and the word

became flesh

and dwelt

among us

and we beheld

his glory

the glory

as of the only

begotten

of the father

full of grace

and truth

John bore

witness of him

and cried out

saying

this was he

of whom I said

he who comes

after me

he has preferred

before me

for he was

before me

and of his

fullness

we have all

received

grace

for grace

for the law

was given

through Moses

but grace

and truth

came through

Jesus Christ

no one

has seen

God

at any time

the only

begotten son

who is in the

bosom of the

father

he has declared

him

let us pray

loving father

we thank

and praise

you that you

are filled

with mercy

that you

see us

in our

time of

deepest need

and you

do not

despise us

belittle us

but that you

send your

you sent your

son

you send

your son

to us

as the

savior

loving father

may your son

truly be

our savior

may

we entrust

our lives

to him

and may

your holy

spirit

spirit

move and

work in

our lives

leading us

to a full

confidence

in your

word

a healing

of mind

and heart

and will

fan into flame

within us

father

a deep

longing

and yearning

for the

truth

heal us

that we

might speak

the language

of truth

heal us

that we

might receive

truth

and dwell

in truth

and abide

in truth

all this

we ask

in the name

of Jesus

your son

and our

savior

amen