The Ninth Commandment

                                                                   Exodus 20:16               

November 29, 2009

                                                                                                            

Introduction

I.   The ninth commandment is one of the most difficult, because man’s sinful nature follos in the footsteps of his father the devil, who was a liar from the beginning.

II.  The subject of this commandment is our words; the only subject addressed in two commandments.

                                                                                               

Exposition with Application

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

I.   The prohibition against false witness is primarily concerned with perjury in a court of law.  The administration of justice is conducted by the authority delegated by God (Rom. 13:1).

V.  To lie under oath in a court of law is a form of blasphemy against God.

II.  Along with our witness in a court of law, the ninth commandment is concerned with our witness in the community.  Exo. 23:1-9.

      A.  The believer must bear witness to the truth against popular opinion.

      B.  The believer may not compromise his witness on account of personal considerations:

           1.  pity for the poor

           2.  favor of the rich

           3.  indifference towards a stranger

           4.  animosity towards an enemy

      C.  Bribery is forbidden as a form of false witness.

  V.  The man whose witness is false is also a man whose actions are false.

III. The attempt to exercise divine power through words is a form of false witness manifest in

      A.  Ancient pagan belief in magic words

      B.  Word Faith theology

      C.  Modern confidence in man’s power to shape reality.

IV. As God’s image bearers, we are to think God’s thoughts after Him; speak God’s Words after Him.  This is the essence of bearing true witness.

                                                                                                       

Application

I.   To bear a true witness is not the same as never saying anything unpleasant about someone else.  Being evasive in our words or obscuring the truth is a false witness.

II.  Under the ninth commandment, the Bible condemns gossip and tale-bearers.  To listen to a tale-bearer makes one a partaker in his sins.  If folks quit listening to gossip, tale-bearers would quit spreading it.

III. The best way to guard against breaking the ninth commandment is to take the time to always choose our words carefully (Pro. 29:20), and to keep your thoughts to yourself when they are not required (Ecc. 3:7).

IV. We are called to be witnesses that speak the truth in love, while being as wise as serpents and harmless as doves.  Because the tongue is the hardest thing to control, the only way any of us can ever be faithful witnesses is by the power of Christ.