Commandment #9: Sanctity of Speech
Exodus 20:16
I. Introduction
-"Liar, liar, pants on fire; nose as long as a telephone wire." (Anyone burnt?)
-Truth is a commodity in today's culture.
-Ill. A store manager hears his clerk say, "No, ma'am, we haven't had any for a while, and it doesn't look as if we'll be getting any soon."
1. The manager ran over & said: "Of course we'll have some soon. We placed an order last week." 2. Then he took the clerk aside & said: "Never, never, never say we're out of anything-- say we've got it on order and it's coming. Now, what was it she wanted?"
3. "Rain," the clerk said.
-Ill. A preacher told the church to read Mark 17 for next Sunday's sermon.
1. Next Sunday he asked how many had read Mark 17.
2. Most of the congregation raised their hands.
3. The pastor said: "Good, I am preaching on Liars, and there is no Mark 17."
II. Scripture
III. Background
-It was not too long ago that a man's word was his bond.
1. Yes was yes.
2. No was no.
-High School English teacher: "If a man's word isn't good, then what is good about him."
-Ill. Boston a minister sees a group of boys around a stray dog.
1. "What are you doing, boys?"
2. "Telling lies. The one who tells the biggest lie gets the dog."
3. "Why, when I was your age, I never ever thought of telling a lie."
4. The boys looked and said, "I guess he wins the dog."
-Deception is prevalent!
-Notice this commandment is more than about just lying.
1. It is about bearing false witness.
2. You can bear false witness w/out ever saying a word.
3. You can bear false witness by telling the truth.
-Query: What is the big deal about bearing false witness?
IV. Truth is Truth
-Truth is not subjective.
-Ill. Lincoln arguing with a stubborn man.
1. Lincoln said: "How many legs does a cow have?"
2. "Four, of course."
3. Lincoln agreed, "That's right. Now, suppose you call the cow's tail a leg; how many legs would the cow have?"
4. "Why, five, of course."
5. Lincoln: "Well, that's where you're wrong. Calling a cow's tail a leg doesn't make it a leg!"
-Truth is not open for debate.
1. It is either true or it is not.
2. There is no ‘gray' area or ‘middle' ground between truth and deception!
-Truth cannot be changed.
1. It cannot be bent!
2. It cannot be stretched!
-At the moment it is altered it become deceit!
-John 14:6 "Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.""
-So if Jesus is truth, where does deceit have relationship with truth?
1. It DOESN'T!
2. He takes no part in lying.
V. Deception & Relationships
-Deceit destroys relationships we have with God & man.
-Words are the primary connection & communication with others, why would we compromise that, through deceit?
-Deceit is the poison to gossip!
-Half-truths can do full damage.
-Victor Hugo: "Men hate those to whom they have to lie."
1. If you lie about someone, or to someone you will begin to despise them.
2. Lies are corrosive to relationships, b/c they break down trust.
3. Relationships need trust.
-John 8:44 "You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
-Satan is the father of lies.
1. Do you speak truth or lies?
2. Maybe that would be an indicator of who your father!
VI. Prevalence of Deceit!
-Deception is accepted in our culture & often in the church.
-Ill. Listen to these quotes...
1. Matthew Lesko: "A degree of lying - you know, white lies - seems to be inherent in all languages and all forms of communication."
2. Clare Boothe Luce: "Lying increases the creative faculties, expands the ego, and lessens the frictions of social contacts."
3. Susan Sontag: "Lying is the most simple form of self-defense."
4. Mark Twain: "Honesty is the best policy - when there is money in it."
-Ill. "The Day American Told the Truth" says that 91 percent of those surveyed lie routinely about matters they consider trivial
1. 36% lie about important matters
2. 86% lie regularly to parents
3. 75% to friends, 73% to siblings, & 69% to spouses.
-Ill. A USA Today poll found that only 56% of American teach honesty to their children
1. A Louis Harris poll showed that 65% of high school students would cheat on an important exam.
2. A physician appeared on a network news-&-talk show and said: "Lying is an important part of social life, and children who are unable to do it are children who may have developmental problems."
-Lying is everywhere so we have accepted it as a fact of life!
-Politicians
1. Bill Clinton: "I did not have sexual relations w/ that woman."
2. Campaign promises!
3. Political debates!
-Ill. Fuller Warren ran for FL governor in 1948
1. Wet/Dry debate came up.
2. He was asked about banning alcohol and he said:
3. "If you mean the demon drink that poisons the mind, pollutes the body, desecrates family life, and inflames sinners, then I'm against it. But if you mean the elixir of Christmas cheer, the shield against winter chill, the taxable potion that puts needed funds into public coffers to comfort little crippled children, then I'm for it. This is my position, and I will not compromise."
4. Ambiguity = deceit.
-Ill. Two men worked on a ship.
1. One day the mate, who normally did not drink, became drunk.
2. The captain, who hated him, entered in the daily log: "Mate drunk today."
3. He knew this was his first offense, but he wanted to get him fired. The mate was aware of his evil intent and begged him to change the record.
4. The captain, however, replied, "It's a fact, and into the log it goes!"
5. So, a few days later the mate was keeping the log, and concluded it with: "Captain sober today."
6. Captain tried to get him to remove it, but the mate said: "It's a fact, and in the log it stays!"
-Mate told the truth, but was still bearing false witness.
-A half-truth is a full lie!
-Lying comes in many forms...
1. White lies.
2. Austin O'Malley: "Those who think it's permissible to tell white lies soon become color-blind."
3. Flattery, false excuses, propaganda, advertising, pleading the fifth amendment, etc.
-Revelation 21:8 "But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death."
VII. The Greatest Lie: Hypocrisy
-Hypocrisy= saying you are one thing and living something different!
-Some here today are living in sin but have continued to deceive everyone around them into believing they are a Christian (when it suits them).
-Sad thing is you have even resorted to lying to yourself.
-Maybe you believe your own lie; that you can continue to sin and be ‘okay' with God.
-You are living a life of hypocrisy. (The lie we hate so much in others.)
-And the world looks at the hypocrisy of the "church" and says: why would I want that?
VIII. Conclusion
-John 8:31-32 "Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
-If you live in deception, you live in bondage.
-Why do we live that way?
1. Why do we try so hard to convince the pastor we are "religious"?
2. I'm slow, but not stupid!
-What if you could be who you claim to be?
1. What if, what you wish you were, you were?
2. What if, the words of your mouth matched the intent of your heart and acts of your hands?
-Truth = freedom!
-Freedom comes from Truth (Jesus)
-This ninth commandment is not about lying.
-This commandment is about the sanctity of truth!
-Are you real?
1. You can be real in a world of cheap imitations!
2. Will you be real with me?
-Are you a person of truth?
-Do you want to be?
-First, you must embrace The Truth!
Response
