The Ninth Word: Lying Against Your Neighbor

Good morning, everyone. It's a joy to be with you again to worship and to be able to preach

God's word to you this morning. Please turn with me to Exodus 20. We've been in the Ten

Commandments for a while in Exodus 20. We've been in the book of Exodus for a little while.

And we're going to take a little break from the book for Advent, Christmas,

but then we'll resume in the new year. We're in Exodus 20. We're in the Ninth Commandment

in verse 16. I'm going to read the prologue, verses 1 to 2, and then skip forward to 16.

But let me pray for the reading and preaching of God's word.

Heavenly Father, your word is truth. Your word never returns void.

It always accomplishes its purpose.

So you sent your son, Jesus, the word of God, the incarnate word,

to accomplish your purposes here on earth.

It's because of him that we now know you, relate to you as we ought to.

And now we want to honor him

in the way we bear witness

to our neighbors,

to our Lord Jesus.

So please teach us

from your word

how we may be

faithful witnesses.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

If you would stand with me, if you're able,

I'm going to read Exodus 20, the prologue,

verses 1 to 2, and then skip forward to verse 16.

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 slavery.

You shall not bear false witness

against your neighbor.

This is God's holy and authoritative word.

Please be seated.

You may be familiar with the famous

children's rhyme that goes like this.

Sticks and stones may break my bones,

but words shall never hurt me.

Those are, you know, the words of a,

it's a well-intended rhyme,

an English rhyme,

teaching children not to be affected

by name-calling and verbal bullying

that often happens in schools.

But sadly,

it's only wishful thinking.

It's well-intended,

but it's wishful thinking

because the book of Proverbs

compares rash words to sword thrusts.

And bearing false witness,

it calls a war club

or a sword

or a sharp arrow.

He says that a perverse tongue

can break a person's spirit.

Proverbs 18, 21 says,

death and life

are in the power of a tongue.

James 3, 6 says,

the tongue is a fire,

a world of unrighteousness.

The tongue is set among our members,

staining the whole body,

setting on fire the entire course of life

and set on fire by hell.

The untamed tongue is destructive,

like a spark that sets a forest ablaze.

What we say can set on fire

our entire life

and stain our entire body

and leave us,

in the end,

to burn in the fires of hell.

Revelation 21, 8 confirms that.

It says,

all liars

will be in the lake

that burns with fire and sulfur,

which is the second death.

That means words

may break much more than bones.

This is why the ninth word

of the Decalogue is essential.

You shall not bear false witness

against your neighbor.

The ninth commandment teaches us

that we should love our neighbors

by bearing true witness

like Jesus,

our faithful and true witness.

So we're going to first talk about

true witness in the court of law.

And then we're going to talk about

true witness in the court of life.

And then we're going to talk about

true witness in the court of the Lord,

in the heavenly court.

The first and most obvious application

of the ninth commandment

is bearing true witness

in the court of law.

In the U.S.

and in many other countries,

witnesses in a court case

have to take an oath.

They say,

I do solemnly and sincerely

and truly declare

and affirm

that the evidence

I shall give

shall be the truth,

the whole truth,

and nothing but the truth.

That oath rules out

various ways people can

wheedle their way out

of telling the truth.

They must tell the plain,

unvarnished truth,

and they must tell

the whole truth.

Because a half-truth

told as if it were

the whole truth

is a whole lie.

And often,

more persuasive

than a whole lie.

And they must tell

nothing but the truth

because we can tell the truth

and yet couch it

in all kinds of irrelevant,

speculative,

and leading information

that will undermine

the very truth

that we're telling.

Satan is the first liar

and he's the father of lies.

And he lied to Adam and Eve

in Genesis 3-1

by saying,

did God actually say

you shall not eat

of any tree in the garden?

To which Eve replied,

no,

only the fruit of the tree

that is in the midst

of the garden.

Satan knew well

what Eve's answer would be.

Satan knew the right answer.

He knew that only

one particular tree,

the tree of knowledge

of good and evil

in the middle of the garden

was forbidden.

But by framing the question

this way,

did God actually say

you shall not eat

of any tree in the garden?

He had already slandered

God's character.

He had already sown

seeds of doubt

in Eve's mind.

Suspicion.

He did not tell

nothing but the truth.

He told the truth

and some other misleading

things as well.

Also in Genesis 3-4-5,

the serpent tempted Eve

to eat the forbidden fruit

saying,

you will not surely die

for God knows

that when you eat of it

your eyes will be opened

and you will be like God

knowing good and evil.

This is a half-truth

because it was true.

Adam and Eve

took of the fruit

and ate it

and their eyes were opened.

They knew good and evil

like God does.

But he also lied

because he said

you will not die.

And they will die.

They did die.

A half-truth

sold as a whole truth.

And this first lie

had deadly consequences.

It literally introduced

death to humanity,

alienated them from God

and it put the tree of life

in the middle of the garden

out of reach

because it can only be found

in communion with God.

So much rides on bearing

true witness

in the court of law.

In 900 BC

in what is now

modern day Israel

in Israel

there was a man

who owned a vineyard.

Unfortunately for this man

his vineyard was coveted

by the then king

of his country.

And the king

at first tried to do

the right thing

and he went to this man

and offered to buy

the vineyard at full price

and he'd like to turn it

into his vegetable garden

because his palace

is right next to it.

But the man

not out of spite

but out of principle

because it was

his ancestral land

passed down

from generation

after generation

after generation

politely declined

saying I cannot

sell this vineyard to you.

And so this king

was sullen

and like a child

like a spoiled brat

that's been refused

something for the first time

in his life

he stormed home

and was angry

and refused to eat.

And then his wicked wife

was like a doting mother

that indulges

her child.

She said to him

aren't you the king

of Israel?

Stop being distressed

over something

so trivial

and leave the matter

to me.

I will make sure

that this vineyard

is in your hands

soon enough.

So what does she do?

She uses the king's authority

to declare a religious

community gathering

and then she appoints

in the king's name

this man who owns

the vineyard

to preside over that meeting

and while the man

is presiding over that meeting

she has secretly

probably paid off

or incited

two false witnesses

to rise up

against him

and accuse him

saying you blasphemed

against God.

You cursed God

and the king.

And as was the custom

at the time

a capital crime

can be established

on the testimony

of two or three witnesses

and this man

innocent man

was dragged out

and stoned to death

that very day.

And the king afterward

greedily claimed

this prize.

It's really

shocking

that Jezebel

Ahab's wife

said

aren't you the king

of Israel?

Stop being distressed

over something

so trivial.

Her false witnesses

killed

Naboth.

Trivial.

Right.

This is the account

found in 1 Kings 21.

And we're not

exempt from this problem

in our day and age.

Innocence Project

is an organization

dedicated to exonerating

wrongfully convicted

individuals

and they have recorded

241 legal victories

to date

and 194 of their clients

were exonerated

by DNA evidence.

And if you add up

the number of years

that these wrongfully

convicted individuals

spent in jail

it adds up to

3,754 years.

That's not just a number.

That's real people

real lives

ruined.

Irreversibly

irreversibly

affected

by wrongful conviction

which

sometimes

was abetted

by false testimony.

Take the case

of Ellen Reasonover

when

19 year old

James Buckley

was shot and killed

at a gas station

in Missouri

in 1983.

Ellen Reasonover

who happened

to witness

what happened

in the aftermath

of the event

did the right thing

by going to the police

with information

connecting two men

to the crime.

But instead of

finding the real culprit

the authorities

considered her

their prime suspect

despite the fact

that as the

August 4th

1999

Washington Post

article

says

no witnesses

placed her

at the scene

of the murder

police

found no fingerprints

and no murder weapon

prosecutors

said her motive

was robbery

but no money

was taken

from the cash register

and about $3,000

was left

in an unlocked safe.

So how then

you might wonder

did the prosecution

convince the jury

that Reasonover

was guilty?

The article continues

quote

the jury relied

almost entirely

on the testimony

of two inmates

Rose Joliffe

and Mary Ellen Liner

both of whom

testified

that Reasonover

confessed to the murder

while in prison

with them

while waiting

for the trial

to happen.

But that was a lie.

She had never confessed

to the crime.

So her conviction

was largely based

on the testimony

of false witnesses

to prisoners

who had long

criminal records

history of drug addiction

and to people

who had been offered

a reduced sentence

or $1,000

for testifying

against Reasonover

by the prosecution

which by the way

was not told

to the jury.

She would have been

sentenced to death

if it went for one juror

who refused

to sentence her to death.

So she was spending

life in prison

without parole

and it was only

after 16 years

of serving prison time

that she was exonerated

of her wrongful conviction.

And she might still

be in prison today

if it weren't for the work

of Centurion Ministries,

the first ever

non-profit dedicated

to overturning

wrongful convictions

which was founded

by a Christian minister

named Jim McCloskey.

His organization

was able to dig up

a tape recording

produced from

by the prosecution

during Reasonover's

time in prison

in which she repeatedly

says that she did nothing.

According to

Innocence Project,

false jailhouse

informant testimony

plays a role

in nearly one in five

of the 367

DNA-based exoneration

cases that they examined.

That means nearly

20% of people

who are wrongfully convicted

at least from that

sample size

are wrongfully convicted

on the basis

of false testimony.

So the ninth word

of the Decalogue

is highly relevant

for us today

especially in the context

of ancient courts.

This was especially important

in ancient courts

where they could not

avail themselves

of forensic science

including fingerprint

examination,

DNA testing,

photo and video evidence.

In that context

the truthfulness

of witnesses

was absolutely vital.

That's why God

takes bearing false witness

so seriously

in Deuteronomy 19.19

it prescribes

the same punishment

that the false witness

wanted to bring

onto that innocent person

to be given

to the false witness.

Despite such severe

warnings and threats

we see that people

in the Bible

and in our times

again and again

bear false testimony.

There are many reasons

why someone might do that

in the court of law.

Exodus 23 1-8

gives us a helpful

summary of them.

It says

you shall not spread

a false report.

You shall not join hands

with the wicked man

to be a malicious witness.

You shall not fall in

with the many

to do evil.

Nor shall you bear witness

in a lawsuit

siding with the many

so as to pervert justice.

Nor shall you be partial

to a poor man

in his lawsuit.

You shall not pervert

the justice

due to your poor

in his lawsuit.

Keep far from

a false charge

and do not kill

the innocent

and righteous

for I will not

acquit the wicked.

And you shall take

no bribe

for a bribe

blinds the clear sighted

and subverts

the cause of those

who are in the right.

So it gives us

several reasons

why people bear

false testimony.

Some people

give false testimony

because they are

a malicious witness.

they have joined hands

with a wicked man.

So you're out

to get someone

maybe you have

a vendetta

against someone

and so you maliciously

give false testimony.

Or maybe you're

bearing witness

for a wicked man.

Maybe that wicked man

is your father

or son

or brother

or friend.

But God commends us

not to join hands

with such a man.

We also,

he says,

must not side

with the many

so as to pervert justice.

Sometimes we bear

false witness

not out of maliciousness

but out of the fear

of man

in order to avoid

being on the wrong side

of popular opinion.

In order to side

with the many

and the spirit

of the times

because we don't want

to be criticized

or ostracized.

But he says,

we must not fall in

with the many

to do evil.

Still others

bear false witness

because they are

quote,

partial

to a poor man

in his lawsuit.

Some people

just like rooting

for the underdog.

But that preference

must not become

partiality

in the court of law.

With the ascendancy

of critical theory

nowadays

many people understand

social relationships

in terms of

hierarchy and power

through the lens

of the oppressor

and oppressed

framework.

For example,

men are the oppressors.

Women are the oppressed.

Whites are the oppressors.

Blacks are the oppressed.

Heterosexuals

are the oppressors.

And homosexuals

are the oppressed.

Cisgendered

are the oppressors.

Transgenders

are the oppressed.

The rich

are the oppressors.

The poor

are the oppressed.

As a result,

historically powerless

or marginalized groups

are automatically

given privileged status

due to their

lived experience

of oppression.

And their views

and perspectives

are privileged

over that

of the dominant group.

In this kind of environment

it's common for people

to be partial

to a poor man

in his lawsuit.

To be partial

to the oppressed class.

But we are never

to be partial

to a poor man

he says.

Why?

Because the poor

and powerless

still do wrong.

Because the poor

and the powerless

still sin.

And though extenuating

circumstances

might mitigate

they do not

negate our responsibility.

Of course

partiality often

goes the other way

as well.

That's why

it says in Exodus 23

same passage

you shall not

pervert the justice

due to your poor

in his lawsuit.

just because

a person

is poor

and powerless

does not mean

that people

can trample

on his or her rights.

Just because

they are

oppressed

or marginalized

or weak

or don't have

the money

to hire

the most expensive

lawyers

does not mean

that you can

deprive them

of justice.

Proverbs 22

22-23

says

do not rob

the poor

because he

is poor

or crush

the afflicted

at the gate

for the Lord

will plead

their cause

and rob

of life

those who

rob them.

The city gate

was where

legal proceedings

were carried out

in ancient Israel.

So this verse

specifically commands

God's people

not to crush

the afflicted

or rob

the poor

in court.

The rich

and powerful

can use

their wealth

and influence

to sway

public opinion

but we

are not

to let them

deprive the poor

and powerless

of justice.

We must be

witnesses that

always testify

to the truth

and nothing

but the truth.

This is why

Exodus 23

continues

and you shall

take no bribe

for a bribe

blinds the

clear sighted

and subverts

the cause

of those

who are

in the right.

So here's

another reason

why some people

might give

false testimony

bribes

for the sake

of selfish gain

but what good

is it

to gain

the whole

world

yet forfeit

his soul?

Christians

should be

unbribable.

By refusing

to accept

bribes

we declare

that we

love our

neighbors

more than

we love

ourselves.

We declare

that truth

matters

that justice

matters.

God cares

that the guilty

are condemned

and that the

innocent

are acquitted

so to that end

we must never

give false

testimony in court.

The corollary

to the command

not to bear

false witness

is to bear

true witness

wherever we

can.

Leviticus 5

1 says

if anyone

sins

and that he

bears a

public

adoration

to testify

and though

he is a

witness

whether he

has seen

or come

to know

the matter

yet does

not speak

he shall

bear his

iniquity.

When you

are a witness

to something

and are

called upon

to testify

and your

testimony

can aid

in acquitting

the innocent

or condemning

the guilty

to not

bear true

witness

is sin.

It's a

violation

of the

ninth

commandment.

While

bearing true

witness

in the

court of

law

is the

immediate

context

of the

ninth

commandment

it also

teaches us

to bear

true

witness

in all

of life

in the

court of

life

you might

say.

And we

know that

it has a

general

application

from

Leviticus

19

1-18

which is

kind of

a summary

or an

exposition

of the

ten

commandments.

It contains

all the

ten

commandments

Leviticus

19

and 20.

And this

is what

it has

to say

about the

ninth

commandment

specifically.

You shall

do no

injustice

in court.

You shall

not be

partial

to the

poor

or defer

to the

great

but in

righteousness

shall you

judge

your

neighbor.

You shall

not go

around as

a slanderer

among your

people and

you shall

not stand

up against

the life

of your

neighbor.

I am

the Lord.

You shall

not hate

your brother

in your

heart but

you shall

reason

frankly

with your

neighbor lest

you incur

sin because

of him.

You shall

not take

vengeance or

bear a

grudge against

the sons

of your

own people

but you

shall love

your neighbor

as yourself.

I am

the Lord.

So false

witness,

slandering,

reasoning

dishonestly with

your neighbor,

all of these

things constitute

a violation of

the ninth

commandment.

To boil it

down, in

essence, any

witnessing we

do concerning

our neighbor,

anything we

say about

our neighbor

that stems

from hatred

of him or

her rather

than love

of him or

her violates

the spirit of

the ninth

commandment.

This includes

lying, of

course, speaking

falsely of

another.

Ephesians 4.25

says we should

put away

falsehood.

Let each

one of you

speak truth

with his

neighbor, for

we are

members one

of another.

Proverbs 6

says that

God abominates,

detests,

abhors a

lying tongue

and a false

witness who

breathes out

lies.

Lying in

Proverbs 6

is connected

to all kinds

of social

ills, like

shedding

innocent blood,

devising wicked

plans, running

to do evil,

sowing discord

among brothers.

And the

reason is because

a lying

tongue is

foundationally

at its root

anti-social

and is

connected to

all these

other social

ills.

People who

lie think to

themselves, well,

they don't deserve

to know the

truth.

They would

misunderstand

the truth.

They wouldn't

know what to

do with the

truth.

So I'll just

keep this

truth to

myself.

A lying

tongue is

connected to

hands that

shed innocent

blood and to

a heart that

devises wicked

plans because

a liar is

willing to

sacrifice the

truth and

the interests

of other

people to

advance his

or her own

agenda.

Lying is

fundamentally

selfish because

it hides the

truth for the

sake of self

preservation and

self advancement.

All societies

and relationships

are built upon

trust and lying

erodes trust so

it compromises the

very foundation of

society.

when you catch

someone lying and

I'm sure some of

you guys have done

this before when

you catch someone

lying even once you

start to second

guess yourself

whenever that person

tells you something

don't you?

Did this really

happen?

Is this really

true?

It cripples your

ability to trust

that person.

People lie in

order to gain power

and control over

others but ironically

what ends up

happening is that

they gradually lose

control and power

because their words

lose credibility.

Truth is not

fungible.

It is irreplaceable

and unchangeable.

The ninth commandment

also prohibits

slander as we saw

in Leviticus 19.

Jesus includes

slander along with

false witness in his

summary of the

second half of the

ten commandments in

Matthew 15.

So if lying is

speaking falsely of

someone slander is

speaking maliciously of

someone speaking evil

against another person

James 4 calls it.

Slander is of course

often mixed with a

lie but it's not

necessarily a lie.

For example in

Numbers 12 1 to 2

it says Miriam and

Aaron slandered Moses

spoke against Moses

because of the

Cushite woman whom he

had married for he

had married a Cushite

woman.

And they said has

the Lord indeed

spoken only through

Moses?

Has he not spoken

through us also?

So the narrator

confirms it was true

that Moses had

married a Cushite

woman.

A Gentile woman

rather than a

Jewish woman.

A woman of the

same faith like all

faithful Jews were

expected to do in

that time.

And it's also true

what they say that

God hadn't spoken

only through Moses.

God had also spoken

through Miriam and

Aaron.

They're both called

prophets.

Prophetess and

prophet.

respectively in

scripture.

However despite the

fact that everything

Miriam and Aaron

said was technically

true.

What they said was

not exactly fair.

They don't mention

anything of the fact

that Moses had fled

for his life from

Egypt and was in

exile in Midian for

40 years that there

were no other people

no other Jewish

people to date or

court or marry.

Why do they choose

to talk about that

specific detail of

Moses' life?

I mean you could

have said all kinds

of things on

Moses.

Why are you saying

that he married a

cushide wife?

Their intention is

to undermine him.

Their intention is

they're trying to

communicate that well

God spoke through me

and Aaron,

Miriam and Aaron.

Maybe we're more

suited to lead this

congregation than

Moses.

Maybe we follow

God's law more

faithfully than

Moses.

See look,

he married a

cushide woman.

That's their

intention.

So technically

everything that they

said was true but

what they said was

not fair.

And the spirit of

what they said was

false because Moses

was a faithful man

and he was a law

abiding man.

So whenever you're

wondering whether or

not you should say

something about

someone, whether it's

slanderous or not,

you could ask

yourself this

question, does my

speech stem from

love or does it

stem from hatred?

Sometimes the

loving thing to do

is to expose

someone's sin.

In that case,

it's not slander

when it stems from

love.

But Proverbs 22

once says,

a good name is to

be chosen rather

than great riches

and favor is better

than silver or gold.

Commenting on this,

John Calvin writes,

if a good name is a

treasure, more

precious than all

the riches of the

world, no greater

injury can be

inflicted upon man

than to wound their

reputation.

Imagine that your

friend has an

heirloom jewelry

and they trust you

enough to let you

hold it for a second.

You're holding it.

I mean, I don't

think I'd ever accept

that because I don't

even want to hold

something like that.

Right?

I mean, it's so

precious.

What if you drop

it?

What if something

crumbles?

But people's name

and reputation,

the Bible says,

is even more

precious than the

costliest jewels.

And I would argue

further that a

damaged reputation is

harder to restore

than a damaged

jewel.

people.

And how much more

care should we take

with one another's

name and reputation?

The ninth commandment

also prohibits gossip,

which we might define

simply as speaking

secretly of another

behind someone's back.

The New Testament

sometimes describes

this as being

double-tongued,

which literally means

speaking twice,

meaning you're saying

something in one place

and then you're going

to another place

where that should not

be said and then

saying it again.

That, of course,

if you're betraying

someone's confidence

and sharing something

that that person

confided in you,

sensitive information,

private information,

that would erode trust,

destroy trust.

But it's not necessarily

only something that's

secret, but Proverbs

16, 28 says,

a whisperer

separates close friends.

Gossip also includes

talebearing,

spreading rumors,

or telling stories

that reflect negatively

on someone to people

who don't need to know.

Need to know

is a good rule of thumb.

Does this person

need to know

what you're about to share

by virtue of their

relationship with that person

or because they occupy

a position of authority?

If we are not to gossip,

we should also refrain

from listening to gossip.

Proverbs 26, 22 says,

the words of a whisperer

are like delicious morsels.

They go down

into the inner parts

of the body.

I picture like a

really well-marbled,

high-quality steak,

right?

Or a really well-baked

chocolate chip cookie

that's nice and crispy

on the outside

but very moist

on the inside.

Something that just

melts in your mouth.

That's what gossip is like.

And it goes down smooth.

And you'll want to eat it up.

Get some more.

So the warning is this.

Be leery of it.

Don't let it get started.

Interrupt when you suspect

that you're about

to listen to gossip

and ask,

is this something

that I need to know?

Do you think

it is loving

for you to share

this information with me

to that person?

Have you shared

your concern

with this person directly?

Do you need me

to mediate between you?

Another one

that we might not

think about often

is flattery.

Flattery also falls

within the purview

of the ninth commandment.

Flattery is speaking

well of another

disingenuously.

Proverbs 27,

5-6,

is better is open

rebuke than hidden love.

Faithful are the wounds

of a friend.

Profuse are the kisses

of an enemy.

It's the enemy

who kisses up profusely

to hide his true feelings

and intentions.

Flattering mouth

works ruin.

Once again,

the heart of all kinds

of false testimony

is hatred

of one's neighbor.

Some decades ago,

I have to share this,

Kent Hughes,

who's another pastor.

He's a pastor emeritus now,

retired of college church

in Wheaton, Illinois.

He came up with

a very witty definition

of flattery.

He says,

flattery is saying something

to a person's face

what you'd never say

behind their back.

Isn't that funny?

I got a good kick

out of that one.

In that sense,

it's the mirror image

of gossip,

which is saying something

behind someone's back

what you would never say

to their face.

Right?

To be more precise,

the content of the flattery

is not necessarily false.

Maybe the person

you're flattering

does have those

redeeming qualities

that you're flattering

them about

in order to butter them up.

But the spirit of flattery

is always false

because you don't actually

love that person.

You're not actually

trying to encourage

that person.

You're just trying

to use that person

and manipulate that person.

That's hatred.

That's false.

Even if what you're saying

is technically true.

Sometimes we can erroneously

conclude that something

is true about our neighbor

and therefore bear false witness

about that neighbor.

That kind of rash judgment

I think also falls

under the ninth commandment.

In our age of sound bites

and hot takes

where everybody has a platform

and everybody wants an audience,

premature and presumptuous judgments

are increasingly common.

So we have fact checkers

to ensure that people

are actually speaking the truth.

And then we have fact checkers

who check the fact checkers.

And then we have fact checkers

who expose that some

of these fact checkers

are not real fact checkers.

I mean it gets ludicrous.

We have fact checkers

who are checking fact checkers

who are checking fact checkers

who claim to check facts.

It's ridiculous.

I don't know if you guys saw

the biographical film

of Richard Jewell

from 2019.

Have you guys seen that?

It's not very popular.

I saw it on a plane one day.

It was pretty good.

It's about a man named

Richard Jewell

who works as a security guard

during the Centennial Olympic Park bombing

in the 1996 Summer Olympics

in Atlanta, Georgia.

He was a security guard

and he was patrolling the grounds

and he did his work well

and he noticed

a suspicious looking backpack

that no one was attending to

and so he checked it

and he found three pipe bombs in it.

And so he alerted the police

and then he helped evacuate the people

and he saved lives.

But what happened in the aftermath

is that because of psychological profiling,

FBI's investigation led them

to suspect that Richard Jewell

was actually their primary suspect.

This should have been done privately

and then it would have been all fine

but that information was leaked to the press.

And so for 88 days, I think,

he endured intense public scrutiny,

what they call trial by media

until he was declared not guilty

by the FBI

where they stopped the investigation.

But even after that,

some people suspected him

and really believed that he had done it

until nine years later

when a man named Eric Rudolph

pled guilty to the bombing.

Some members of the media

were convinced that Richard Jewell

had been the bomber

and if you followed the events

and the narrative at the time,

you might have been convinced yourself.

We all suffer from confirmation bias.

We tend to make new evidence

we encounter fit the beliefs

and theories we already hold.

The things you hear

and even see with your own eyes

can be misleading or even doctored.

There might be other explanations for them.

So be wary of making rash judgment.

Let the proper legal authorities

do their job

before you pronounce someone guilty

in the court of public opinion.

James 1.19 commends us

to be quick to hear,

slow to speak, slow to anger,

not to be hard of hearing

and hasty in speaking

and hot in anger.

Not even on social media.

Swearing falsely is another issue

that is addressed by the Ninth Commandment.

It says,

you shall not deal falsely.

This is Leviticus 19.11-12.

You shall not lie to one another.

You shall not swear by my name falsely

and so profane the name of your God.

Psalm 15 describes the profile

of a righteous person

and many of the descriptions

have to do with his speech,

godly speech.

It says he speaks truth in his heart

who does not slander with his tongue

and does no evil to his neighbor

nor take up a reproach against his friend.

And it says this,

that he swears to his own hurt

and does not change.

What good is a promise

if we only keep it

when it is expedient to do so?

Then we don't need to make a promise

because we already do

what's expedient for us to do

every single day.

If we break our word

at the slightest pretext,

as soon as it appears

disadvantageous to us,

what consideration are we giving

to the neighbor

to whom we made the promise?

Who gave our word to?

Who's counting on us?

In an ideal world,

swearing oaths

and making pinky promises

would not even be necessary.

But they are still inadequate.

So Jesus says in Matthew 5,

33, 37,

again,

you have heard that it was said

to those of old,

you shall not swear falsely

but shall perform to the Lord

what you have sworn.

But I say to you,

do not take an oath at all,

either by heaven,

for it is the throne of God,

or by the earth,

for it is his footstool,

or by Jerusalem,

for it is the city of the great king.

And do not take an oath by your head,

for you cannot make one hair white or black.

Let what you say be simply yes or no.

Anything more than this comes from evil.

Just as divorce was not part

of God's creation ideal

but was rather a concession

to human unfaithfulness,

so oaths were not a part

of God's creation ideal

but a way to manage human untruthfulness.

So for spirit-empowered

new covenant believers,

we should simply let our yes be yes

and our no, no.

At all times.

Not only when we're under oath.

I don't think this means

it's sinful for us

to take oaths of office

or take the oaths of witness in court.

Even Jesus was placed under oath

by the high priest in Matthew 26,

63, 64 when he was under trial.

But we should live in such a manner

that even our ordinary words

are completely truthful

and reliable

so that oaths are not necessary.

That's the high calling

that God has for us

with truthful speech.

But obviously,

we don't live in a world like that.

And we have no one but ourselves

to blame

because we have lied.

We have slandered.

We have gossiped.

Gossiped.

We have flattered.

We have rushed into wrong judgment.

We have sworn falsely.

We have let our yes be no

and our no be yes.

And God,

because he abhors a lying tongue

and because he is perfectly righteous

and holy,

has every right

to scrap all of creation.

But instead,

he redeems creation

by sending his only son,

Jesus.

And Jesus wasn't secluded

from our deceiving

and backstabbing.

He lived among us.

He was betrayed

by one of his own disciples,

Judas,

who handed Jesus over

to the authorities

with a kiss.

Profuse are the kisses

of an enemy.

And then when Jesus

was being tried

by the Jewish authorities

in Matthew 26,

it says that the chief priests

and the whole council,

they were seeking

false testimony

against Jesus

that they might put him to death.

But they found none,

though many false witnesses

came forward.

And at last,

two came forward

and said,

this man said,

I'm able to destroy

the temple of God

and rebuild it in three days.

The authorities

who were charged

with executing justice

were instead obsessed

with executing unjustly.

They sought false testimony

that would warrant

capital punishment.

But no one came forward.

A whole bunch

of false witnesses

came forward,

but none of them

warranted capital punishment.

And so they kept looking

until two came forward

saying that Jesus

committed blasphemy,

which was an offense

punishable by death.

That's how Jesus

was led to the cross.

He was charged

on the basis

of false witnesses.

So if you've ever been

on the receiving end

of false witness,

slander, gossip,

rash judgment,

flattery,

broken promises,

rest assured

that Jesus understands

your sense of betrayal,

injustice that you feel.

His situation

was even more unfair.

And he feels the pain

even more acutely

because he was

the perfectly righteous

son of God

and no one

in the whole world

had any dirt on him.

yet still

to the very end,

Jesus bore true witness

to who he is,

that he is righteous,

that he is the son of God

sent by the father

to rescue us

from sin and death.

He died

so that we might live.

He died.

He who had no deceit

in his mouth

died so that he might

cleanse us

of our lying tongues.

If you're convicted

by this

and you're not yet

a follower of Jesus,

you're not gonna

just become

a more truthful person

by trying harder

because what we say

with our mouths

reflect what's in our heart.

We need a new heart

which can only come

through repentance

and faith in Jesus,

which can only come

when you're born again

by the spirit of God.

And for you,

brothers and sisters

in Christ,

for our fellow believers,

we have an enemy,

the devil.

His name is Satan,

which means

the accuser.

He is a liar,

the father of lies,

false witnesses

his bread and butter.

It says in Revelation 12,

10,

that he accuses us

day and night

before our God.

day and night,

Satan is accusing us

to God's face

saying,

that one

and that one

deserves your judgment,

your condemnation.

He is sinful.

She is sinful.

They are slenderers.

They are liars.

And that would be true

if it weren't for Jesus'

atoning sacrifice.

But now that Jesus

has died for our sins

and he has been raised

from the dead,

that's a blatant falsehood.

That's false testimony

from the accuser.

And maybe Satan

has been whispering

these lies

into your heart

this morning.

But remember

that he is a liar.

And we have

in our defense

an infallible witness.

Revelation 3, 14

calls Jesus

the amen,

the faithful

and true witness.

His very name

is amen.

His name

is certainty.

His name

is truth.

His name

is faithfulness.

Jesus is our true

and faithful witness

and he is

standing at the right

hand of the Father

this very moment

advocating for you

and me

saying,

I pay for that one sin.

He is mine.

So be gone

you accuser

in this heavenly court.

We have a true witness

in the court of heaven.

And so now

we are commissioned

to bear witness to him.

To be true witnesses

of Jesus

to the world.

And Jesus warned us

in Luke 21

and Matthew 5

he said that we'll be

handed over to courts.

That people will bear

false testimony

about us.

That we will be persecuted.

That we'll be thrown

into prison.

That some of us

will be killed.

Jesus said

all of these things

will happen

because we bear witness

to him.

But we're still

to bear witness

to him.

Jesus said

everyone who acknowledges

me before men

I also will acknowledge

before my father

who is in heaven.

This is how

we are meant

to conquer Satan