Sunday
Morning Bible Study
June
15, 2008
Introduction
Sometimes it is hard to tell whether something is true or not. Ever had
someone send you an email warning you about something and you send it on to all
your friends, only to find out later that it wasn’t true?
Can you tell which of these statements are true?
A penny dropped
from the top of the Empire State Building will embed itself in the pavement.
(false)
The Bubbles in
bubble-wrap (the packing material) contain a toxic gas. (false)
Unless marked "dairy,"
fast-food shakes aren't milk, but mostly carrageen gel. (true)
Albert Einstein
did poorly in school. (false)
Some Oregon
highway workers blew up a whale and showered the town with whale blubber.
(true)
Illustration
In talking about how the movie industry is able to make even the wildest
story look real, screenwriter, producer, and director Andrew Niccol has said,
“It's gotten to the point that our ability to manufacture fraud now exceeds
our ability to detect it.”
We’re working
our way through the Ten Commandments.
Today we’re
going to be talking about the ninth commandment …
:16 "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
The Hebrew text comes in
this order:
bear – ‘anah – to answer, testify, speak
neighbor – rea‘– friend, companion, another person
witness – ‘ed – witness, testimony, evidence
false – sheqer – lie, deception, falsehood
You could translate it
this way: “You shall not testify about another person with a witness that is a
lie”
We could simply
sum it up with “don’t lie”
One of the
obvious implications of this law has to do with the legal system. In Israel,
conviction was based on the testimony of two or more witnesses:
(Deu 17:6 NKJV) "Whoever is deserving of death shall be put to
death on the testimony of two or three witnesses; he shall not be put to death
on the testimony of one witness.
If you accuse someone of something they didn’t do, this would qualify as
bearing “false witness”.
(Deu 19:16-21 NKJV) "If a false witness rises against any man
to testify against him of wrongdoing, {17} "then both men in the
controversy shall stand before the LORD, before the priests and the judges who
serve in those days. {18} "And the judges shall make careful inquiry, and
indeed, if the witness is a false witness, who has testified falsely against
his brother, {19} "then you shall do to him as he
thought to have done to his brother; so you shall put away the evil from among
you. {20} "And those who remain shall hear and fear, and hereafter
they shall not again commit such evil among you. {21} "Your eye shall not
pity: life shall be for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot
for foot.
The penalty for being a “false witness” was for you to take the punishment
of what you accused the other person of doing. If you accused them of something
worthy of a death sentence, then you would be put to death.
One example of “false
witnesses” happens during the time that wicked Ahab and Jezebel ruled the
northern kingdom of Israel.
When wicked King Ahab (2Ki. 21)
tried to buy some prime vineyard property from a fellow named Naboth, Naboth
refused to sell. This really bummed Ahab out. Ahab’s wife, Jezebel, figured out
a way to get the property for Ahab. She wrote a letter to the leaders of the
city to hold a feast, invite Naboth, and told them to …
(1 Ki 21:10 NKJV) … seat two men,
scoundrels, before him to bear witness against him, saying, "You have
blasphemed God and the king." Then take him out, and stone him, that he
may die.
Jezebel used “false witnesses” to
manipulate and get what didn’t belong to her.
Jesus knew
about false witnesses. When He was on trial before the Sanhedrin, they tried to
find testimony from people against Jesus…
(Mat 26:60-61 NKJV) …Even though many false witnesses came forward,
they found none. But at last two false witnesses came forward {61} and said,
"This fellow said, 'I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it
in three days.'"
It’s interesting that what they said was actually true, Jesus did actually
make this statement (John 2:19), but they twisted the meaning of His statement.
Jesus was talking about the temple of His body, not the temple in Jerusalem.
Truth is not just about making factually accurate statements, but conveying
the accurate meaning as well.
I think the principle of this commandment goes further than just dealing
with courtroom testimony.
The opposite of telling a lie is to tell the truth.
The Bible says a lot about truth (I found over 200 verses on “truth”)
Defining
“truth”
Two main Hebrew words:
truth – ‘emeth (127x) and ‘emuwnah (49x) – both carry the idea of firmness, faithfulness, steadiness
Ex
34:6 And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD
God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth,
The idea of truth as something you can trust because it’s “firm”. It’s a
piece of ground that won’t give way under you. If it’s something you can
reliably “trust” in, then it’s the “truth”.
In Greek there’s one main word:
truth – aletheia (110x) – based on a compound of
“not” and “hidden”.
The truth is something that’s exposed, it’s not something that’s covered up
or hidden from plain sight.
John
1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the
glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
The Hebrew idea
of truth is:
Something firm, something you can trust in.
The Greek idea
of truth is:
Something not hidden.
In the Bible we see two ways that “truth” is used:
Objective truth
– facts that are true.
Our faith is based on things that are true. Our faith if based on facts.
The Bible is
truth
(Psa 119:160 NKJV) The entirety of Your word is truth, And every
one of Your righteous judgments endures forever.
The gospel, the
good news that Jesus died on a cross to pay for our sins is “truth”
Eph 1:13 In Him you also [trusted], after you heard the word of
truth, the gospel of your salvation…
Subjective
truth – persons that are true, they aren’t phonies.
(Exo 18:21 NKJV) "Moreover you shall select from all the
people able men, such as fear God, men of truth,
hating covetousness…
Why truth?
1. God is all
about truth.
(Deu 32:4 NKJV) He is the Rock, His work is perfect; For all His
ways are justice, A God of truth and without injustice; Righteous and upright
is He.
Why does God not want His people to “bear false witness”? Because He is
true. He is truth.
There is nothing false about God. He will not lie to you. He will not lie
about you.
If you and I are going to be “God-followers”, then you and I are going to
have to learn this concept of truth.
This is at the very core of who God is.
2. God’s people
are to be about truth.
Sometimes there are believers who will spend a lot of time getting to know
the “truths” about God correct, but without getting to understand the broader
implication of truth.
You can know the truth about who God is and still be living a life of
deceit and lies.
Look at what the Bible says about
God’s people and truth:
(Psa 15:1-2 NKJV) LORD, who may abide in
Your tabernacle? Who may dwell in Your holy hill? {2} He who walks uprightly,
And works righteousness, And speaks the
truth in his heart;
When David wrote his song of repentance after having committed adultery and
murder, he wrote,
(Psa 51:6
NKJV) Behold, You desire truth in the
inward parts, And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.
In contrast, wickedness is
characterized by lies, “un-truth”:
(Jer 9:3 NKJV) "And like their bow they have
bent their tongues for lies. They are not valiant for the truth on the earth.
For they proceed from evil to evil, And they do not know Me," says the
LORD.
Truth Lessons
1. Truth brings
cleansing
(1 John 1:5-10 NKJV) This
is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is
light and in Him is no darkness at all. {6} If we say that we have fellowship
with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. {7} But
if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one
another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. {8} If
we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
{9} If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and
to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. {10} If we say that we have not sinned,
we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
When we have sin in our lives we are living in darkness. When we are trying
to pretend that we don’t have a problem, we’re walking in darkness.
It’s not until we admit the truth about who we are and who God is, that we
come into the “light” and find forgiveness.
When I walk
into the light of truth about who I am, I will find cleansing. The blood of Jesus will cleanse me of all
sin.
I walk into that light when I confess my sin to God.
2. Truth binds us
together
(Eph 4:25 NKJV) Therefore,
putting away lying, "Let each one of you speak truth with his
neighbor," for we are members of one another.
Sometimes we are afraid of admitting the truth to each other because we are
afraid that the other person will reject us if they really knew who we are.
The world teaches us that we need to impress people for them to like us,
even if that means telling a little fib now and then.
The movies are filled with stories of people who are trying to impress each
other.
God’s desire is that our relationships with one another are based on truth.
Truth produces trust. The more you know that I’m going to be honest with you,
the more you will trust me.
Illustration
In 2004 Bella DePaulo, a visiting professor at the University of
California, Santa Barbara, who specializes in studying forms of human
deception, asked college students and members of the community-at-large to keep
a notebook to tally up the number of lies they told in one week. By the end of
the experiment, DePaulo found that the students had lied at least once to 38
percent of the people they came into contact with, while the community-at-large
had lied to 30 percent of those with whom they interacted.
Based on her research,
DePaulo insists that we all fall into one of two categories of liars:
Some of us are “self-centered liars”—we lie in order to make ourselves look
better to others.
The rest of us are “other-centered liars”—we lie in order to avoid hurting
someone else’s feelings.
The experiment also found that the proverbial “white lie” was more often
told to strangers; deeper lies were reserved for those the liar loved most.
“In everyday life, people are often telling lies,” says DePaulo. “[It’s]
not to get something concrete that they want, like more money, but for
psychological reasons…
“Sometimes in our real lives, our valuing of honesty clashes with something
else we also value, like wanting to be gracious or kind or compassionate.”
Brian Lowery, associate
editor, PreachingToday.com; source: Jocelyn Voo, "Honestly, all of us are
liars," www.cnn.com (1-21-08)
We may be tempted to think that our hiding the truth will keep our
relationship together, but it’s just the opposite. In the long run, honesty (truth) is what
holds us together.
Truth is the basis for trust. It’s
hard to trust someone who isn’t truthful.
3. Truth protects us
As Christians, we are in a spiritual war. There is an enemy that seeks to
stop God’s people and stop the work of God on the earth.
The Psalmist describes truth as a “shield”
(Psa 91:4 NKJV) He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His
wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler.
A “buckler” is also a type of shield.
As Paul is
describing the Christian’s spiritual weapons, he mentions truth as being like a
soldier’s belt:
(Eph 6:14 NKJV) Stand therefore, having girded your waist with
truth…
In Paul’s day, the belt was the thing that held the rest of the weapons in
place, sort of like Batman’s
“utility belt”.
We can think of God’s truth as being a shield for us – when we walk in
God’s truth we will find ourselves protected from Satan.
But don’t forget the “subjective” aspect of truth. When you live a life of truth, of openness,
of integrity – this will protect you as well.
If you have a reputation as being a tricky, deceiving person, you are going
to have a hard time getting people to believe you when things get difficult.
Your habit of deceiving others will end up hurting you.
Illustration
Seatbelts can
be a hassle. Some people just don’t want to be bothered even when the law
requires them to buckle up. According to the Associated Press, a New Zealander
named Ivan Segedin took it to an extreme. The police ticketed him 32 times over
five years for failing to use his seat belt. Even though this was costing him
big money, Segedin refused to buckle up. Finally, instead of obeying the law,
the man decided to rely on deception. He made a fake seat belt that would hang
over his shoulder and make it appear that he was wearing a seat belt when he
was not.
His trick worked for a while. Then, he had a head-on collision. He was
thrown forward onto the steering wheel and killed.
Discussing the accident, the coroner described the fake seat belt: “Though
his car was fitted with seat belts, an extra belt with a long strap had been knotted
above the seat belt on the driver’s side, providing a belt to simply sit over
the driver’s shoulder.”
Craig Brian Larson, editor
of PreachingToday.com; source: "Fake seat belt to fool police causes death
of New Zealand driver," The Associated Press (2-22-08)
He was hurt by his own deception.
4. Truth matures us
When Paul is writing to the Ephesians, one of the things he is dealing with
is the process of maturity. An immature
church is one where they are constantly being tossed by every new wind of doctrine
that blows through.
If you’ve been a Christian long enough, you’ve seen some of these “winds”
of doctrines – the “prosperity” doctrine (we all ought to be wealthy), the
“holy laughter” thing (people getting “drunk” by the Holy Spirit and acting silly),
the “shepherding” movement (you need someone more spiritual than you to make
all your decisions for you). On and one
they go.
Paul talks about the key to growing up as a church. It’s also how we grow up as individuals.
(Eph 4:15 NKJV) but, speaking the truth
in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head; Christ;
Maturity comes from truth spoken in love.
It seems that as parents one of our hopes is that our children will grow up
to be honest. Remember hearing the story
of George Washington
chopping down the cherry tree as a kid?
Our parents were trying to teach us that it was best to tell the
truth. Supposedly when George told his
father the truth about chopping down the cherry tree, his father replied, “Hearing
you tell the truth instead of a lie is better than if I had a thousand cherry
trees.”
Illustration
Tonto says to
his son, “Son, you push-um outhouse off-um cliff?” The kid says, “No, me no
push-um outhouse off-um cliff.” Tonto says, “Son, me tell-um you story of Great
White Father, George Washington. Many moons ago, when Great White Father was
young boy, him chop-um down cherry tree. Him father ask-um, ‘Georgie, you
chop-um down cherry tree?’ George say-um, ‘Cannot tell lie, Father. Me chop-um
down cherry tree.’ Him father say, ‘Georgie bad, but Georgie honest, so you no
get-um punishment.’ Now I ask-um you again...you push-um outhouse off-um
cliff?” The kid says, “Yes, Father, me push-um outhouse off-um cliff.” Then
Tonto grabs the kid and beats the tar out of him. The kid says, “Father, Great
White Father tell truth and get-um off scott-free. I tell-um truth...why you
beat-um tar out of me?” Tonto says, “George Washington’s father not in cherry
tree when George chop-um down.”
We can tend to say things to cover up the truth. We’re afraid to face the truth.
Sometimes it’s our pride that stands in the way.
Illustration
After a long day
on the course, the exasperated golfer turned to his caddy and said, “You must
be the absolute worst caddy in the world!” “No, I don’t think so,” said the
caddy. “That would be too much of a coincidence.”
Actually, the way to improve in things like your golf game, or the way you
run your life, is to hear the truth about who you are, not to avoid it.
It’s learning to live in “truth”, in “reality” that grows us up.
I need to
recognize the areas of my life that need help. A “to-do” list.
A few years ago I was struggling with a person who was extremely critical
of other people, including me. The more
I wrestled with this person’s lack of grace the more I began to realize that I
was just as bad – I too needed to learn what it is to be loving and
gracious. It’s one of the growing areas
in my life.
A few months ago I was working on the video of my dad’s funeral and I just
couldn’t get over the fact that I was a fat, fat boy. In my head I’ve known I needed to lose
weight, but I’ve tried to avoid the truth by not looking too much in the
mirror. I’m now on a diet and have lost
half the weight I need to.
When we do premarital classes for couples, we like to include a personality
test, a way of showing couples what kinds of things are up ahead for them. And one of the hardest things about the tests
is finding out that each person is flawed.
You can try to ignore those flaws or decide to do something about them. The latter is what brings maturity.
I need to
recognize the areas of my life that are blessed.
Maturity doesn’t just come with the bad news. It also comes with the good news.
The truth that Paul wrote to the Ephesians about was not just about what
needed to change, but the truth of how God had blessed them.
He prayed that they might know just how HUGE the love of God was for them
(Eph. 3:18-19).
He reminded them that God was able to do…
(Eph 3:20 NKJV) …exceedingly
abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in
us,
I know I am extremely blessed with a wonderful, beautiful, godly,
intelligent, hard-working, gorgeous wife.
I am incredibly blessed with three amazing, handsome, smart, godly sons.
I am blessed with being the pastor of a great church.
Don’t ignore the good truths about your life.
5. Truth saves us
(John 3:16-21 NKJV) "For
God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever
believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. {17} "For God
did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world
through Him might be saved. {18} "He who believes in Him is not condemned;
but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed
in the name of the only begotten Son of God. {19} "And this is the
condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness
rather than light, because their deeds were evil. {20} "For everyone
practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds
should be exposed. {21} "But he who does the truth comes to the light,
that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God."
Both kinds of truth are important here.
Objectively we need to accept and believe the fact that Jesus came to save
us.
Subjectively we need to admit that we a sinners who need God’s forgiveness.
We don’t run from the light of God’s truth, we need to run to it.
Illustration
During the 2007-2008 NFL regular season, New England Patriots' quarterback Tom Brady set the record
for most touchdown passes in a regular season, paving the way for his winning
the MVP award. At the age of 30, he has already won three Super Bowls—an
accomplishment that sets him apart as one of the best quarterbacks to ever play
the game.
In 2005, Tom Brady was interviewed by 60 Minutes journalist Steve
Kroft. Despite the fame and career accomplishments he had achieved already,
Brady told Kroft that it felt like something was still lacking in his life:
Why do I have three Super Bowl rings and still think there's something
greater out there for me? I mean, maybe a lot of people would say, 'Hey man,
this is what [it's all about].' I reached my goal, my dream, my life. Me? I
think, 'It's got to be more than this.' I mean this isn't—this can't be—all
it's cracked up to be."
Kroft pressed Brady as to what the right answer was, and Brady added:
What's the answer? I wish I knew… I love playing football, and I love being
quarterback for this team. But at the same time, I think there are a lot of
other parts about me that I'm trying to find.
Van Morris, Mount
Washington, Kentucky; source: www.cbsnews.com and 60 Minutes (CBS, 2007)
Is this the truth about you as well?
Are you finding that after all the things you’ve tried in your life,
you’re still empty inside?
Life starts with truth. The truth
that:
You are incomplete.
You are flawed. You are broken.
Jesus loves you. He
loved you so much that He died to take your place, to pay for your sins.
You need Jesus.
Jesus said,
(John 8:32 NKJV) "And
you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."
Are you ready for the truth?
Extra
Truth changes us
(John 8:32 NKJV) "And you shall know
the truth, and the truth shall make you free."
Some secular people like to use
this verse in the sense of knowing the truth about yourself, which is okay.
In reality it’s talking about the
truth of Jesus – that He is God, that He died for us, that He will save us from
our sins.
(John 17:17 NKJV) "Sanctify them by
Your truth. Your word is truth.
The word “sanctify” speaks of the
process of us being changed, of becoming more pure, of becoming more useful to
God.
(Psa 145:18 NKJV) The LORD is near to all
who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth.
(John 14:6 NKJV) Jesus said to him,
"I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except
through Me.
(John 4:23-24 NKJV) "But the hour is
coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit
and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. {24} "God is
Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."
The combination of words “false”
and “witness” occurs nine times in the Old Testament.
David knew what it was to be a
target of a “false witness”
(Psa 27:12 NKJV) Do not deliver me to the
will of my adversaries; For false witnesses have risen against me, And such as
breathe out violence.
Six times Solomon uses the phrase
“false witness” in the book of Proverbs, like:
(Prov 12:17 NKJV) He who speaks truth
declares righteousness, But a false witness, deceit.
(Prov 19:5 NKJV) A false witness will not
go unpunished, And he who speaks lies will not escape.
(Prov 16:6 NKJV) In mercy and truth
Atonement is provided for iniquity; And by the fear of the LORD one departs
from evil.
(John 8:44 NKJV) "You are of your
father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a
murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is
no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he
is a liar and the father of it.
(John 16:13 NKJV) "However, when He,
the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will
not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He
will tell you things to come.
The Holy Spirit is all about truth.
If you are a Christian but you are living a lie, then you are finding yourself
fighting the work of the Holy Spirit.
(Rom 1:25 NKJV) who exchanged the truth
of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the
Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
Do people see Jesus? Is the gospel
preached? Does it speak to the broken hearted? Does it build up the church?
Milk – Meat – Manna Preach for a decision
Illustration
In 2008, New York Magazine
ran a comprehensive article about research concerning kids and lying. In one study
researchers gathered a group of children together and read them a version of The
Boy Who Cried Wolf where the little boy is eaten by the wolf because he
lies. In a survey of adults taken before the study, most thought the negative
consequences in The Boy Who Cried Wolf would lead the children to be
more honest in controlled experiments on honesty and deceit. However, after
hearing the story, researchers observed that the children continued their usual
rate of lying. Researchers then taught the story of George Washington and the cherry tree. In
the story George goes to his father and confesses he cut down the tree. His
father replies, “Hearing you tell the truth instead of a lie is better than if
I had a thousand cherry trees.” Researchers found that the story of George
Washington and the cherry tree reduced lying by 43 percent. They concluded that
the threat of punishment simply teaches children to learn how to lie better.
When children learn the worth of honesty, as they did in the story of George Washington,
they lie less.
Jerry
De Luca, Montreal West, Quebec, Canada; source: Po Bronson, "Learning To
Lie," New York Magazine (2-10-08)