The Ten Commandments - 11
You shall not commit give false testimony
This time we look at the ninth of the Ten Commandments found in Exodus chapter 20. We have been discovering that these laws, given by God, are still valid today. They were given originally to Moses for the benefit of the people of Israel, but because they are the word of God which will never pass away they are applicable to all people in every age and in every culture.
The ninth commandment, found in verse 16 of Exodus chapter 20 says this: "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbour." It was Thomas Watson who said three hundred years ago, "The tongue, which was at first made to be an organ of God's praise, is now become an instrument of unrighteousness."
This commandment contains three warnings: warnings about DECEIVING and DERIDING and DESTROYING our neighbour. Let's look first of all at the warning about deceiving our neighbour.
To bear false witness is to deceive and to lie. Proverbs tells us that "Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who deal truthfully are His delight". Lying is not usually an isolated sin and it usually paves the way for other sins. One lie almost always leads to the telling of another and so the web of deceit and untruthfulness grows. The early church father Jerome said, "When you speak, let your word be as authentic as your oath. Imitate God Who is the pattern of the truth."
What contempt for others is shown by those who lie and deceive. They are basically saying to their victim, "You're worthless. You don't matter at all. You will believe whatever I tell you and you will be deceived. I will look into your eyes and think 'You poor fool, if only you knew the truth!'" The liar who bears false witness against his neighbour is callous and cruel because he does not care about the consequences of his lying. Those who deceive and lie should remember that they may deceive men, but God Who sees the hearts of all is never deceived. One day an account will have to be given for every idle word and every lie.
The Christian's word is to open and truthful. Paul reminded the Colossian Christians, in chapter 4 verse 6 of his letter, that their conversation should "be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone." There is no grace in a deceiving tongue and no love in speaking falsely against our neighbour.
Secondly, this commandment is a warning against deriding our neighbour. To deride a person is to speak scornfully and contemptuously about them. To bear false witness against a person ruins that person's reputation. It ruins their character and pulls them down in the eyes of others. You will remember how the false accusation of Potipher's wife put innocent Joseph in prison. It was the lies against him by the evil Queen Jezebel that had Naboth killed. The apostle Paul knew what it was to be maligned by false teachers. It was, of all people, the religious leaders who said that Jesus had a devil, and that He did miracles by the power of Satan. They accused Him of sedition and blasphemy, but it was their lies that were blasphemous. False accusers were brought to the trial of the Lord Jesus to bear false testimony against Him, in order to defame and deride Him and to have Him condemned.
Such false witness is an evil thing, and it is against this sin that the ninth commandment warns us. So let us be very carefully how we speak about others, especially our fellow Christians. As believers we are exhorted to build one another up in our faith and not to pull one another down.
With our words we can either encourage or destroy others, and this brings me to the third warning to be discovered in this commandment. The warning is that by false witness we can effectively destroy the life of another person. We may not kill them in the literal sense, but our saying about them things that are untrue can have a devastating consequence in their life.
One way we can do this, sometimes unwittingly, even unintentionally, is to gossip about them. There is something in most of us that enjoys gossip! Proverbs 18 verse 8 says, "The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to a man's inmost parts." We like to hear things about other people, especially if it is something that is perhaps scandalous. Among Christians this should not be for such gossip is not harmless as some would have us believe, it is always destructive. Such gossip in a church is a tragedy for it can destroy the fellowship, and it most certainly grieves the Holy Spirit. It will hinder prayer and stifle blessing if left unchecked.
Someone has suggested that before ever we speak about someone else we should "think" - that is, T H I N K. Is what I am going to say concerning that person: True - is it Helpful - is it Inspiring - is it Necessary - and is it Kind? So before you speak - THINK!
There are those who bear false witness to our Lord Jesus Christ in our day, just as they did at His trial before Pilate. They deny the truth by undermining His holy word. By their false witness they deny our Lord's deity, or His humanity. They deny that His death on the cross was for our sins, and they deny His bodily resurrection from the dead. There are some who say that we cannot know personal salvation and the assurance of sins forgiven and eternal life. In all this they bear false testimony and in so doing effectively destroy those who believe them.
Christians are called to bear true and faithful witness to the gospel. If you are not a Christian, hear the testimony of all the Old Testament writers concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. Did you know that they all speak of Him? Hear the true testimony of God Who cannot lie - "This is my Son, Whom I love; with Him I am well pleased." Hear the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself: "I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me." Hear the testimony of all true believers who have put their trust in Him and found His word to be true and faithful.
So we have discovered on this programme that God's command to us is that we must not deceive, or deride, or destroy our neighbour by the things that we say about them. We need to guard our lips at all times so that we do not either deliberately or unwittingly break this commandment. How much better it is to speak well of one another and to always try to encourage and build up our fellow Christians. It is the Christian's calling to be honest and truthful in word and deed.
In the next study we will be thinking about the last of these ten commandments given by God. This is one which is very appropriate for the day in which we live when the desire for material things often outweighs the desire for spiritual realities. This commandment says: "You shall not covet - or desperately want - something your neighbour has."