The Words We Use
Ten Commandments • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Whenever I am speaking with someone, I should ask:
Will my words reflect God’s character?
Will my words reflect God’s character?
In the 9th commandment, the law is showing us how heinous the sin of lying can go as its wording reminds us of a court where someone is being wrongfully condemned due to a lie. Now, it is important for us to understand that this command isn’t just God forbidding us to lie in court, but it forbids all false witness and lying in totality. The Heidelberg catechism says this about the ninth commandment:
That I never give false testimony against anyone, twist no one’s words, not gossip or slander, nor join in condemning anyone rashly or without a hearing. Rather, in court and everywhere else, I should avoid lying and deceit of every kind; these are the very devices the devil uses, and they would call down on me God’s intense wrath. I should love the truth, speak it candidly, and openly acknowledge it. And I should do what I can to guard and advance my neighbor’s good name.
So, seeing that the ninth commandment forbids us from lying in any way, I want us to take some time today to explore three different definitions that I’ve come up with concerning lying throughout the Bible. First of all, lying is spreading false information about someone or something in a way that disgraces God as the One who is Truth. Or, we could put it this way, whenever I am speaking to someone, I should ask myself, “Are my words reflecting the character of God?”
Satan in the Garden, the lie of the Sanhedrin, Ananias and Sapphira (DeYoung) all told lies. However, throughout the Bible we are repetitively reminded that God is truth and in Him there is no lie. 1 Samuel 15:29 says, “The glory of Israel will not lie or have regret, for He is not a man, that he should have regret.” Romans 3:4 says, “Let God be true though every one were a liar.”
So, when we fall into speaking about someone or something dishonestly, we look less like God and more like Satan.
Will my words refresh the people around me?
Will my words refresh the people around me?
In Deuteronomy 19:15-21, we are shown that if you accuse someone of a crime, there has to be at least two first hand witnesses and that if they found out you were the one lying, you would be sentenced to the crime that the innocent person you accused would have earned. Also, in Leviticus 5:1, we find that if you witnessed an event, it was up to you to speak up to clarify the subject in court.
So, what do we get from this? Well, first of all, we understand that God really values justice. As a matter of fact, the OT says that it would be better for a guilty man to go free than for an innocent man to stand condemned. So, we should be very concerned with our justice system in the US being a good and righteous system.
But I don’t think this is the only thing that we learn. As we look at this point, I believe we could define lying here as speaking false information about someone or something that may result in the damage of one’s name, livelihood, or their lives itself. So, if we are going to apply this to our daily lives practically, we should ask ourselves, “Will my words refresh the people around me?” In Proverbs 25:11
11 A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold In settings of silver.
That means that if we speak the right words with the right emotion, they are priceless.
Now, what is a way that my speech wouldn’t refresh people? Kevin DeyYoung gives some great examples. He writes that it looks like, “[Twisting peoples words]” like “retelling a story where we are the hero and the others are goats, where we emphasize only the really mean things they said to us, but say nothing about the hard and hurtful stuff we may have said…” It looks like gossip and slander where we either talk about people behind their back and spread lies willingly, which is slander, or spread information that might be true or false in a condemning manner.
The last thing I think we could ask ourselves when we are speaking to those around us is:
Will my words be a reproach to myself later on?
Will my words be a reproach to myself later on?
What I mean by that is will the negative and judgmental attitude I have about those around me and the condemning words I use come around to bite me? Jesus speaks about this in Matthew 7:1-2 So, when we are tempted to run people down, we need to stop and ask ourselves, “Do I want people to talk about me and condemn me like this behind my back? Do I want to be known as a hypocrite or as graceless?”
1 “Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.
So, when we are tempted to run people down, we need to stop and ask ourselves, “Do I want people to talk about me and condemn me like this behind my back? Do I want to be known as a hypocrite or as graceless?” This might look like the girl in school that you’ve heard rumors about and so you look down on her without ever hearing her side. Do you know the Bible warns you about that? Proverbs 18:17
17 The first one to plead his cause seems right, Until his neighbor comes and examines him.
If you find yourself tempted to do this, I want you to think about a guy named Naboth in the Old Testament. In 1 Kings, King Ahab wanted Naboth’s vineyard but he refused to sell it to him. Well, Ahab went home and cried to his wife and she helped him devise a plan on how they could get it. They threw a big feast and invited Naboth to it. While everyone was eating, two men on each side of Naboth stood up and accused Naboth of having cursed both God and King Ahab. Well, like we discussed earlier, the law called for two witnesses, so Ahab was killed then and there and Ahab got the land. Now, if you want to know the end of the story, God killed both Ahab and Jezebel. However, this story is a good reminder of false judgments and how serious and damaging lies are.
Not only could our words cause us to be criticized, but it could corrupt our witness to those around us so we need to ask ourselves, “Where is Christ in my thinking and speech?”
In John 14:6 Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth and the life.” And in John 15:26 we read, ““But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.”
Jesus is the Son of God who is the salvation of us all, even those of us who are guilty liars. This isn’t just some idea that the Apostles had, but is testified as true by the Father, Son and Spirit.
Now, that isn’t all. Just like Leviticus 5 calls us to speak concerning what we have witnessed, Jesus also calls us to do the same in John 15:27. He writes, “And you shall bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.” and in Acts 1:8 He says, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses…”
So, since we are called to be witnesses of Jesus, it is important for us to make sure that we are people who are truth speakers because if we are known as notorious liars, that will damage the effectiveness of our witness when it comes to sharing the gospel with those around us.