Honor the Truth: The ninth command of the Ten Commandments is, “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.” There is a battle for truth in many areas of life. Truth produces justice, trust, and transformation. Christians ought to be people of integrity, who speak honestly about themselves and others and refuse to distort the truth or hide the truth or even exaggerate the truth, even and especially when it’s costly. Recorded on Mar 26, 2023, on Exodus 20:16 by Pastor David Parks.
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Ten Commandments: Learning the Law of Love is a sermon series on the most influential legal code in human history. Why should we learn about the Ten Commandments today? Because they reveal God’s will for how human beings ought to live: to love God with all our heart and love our neighbor as ourselves. Ultimately, the law of love points us directly to Jesus.
Sermon Transcript
So, all year, the theme of our preaching ministry is Learning the way of Jesus. And today, we’re almost at the end of a sermon series we’ve been doing on the Ten Commandments. And we’ve said that the Ten Commandments, as part of God’s moral law, reveal how God wants people to live. Ultimately, this way of life can be summed up as learning to love the Lord your God, heart, soul, mind, and strength; and to love your neighbor as yourself — this is a law of love. We’ve said this before, but it bears repeating that obedience to the law is not the way of salvation. Remember: being a good person is not what makes you a Christian. Faith in the person and work of Jesus is what makes you a Christian. We’re saved by the grace of God through faith in Jesus and not by our works as good as they might be. However, once you’re saved by grace, learning obedience to the law, learning to do God’s will God’s way, is the way of Jesus. This is the kind of life that God wants for his people. So today, we’re considering the ninth command, “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.” (Ex 20:16). And this command deals with being honest and telling the truth, particularly in a court of law, but this is just one example of what God wants for all of life — that we would think and speak and walk in accordance with the truth. And this is needed today more than ever. There is a battle for the truth in many areas and industries of life, including politics, education, healthcare, finance, science, and of course, religion. People are encouraged to create their own truth and then constantly share it on social media. You can’t just have beliefs and friends; you have to be an influencer or activist, promoting/marketing your truth. As a result, truth has been personalized, relativized, distorted, and devalued. We are surrounded and sometimes barraged by claims of truth going in every possible direction. And we know that all these claims can’t all be right. So what even is the truth? Well, if you have a Bible/app, please open to Exodus 20:12. We’ll read through the second half of the Ten Commandments and then unpack the ninth together today, looking at three vital things that are produced when we are people who honor the truth: 1. justice, 2. trust, and 3. transformation.
Exodus 20:12-17 (NIV), “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” As we’ve said, the book of Exodus was written about 4,300 years ago by Moses, the great prophet and leader of ancient Israel. And Exodus describes a key turning point in history when God rescued the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt and entered into a covenant relationship with them, which included giving them the Law. The first four commands are focused on how we are to love the Lord our God, while the remaining six are about how to love our neighbor as ourselves. Well, today, we’re focusing on the ninth command, which reads, “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.” This command prohibits or outlaws lying about your neighbor or distorting/covering up the truth about them. Positively, it means we must be people who think and speak and walk according to the truth. Now, if we were actually people who did this, then possibly everything in our lives, right down to the thoughts and attitudes of our hearts, would change. The truth would change how we see ourselves, how we relate to others and so very many things in our society. But today, I’ll just give you three things that would change, three vital things that are produced when we are people who honor the truth. So, first, let’s consider justice. How does obedience to the ninth command lead to justice? How does the truth produce justice? Well, the typical location/context for giving a testimony about someone would be in some sort of court proceeding in the legal system. And to be sure, if our legal system isn’t based on the truth, then there can be no justice. The whole concept of justice is taking something that is wrong and making it right. But how would anyone know what’s right and wrong without knowing what truly happened? Without the truth, any judgment rendered would be, at best, a guess and would be far too easily swayed by money or power or influenced by some other self-centered gain. This is why, even to this day, when someone gives testimony in court, they swear an oath before God. “Do you solemnly swear that you will tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?” Even a largely secular society understands that when dealing with truth, God should probably be involved. And who is God, again? Deuteronomy 32:4 (NIV), “He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.” Our God is just and commands that justice be done. So we, as creatures made in his image and likeness, must be people of integrity, people who speak honestly about ourselves and others, people who refuse to distort the truth or hide the truth or even exaggerate the truth, even and especially when it’s costly. But if we are committed to giving true testimony (not false testimony) about our neighbor, then justice is possible. Good judgments can be given. True wrongs can truly be made right. And I believe that no matter what you believe about God, no matter what you think about who Jesus is, this is the type of society we should all want and work for and defend. This is why perjury is wrong. This is why destroying evidence is wrong. This is why law enforcement and lawyers and judges, and the whole court system, is important. Not because the system is perfect. Nothing is perfect in this broken world. But because, first, the truth produces justice.
Second, let’s think about how truth produces trust. Now, so far, we’ve only been talking about the court system because of the court language of the ninth command. But is this, is the court system, the only area of life where God cares about the truth? What about when people aren’t in court? Surely, God expects us to speak the truth wherever we are, right? The answer is yes, and it is made clear a little later in the Mosaic Law. Leviticus 19:11 (NIV), “Do not steal. Do not lie. Do not deceive one another.” Notice that there are no qualifiers to these commands. We’re not to be people who only speak the truth when we’re under oath, but in every part of life. And one reason is that God clearly cares about relationships. Remember, the whole law can be summed up as learning to love God and love our neighbor, to love people. So relationships matter more than anything to God. And healthy relationships are formed on a foundation of trust. Without trust, healthy relationships are impossible. Without truth, there can be no justice, but without truth, there can be no trust either. Let me ask you this: have you ever had someone tell a lie about you? Maybe a brother or sister or your spouse? Or maybe someone at school/work or out in the community? How did it make you feel that other people believed something about you that wasn’t true? Angry? Embarrassed? Defensive? Ashamed? It’s a terrible thing to know others are spreading lies about you. One thing’s for sure when someone has told lies about you or half-truths, or they failed to correct false information, gossip, or slander about you, the last thing you want to do is hang out with them and be friends with them. Why? Because they have broken trust with you. Trust is built slowly over time but can be lost in an instant. Again, we must be people of integrity, people who speak honestly about ourselves and others, people who refuse to distort the truth or hide the truth, or even exaggerate the truth, even and especially when it’s costly. Jesus emphasized this when he taught about the swearing of oaths in the Sermon on the Mount. People in his day would make elaborate vows that supposedly had more or less of a requirement, to tell the truth depending on what you swore by. These oaths would allow you to break your commitments if you wanted to without feeling bad about it. But Jesus said his followers shouldn’t play those games. Instead, they should be people who say what they mean and mean what they say. He taught, “All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.” (Mt 5:37). Speaking of the evil one, Jesus taught that the devil “was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (Jn 8:44). We see this all the way back in the garden in Genesis chapter 3. The main attack of the devil is to question the truth of God’s word. “Did God really say…?” and then to lie, “You will not certainly die…” Most people today think of a satanic or demonic attack as something from the movie the Exorcist or some other horror movie. But the most common attack of the devil in the Bible is lying about or distorting the truth of God’s word. These are the devil’s schemes because the devil knows that lies break relationships. In Genesis 3, acting on a lie was what brought sin into God’s good and perfect world and broke the relationship between people and God. In a friendship, business partnership, or marriage, lies can destroy trust and cause great wounds and ultimately break the relationship between people and people. This is why gossip is wrong, and slander is wrong, and even telling little white lies is wrong. Truth produces justice. But truth also produces trust, and trust is the foundation for healthy relationships, the type of relationships that we were created to experience/enjoy.
Third, and finally, truth produces transformation. Now, again, I think it’s just a good idea, to tell the truth, no matter what you believe about God because it’s necessary for justice and for trust. This is how the world ought to work. But for the Christian, we believe that we have been bought for a price, that we are no longer our own, that Jesus is our Lord and our Savior. And if we have been saved by him, and his life, death, and resurrection, then we will be sanctified by him, by his word and Spirit, as we learn his way. Sanctification is the process that God is doing in the lives of his people to make us holy. We’re saved in an instant when we believe in Jesus and trust in him for our salvation, but we’re made holy over the course of the rest of our whole lives as we are conformed to the likeness of Christ. The Apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the Philippians of his confidence, “that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Php 1:6). And this is a big part of what it means to be a disciple: it means to be a follower or learner of Jesus. As we learn his way, as we learn obedience to everything he has commanded for us, it changes us. In fact, it changes everything! This is why our vision as a church is “that the gospel of Jesus Christ will transform the people of the city in every way.” Life change is our main metric. Of course, we want people to come to faith in Jesus, but we also want people to grow in their faith in Jesus and experience more and more of the love, joy, peace, freedom, forgiveness, and so much more that is only possible through the power and presence of God. So how do people grow in their faith? How are people sanctified and transformed into the likeness of Christ? On the night before his death on the cross for the sins of the world, Jesus prayed for his disciples. Listen to what he prays in John 17:13-19 (NIV), “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. 14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by[d] the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.” Jesus says that sanctification, that life change, that transformation all come from the truth of the word of God. The Bible isn’t just good advice; it’s the inspired word of God. The Bible is God’s special revelation for humanity. And it reveals the truth about who God is, what he has done, who he has created us to be, what he has created us to do, the way of salvation, wisdom for our lives, and so much more. Jesus set himself apart so that we might be set apart. And we are sanctified by the truth of the word of God. This is now the key to understanding the ministry of the church today. Our mission is sharing good news because people need the truth of the gospel. Without the truth, there can be no true transformation. You can use guilt or fear to modify someone’s behavior, but you won’t have true heart change unless you hear and believe the truth of God’s word. This is why, in Ephesians chapter 4, we’re told that Christ has given different leadership roles to equip and empower the church to do the work of ministry. The work of the Apostles and Prophets, carried on today by evangelists, pastors, and teachers, is to preach the word and invite people to respond in faith and obedience to the truth. The result of this gospel-centered ministry of the whole church is seen in Ephesians 4:12-16 (NIV): “…that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. 14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” Speaking the truth in love is what people need in order to grow in their faith and experience the whole-life transformation that is possible in Christ. Christians are not to be conformed to the pattern of this world but are to be transformed by the renewing of their mind (Ro 12:2). Now if the truth is shared without love, it can actually become a weapon to wound or hurt people. Has a friend or maybe your spouse ever shared a truth with you that wasn’t a gentle confrontation but more like getting whacked across the face? Love isn’t love without truth. But truth without love doesn’t minister to people and won’t result in the transformation of Jesus. Again, we must be people of integrity, people who speak honestly about ourselves and others, people who refuse to distort the truth or hide the truth or even exaggerate the truth, even and especially when it’s costly. Why? Because truth produces justice; truth produces trust; and truth produces transformation in the hearts, minds, and lives of everyone who follows the way of Jesus. So may we be people who are honest. Honest to ourselves and honest with others. May we be people who are committed to speaking the truth in love with everyone and so build up the body of Christ. And slowly yet surely, may we be people who are being transformed into the likeness of Christ. This is the way of Jesus; the who is the way and the truth and the life. Let us pray.