Deuteronomy 5:20, The Ninth Commandment

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor If the Lord had his blessings to the reading of his Holy Word. Well, do you believe the truth that's good for you? Or do you just hope what's good for you is true a Little over four years ago in the spring of 2014 twice I introduced sermons with the story of Irving Kanner.

Kanner rocketed a prominence in the evangelical world after September 11th 2001. Because he had an amazing testimony. He said he was born in Istanbul Turkey where he was raised a very devout Muslim trained in a madrasa Islamic religious school in Beirut Lebanon.

He was trained to do what the terrorists of 9-eleven did. He came with his family to the USA in Ohio when he was about 14. He said in 1978 having before that only seen American culture by watching the Dukes of Hazzard in Turkey his father bringing his Plural wives with him claiming all but the first were his sisters.

He started high school with a turban and a prayer rug doing the daily prayers. He said five times a day toward Mecca spoke with broken English. He said finally converted to Christianity after 20 years of being a devout Muslim.

And now now he says he bravely debates Muslims. Even when they throw oranges at him men shouting in Arabic to shut him up. It was a great story and impressive testimony very well told with humor and Energy, it just was terrific.

It opened many doors for him, including to becoming the Dean of Liberty Theological Seminary in Lynchburg. There was only one problem with it. It was all lies. Every one of those claims was false but those lies Opened the doors for him.

Open the door he published a book which became popular became the head of the one of the largest evangelical seminaries in the world. In 2007 when we moved to this area I wrote a letter to Irving Koehner not knowing any of this.

Just introducing myself and offering my services to each on the side at Liberty what they call an adjunct. Imagine though if he had called me for an interview and I and I asked him dr. Koehner. Do you believe the truth is good for you?

He almost certainly would have given a smooth spiritual sounding answer, but in the back of his head he would have to be thinking. Look what my fictions have gotten me. Position salary. Prominence the power to decide who teaches and who doesn't at one of the largest seminaries.

Truth, come on. What is truth? When he was exposed in 2010 in part by James White who whom we've been viewing for Sunday school Liberty Seminary investigated and it concluded that Koehner was guilty of quote factual statements that are self-contradictory.

We have a one-syllable word for that in English by the way it rhymes with flies. He was demoted from Dean to a regular professor. After which he resigned and but never admitted he had lied. Now you would think if You're naive and idealistic like me and that that would be the end of it that no professed Christian organization would hire a man who who can be proven just Just by searching YouTube videos.

I mean, you don't have to do you don't have to get a private investigator. You can just do it yourself through the computer and you can prove that he regularly over a period of years. Told outrageous lies about his life.

If you like me kind of live in this fantasy world in which Christians take truth-telling and integrity seriously. You'd be shocked to learn that in reality he was immediately hired by Arlington Baptist University in Texas as academic Dean and then even more shockingly a couple of years later hired as president of Bruton Parker College a Southern Baptist College in Georgia.

One of the trustees at that college said they hired him quote because of the controversy. After all, never mind what's true. He was a magnetic personality could tell great stories and maybe he would be exactly what this small Baptist College needed to grow.

Like Liberty grew under his leadership.

It's truth good for you.

Charisma humor Entertainment value.

Growth.

Money, that's what brings in the students. That's what brings in the and so the cash and that's what's good for us. What is truth? Come on. Be real. As. For Caner he had to be thinking once again, despite the setback at Liberty that his lies had given him a successful career.

Truth come on. Be practical. Be real. Caner looked like he was going to get away with it. He was trying to suppress all the evidence of his earlier claims. He even filed a lawsuit for copyright infringement.

Against people a couple a couple of pastors who were still posting those old videos of him making those debunked claims. He was now president of a college affiliated with the largest Protestant denomination in America.

He was interviewed by Christian publications with no questions asked about his earlier lies. He was invited to speak at large churches and Christian conferences. No, Southern Baptist magazine or paper would publish an article telling the truth about him.

I know I Tried sure there were some attempts to object like when Caner was speaking at the very ironically named Christian organization Veritas. Which means truth in Latin? He was speaking there in California and a former professional basketball player Nick Vanderland stood up and from the audience.

And exclaimed you're a liar. You're a fraud. You need to repent. Vanderland was escorted out of the church his church and arrested. You speak the truth. You get arrested. You tell a bunch of lies. You get to be the speaker on the podium.

Attempts to awaken people to the problem of having a proven unrepentant liar as the head of a apparently Christian College articles including articles written by me. We're mostly met with yawns shrugs at the shoulder.

Personally, I was aghast is a large swath of so-called Evangelicalism really so corrupt that they think this is tolerable. That the truth doesn't matter. That that lying is is treated like it's just kind of it's just kind of like it's bad manners.

Like talking with your mouth full and is that only if you get caught? Is it are we? Really that bad. Well, that's what the story was a little over four years ago when I twice made it a part of sermon introductions.

He looked like he was gonna go he would look like he was gonna get away with it when suddenly in just a few short months in 2014 Everything fell apart for him. Not only was his lawsuit dismissed the federal judge found it to be so frivolous.

He made Caner pay for the defendants legal costs for the men legal costs that he was suing more than $34 ,000. Now he was on the hook for worst of all on July 29th 2014 four years ago today his elder son Braxton Caner 15 years old who we know had learned of his father's fraudulent claims.

Took a shotgun and shot himself in the head killing himself and the months after his wife filed for divorce and He quit as the president of Bruton Parker College saying he was quote a broken man. Maybe the truth Really is the best thing for us.

It's an idealistic impractical stupid fantasy that people will love the truth and will not tolerate lies and Reality people love themselves. They love getting their way. They love the advantages that saying something will get them and Whatever has to be said to get what they want.

They will say it even if it's not true. They love their friends. They love their comfort. They love going along to get along. They love popularity and approval and smiles and happy greetings at food lion and They will deny any truth or spout any lie to get what they want.

It's just a stupid fantasy to think that people are so noble as to love truth. And it's a stupid fantasy that Christians are called on to make a reality. The commandment tells us not to bear false witness against our neighbor.

Otherwise don't commit narrowly most narrowly don't commit perjury. Like the worthless men that Queen Jezebel got to accuse Nabof in first Kings chapter 21. Once on the south side of Chicago. Don't ask me why I was there, but once I was a south side of Chicago I was behind an apartment building three-story tall apartment building and I heard some breaking glass up up there and Then saw one young man coming down the fire escape.

I then went up there where he had been and found that an apartment had been broken into. I called the police. It came and then I told this stern-looking really stern-looking a Chicago policewoman. And my report and she said when I told her that she said you've got to change your story.

Say you saw him coming out of the window. Sorry, I can't do that. The ninth commandment doesn't let me no amount of the ends justifies the means. Reasoning allows it. The commandment here prohibits empty vain words without substance.

The word there translate is false. So this commandment is the same word as in the third commandment where it says you shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. In other words emptily here.

In other words, don't testify emptily either just. You know words you just make up for the for the result you want now. Sure, that young man was almost certainly the burglar and deserves to be in jail.

But we can't lie to make that happen. It doesn't stop at the courtroom. Over and over again in the Bible God is telling us to tell the truth. I mean, this is this is just a small selection in Proverbs chapter 6 among the seven things the Lord hates.

One art. One is a lying tongue. And another is a false witness that breathes out lies. There's two of the two of the seven are lying. The Lord Jesus had in Matthew 15 that false witness and Slander are some of what comes out of our hearts to defile us that shows what we're made of.

Paul says in 1st Corinthians chapter 6 verse 9 that slanderers will not inherit the kingdom of God man. That means a lot of people Commenting right now online are not gonna make it unless they repent man at the end of the Bible in Revelation chapter 21 verse 8.

All.

Liars. Will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur.

Then.

The very next chapter which the last chapter of the Bible Revelation 22 verse 15 outside away from God's presence is.

Everyone.

Everyone who loves and practices falsehood so imagine. That which meant so little to profess Christians in this culture our culture honesty. Integrity truth, it's so little it just kind of shrugged their shoulders at it and a mountain of proven lies.

It is kind of that.

Which means so little to so many of us. To God is absolutely essential. It's a it's a vital sign of whether you have eternal life. That's why followers of Jesus are supposed to be people of such integrity of such honesty such reliability.

You know where Jesus said you you don't have to make oaths. People don't misunderstand that passage. Sometimes they think you he's saying you shouldn't make oaths, but it's not what he means. He means you don't need to make oaths.

I mean, you don't have to swear. For people to take you seriously because you're just so honest if you're a follower of Jesus. You don't have to swear you have to make a pledge to be bound by your word.

You don't have to swear by heaven or by earth or by your head or by your family or I swear on a stack of Bibles, you know these kind of things people say you got to really take me seriously now. No, Jesus said you're yes.

Is yes. That's enough. You're you're no is no. So that means there aren't classes of commitments for Christians, you know those you'll keep. Kind of first-class commitments maybe like your wedding vows you hope.

And then the second-class ones. Maybe you'll try to maybe these are the ones you'll try to keep if it's not too much trouble. And then maybe there's third-class commitments kind of just aspirations.

Things you hope you'll do. You say you're gonna do it, but you can really just you hope you'll do. You like the sound of. The work you like the results you get by saying you're going to do thus and so.

No, there's none of that for the Christian all of that. It's just a way of excusing lying after the fact sure. I said I was gonna do that, but. That was then things have changed now. Mainly what's changed is what's doing my advantage?

It was to my advantage to say I was gonna do that now as to my event is not to do it. That's really what usually changes. There's for the Christian. Jesus says there's just yes, and there's no. Your word is your bond.

Now the ninth commandment forbids injustice saying something that is false. Against someone to hurt someone it doesn't allow us to ignore the truth to get the result. We want as if the ends justify the means.

I'll just embellish your life story a little bit a little you know, your father was Okay, you weren't born in Turkey, but your father was Turkish. You were raised in a nominal Muslim home. You know a smattering of Arabic just make it a little more dramatic, you know.

So it's open some doors to get the audience to listen for the impact you can have.

Maybe even.

For the kingdom of God. Sure, you make Muslim immigrants look bad. You play right into the hands of superficial stereotypes, but who cares about them? Well, it turns out God does. He says love the truth.

Believe that the truth is best for you and for your neighbor, but Here's the hard part. How do you love the truth in a world that doesn't think? The truth is good for us. We have to taste and see What is good?

The Apostle Peter. And Tells us in first Peter chapter 2 verses 1 to 3 that Christians must put away all Malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Not so many of those things. Malice is your intent to see you're receiving hypocrisy is another way to see Envy and slander.

Most of those things are about lying. Love the truth other words. Especially the truth of God's Word. It's just in the very next birth next verse just like a newborn baby loves milk.

Crave it.

We long to drink it down. We need more truth, especially the truth of God's Word. If we go too long without it. We can't think of anything else. Ask, you know, ask someone with newborn babies. Ours had one.

You know those babies they have a pretty single-minded dedication to being fed. I mean they are intent they They are focused and they'll soon let you know if they need some milk. And we should have the same dedication to the truth and God's Word is truth.

Peter suggests we will indeed have just that kind of love.

If.

We have tasted that the Lord is good. We taste it is good. We want to hear his word. It's a vital sign of whether we have eternal life. The truth is that if you don't love the truth you like the lies the advantages they give you.

Presidencies of leading seminaries. Speaking engagements at big conferences and the fees that come with it. Or maybe for us, you know, we don't that's not our realm. But we maybe we like the flattery the pretend congeniality of someone that you won't tell the truth to.

Because you want to be popular. You know, you want to every you want to think everyone likes you so you could go along to get along. Or maybe you like the lies of malicious gossip and darkly suggesting nefarious things about people.

That's you. You don't just have a bad habit. You need to break. You have a bad heart that needs to be made new. You need to really taste that the Lord is good. And once you do that then You'll love the truth like a baby loves milk.

How do we love the truth in a world that doesn't believe the truth is good for us for us. Well, we follow Peter's advice and put away all malice. Well, we would keep the ninth commandment. We won't speak false words against our neighbor because we're not against our neighbor.

The great reformer John Calvin said that God has given us speech quote for the purpose of nurturing tender love and fraternity with each other. But that doesn't mean we practice flattery either. Some people think that we can obey this commandment simply by never saying anything bad about anyone.

You know, then we have never spoken against my neighbor we think if I never spoken against anyone just butter them up. All we use always use sweet words, but being sweet is not always the same as as being good.

You take for example Leviticus chapter 19 verse 17. You ever read through Leviticus if you haven't you fucking may have missed this Leviticus 19 17 there God says do not hate your brother in your heart.

Got that right put away all malice like Peter says rebuke your neighbor frankly, so you will not share in his guilt. That's odd, isn't it one after another? Notice the ideas they're juxtaposed. We all know we're not supposed to hate our brother.

Put away all malice Peter said but this passage implies that failing to rebuke him. When he is in fact in sin is is to hate him. It is to let him slide to destruction. We might think it's not sweet to rebuke him and that's true.

Rebuke is not sweet, but we're to love the truth. Not just the sweet. The inspired wise man says something similar in Proverbs chapter 27 verse 5 better is open rebuke than hidden love. That means we need candor.

Yes, we should be civil and courteous not hysterical you blousy so-and-so or caustic or holding in our criticism and then. Exploding at some provocation. We need to be direct and honest not to hide our true beliefs or attitudes under the guise of flattery.

You see the person who flatters or simply who will not practice candor who will not tell someone some. Some unpleasant but vital truths does not love the truth. It's supposed to be a Russian proverb the opposite of the opposite of a friend is not an enemy.

He's a flatterer. But if you love the social harmony. You know you because you flatter for that you love to get along. Love being improved up. Love the feeling that everyone, you know, everyone likes me.

I'm always saying nice words about everyone in that's why they all like me. I'm one of the good guys. You can even lie scripture tells us in Leviticus chapter 5 verse 1 by omission. By refusing to speak up by quietly going along with everyone else to do some injustice.

To leave some lie unchallenged. Just to get along. The ninth commandment is probably violated today as much in the omission as in the commission. In Leviticus chapter 5 verse 1 the man who gives Refuses to give evidence.

Okay, he's not you might think it well, he's not testifying against his neighbors not falsely. He's just being quiet. But but the one who refuses to give evidence when he has evidence to give is Condemned as severely as the man who gives false evidence.

Thus we see that a cowardly silence can be as senseless a crime as deceitful speech. The sin of silence as is real as the sin of active deception. That is we owe people.

The truth.

We owe the truth to them like a doctor must sometimes tell people hard truths. I assume You have this disease. But sometimes those hard truths are only the preface to some good news. It is treatable. It's a curable.

We owe people we owe people the hard truths that they have sin and the wages of sin is death. But the good news for us is that that hard truth is just the preface to the good news of the gospel. Cure but still.

The reality is if you tell people the hard truths. Especially that their favorite sins are indeed sins many of them will not like it and They won't like you. For telling them the truth. But you owe them something That they do not like.

If you think being a Christian means always being positive and encouraging. Being a bulwark of social harmony. Being popular. Because you're always puffing people up. No, you're mistaken. The Lord Jesus said in Matthew chapter 10 verse 34 to 36 do not suppose that I've come to bring peace on the earth.

I did not come to bring peace but a sword for I've come to turn a man against his father. A daughter against her mother. A daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law a Man's enemies will be the members of his own household.

If you obey the ninth commandment, it will cut you off from people who hate the truth and some of those people May be close to you. So while graciousness and tenderness and speech is usually good something we should usually strive for.

You know, I find sometimes if they're not listening to when you say graciously something you need to say it bluntly. Because you love the truth, but you know above all we must we should we should sure try to be courteous.

We must love the truth. We don't love the truth. We don't love God. Who is the truth. Those who love social harmony more. Who will not tell some truth? Because they cannot believe that saying it is more important than keeping the peace the false peace.

Those just don't love the truth enough. They don't love God enough. They think some falsehood. Or some false silence is better than the truth. Love for the truth. It must be the foundation of our community Christian community.

We are to be a community of truth lovers. Not a just superficial congeniality. Smile. Say, how are you? Great terrific. Smiling greeting each other at food lion and criticizing each other behind our backs while we dare not share the truth with him.

Our Christian community here the church must have its its center a belief that the truth is good for us. In Ephesians chapter 4 the Apostle Paul tells us that there is one body and that one body is built up not by sweet words of flattery by always being positive encouraging.

Maybe it's often but not always not by feelings that we elicit the right mood music not by rituals that we go through. No, he says speaking the truth in love. Some think we should avoid some truths because some truths will offend people, you know, they'll go away.

And that's true.

But it's something well don't say that because we'll lose people if we tell some truths.

Yeah.

You know, maybe they would have thought back in Acts. Why not let people think that Ananias and Sapphira are giving 100

Why not let it why not let it get away with it.

Why not let people the other people in the church think that they gave a hundred percent of their proceeds from the sale of their Property, you know, why not? What's harmed we think if we just go along with their ruse?

After all, we don't want to lose them as members. God made sure they would lose them as members. Well, that's me people think today. Think of the massive difference between how God takes lying to the church.

It's this in Acts 5. It's the same as lying to the Holy Spirit. You know and a nice if I lied to the church and Peter says you've lied to the Holy Spirit because it's the same thing. And it deserves death.

That's why God thinks of it. Think how the massive difference between that on the one hand and how the Canor case shows how lightly many modern evangelicals take it. Yeah, who cares not a big deal. I had editors of Christian publications write me back saying this is not a big deal.

It's crazy.

It's not that it's not a big deal. God killed people for it. Don't tell me it's not a big deal. I Didn't say that back to them because it would do no good. Now today profess Christians think well, why not?

Let someone sin be covered up. They have some false doctrine. Why not just let it go unchallenged. Maybe we need to find maybe what we need to do. Have survey forums. Pass sheet of paper and write down The one thing that you can't tolerate being exposed.

What one doctrine that you will not think that you cannot be questioned.

So.

That way I can avoid it and we can have harmony. Is that really harmony? Ephesians 4 says that we grow up to be grounded and secure and mature precisely by having the truth spoken to us. In love, of course.

That requires us to listen to it. To be humble enough to listen to others. The pastors we saw last April is especially called to be the one to tell the truth. Truths. Some people don't want to hear that's what's implied in reprove.

Remember that rebuke and of course exhort and courage to. But but do that with all authority. We come here. We come here the purpose of this. At least coming here together once a week. It's to hear the truth.

I Hope that you know that. The church must be a community that loves the truth. Real relationships depend on integrity. I mean you can have a false you could have a superficial congeniality, you know and.

Never sure get along fine, I guess but real relationships depend on integrity. Dishonesty even sweet flattering dishonesty even art. Even artificial harmony bought with suppressing some truths. Telling one set of truths to one person and another to another.

You know duplicity suit their taste. They want to hear that these we want to hear that. That doesn't make for real relationships. You ever know someone who speaks poorly about someone else and. Then notice when they are with that person that they treat him or her well with respect like friends cheerily.

And you know, they're they're insulting them talking them down all the time on their back. But when they're with them, they're happy and they're pals. You get a strange suspicion. If he or she can be sweet around someone, you know, he constantly talks down and maybe he's talking you down behind your back, too.

Oh No, maybe when he's friendly to you. It's the same ruse. He's playing on the other person. You think that don't you or maybe someone tells you exactly what you want to hear and you're relieved or elated you're happy.

Relationship is harmonious. That's what I wanted to hear. It's we're on the same wavelength that we're on the same page. Whatever phrase you want to use we're together. And then you find out later. He went out and did the opposite of what he said.

You thought you had harmony. But then you're told You then you find what he didn't do what he said and you realize he only said that. Because you wanted to hear it and now you feel rightly. That you can't trust him.

There's no relationship there anymore, isn't it? That's that's the hypocritical person the two-faced one and he probably thinks when he's doing that. That that he's being smart. You know, there's no apparent connection between his words and his actions, but he probably thinks.

That's that's smart. That's that's Maintaining cordiality that's smoothing things over. You wanted to hear me say this so I said it and now we're gonna be friends, but You know, he thinks that because the cracks that he's making in the body or in his relationships.

They don't explode into fights right away. But his duplicity is in the long run. Destroying the body or his relationships. You don't trust him anymore. Do you we must love the truth? We must love our neighbor enough to tell him the truth.

If we speak the truth to the one in unrepentant sin. They will either repent or they will be separated from us because they hate the truth. Our refusal to tell them the truth Doesn't keep that separation from happening.

The sin will separate our refusal to tell them the truth only keeps from them the opportunity to embrace the truth to repent. And this is what it means to be a church be a truthful Community where we don't slink off whispering against each other, but we come up to each other and and speak the truth.

Believing that it is good for us. And that means we must have a humble teachable spirit because believe it or not We might not always be the one Doing the correcting. We might be the one who needs the correction.

We might be the one whom the truth might hurt before it heals. Learning to speak truthfully and we need to learn particularly in this culture. You're gonna have to learn to speak truthfully. Learning to speak truthfully and well.

It requires others loving us enough to tell us when we are caught in the lie. Dysfunctional families and churches are ones that have fallen for the promise that if you won't tell some truths Then we'll have peace.

That's why I will have peace here. If you won't tell Some truths I won't tell you truths that the ones you hate if you won't tell me the truths that I hate. Deal that a deal. It's a deal with a devil.

Psychiatrist M Scott Peck and it's very interesting book here. It is people of the lie. He's an MD. Sorry, not a do but MD psychiatrist like him. He notes here that psychiatrists like him Hardly ever see he says really need what he calls evil people liars.

Because such people won't admit they need help. They are trying to hide the truth from the truth. And the last one they want to go see is someone who will make them Face it. Evil people he writes are obsessed with maintaining their their self-image of perfection through deception including self-deception.

Otherwise, they fool themselves. They lie to themselves. The most offensive thing to such people is the idea of the light of truth exposing Who they really are. He also notes in a footnote That often such liars who hate to go see counselors who will tell them the truth.

They they love to inhabit religious organizations churches. Because they know that there People will shelter them from the truth. I'll read right from the book page 76. Footnote. Since the primary motive of the evil is disguise.

One of the places evil people are most likely to be found is within the church. What better way to conceal one's evil from oneself as well as from others? Than to be a deacon or some other highly visible form of Christian within our culture.

I.

Do not mean to imply that the evil or anything other than a small minority among the religious or that the religious motives of most People are in any way spurious. I mean only that evil people tend to gravitate Toward piety for the disguise and the concealment it can offer spirituality.

Piety, you know, I've been praying. That's why I'm breaking my word earlier because I've been praying and now I'm led to do it. I feel led. Or maybe you get a little more aggressive. You're not loving.

The.

If you say Whatever some truth.

Love.

As an excuse to not tell the truth especially about me that fake piety.

Can.

Can be a great cover to do what I will. I Mean, you're not loving. But you know, you're not loving if you expose my sin. It could be a great cover for my willfulness. And remember remember sin is willfulness.

So we Dare not be like that. Otherwise we are lying. We are not loving the truth. We're not believing the truth is good for us. In our day of no accountability in the reign of feelings over truth. Sadly churches have become magnets for certain people who think that they can say anything about anyone.

They bear false witness against their neighbor with impunity. Some consider the pastor or church leaders to be especially eager eager easy targets. They they're supposed to take it. They're supposed to take any path accusation passively.

I've been given that as advice by people, you know, you're your pastor. You're supposed to take it. You know anything when he anyone accuses you of you just got to take it really? Well, that's what the modern churchy entity that gave us the organ canter debacle says.

Meanwhile, the Bible says no accusation against an elders to be accepted without two or three witnesses at first. Timothy chapter 5 verse 19. And he is not to let himself be disregarded in Titus chapter 2 verse 15 again.

Notice the massive difference between how heavily God's Word takes false accusations and how lightly people today do. Today the religious people of the lie would be shocked to hear that what they are doing is simply.

Satanic literally.

Satanic Satan is the accuser. That's what he is. And when you're the accuser a false accuser, you're being like Satan. The Lord Jesus said in John chapter 8 verse 44 that Satan is the father of lies. He begets lies.

Like a father begets children and his his children Who are liars like him beget even more lies for him. So he has these grand lies and just a family of lies just generating out there. Children lie by nature.

You ever notice that we're all born liars. As soon as we figure out that it's easier to tell a lie, you know who? Who ate the cookies? You know the parent can't prove it and you think He can't prove it.

So I'm gonna tell us that the dog did it. As soon as we figure it's easier to tell a lie that it's to our short-term advantage then when we do so. And so we reveal our true parentage. Without the truth himself.