Wednesday, December 24, 2008

The Ten Commandments Part 10

Exo 20:16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
Deu 5:20 Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbor.
This commandment demands our truthfulness, not only in courts of law, but as witnesses to the actions of ourselves and others in general. While this commandment forbids all lying, I would like to focus on one specific form which is gossip and slander. It is a sad state of affairs when the children of light throw around the darkness of slander and calumny. Christ calls Himself the faithful and true witness (Rev. 3:14). For us to be anything less is to fall short of His glory.
There are several ways in which Christians can break this commandment without perhaps even realizing it. Richard Baxter in a sermon entitled “Cases Of Conscience, and Directions Against Backbiting, Slandering, and Evil Speaking” available for reading at www.puritansermons.com, mentions several thoughts concerning this commandment worth noting. I will summarize a few of them (I would recommend reading the whole sermon, he says things in a very memorable way far better than I could.):
1. Even if a man is the enemy of God and the truth we cannot go beyond the bounds of truth in attacking him. “God needeth not malice, nor calumnies nor injustice to His glory.”

Remember of Christ it is said, “In righteousness doth He judge and make
war” (Rev. 19:11).

2. Take heed that in your zeal to defend your beliefs and the beliefs of your sect, you do not cross over to calumny of others who disagree. “A siding factious zeal, which is hotter for any sect or party, than for the common Christianity and catholic church, is always a railing, a lying, and a slandering zeal, and is notably described, James 3, as ‘earthly, sensual, and devilish,’ causing ‘envy, strife, and confusion, and every evil work.’”

When we realize that it is only God that gives understanding of His Word, we should be merciful towards others who disagree with us, especially on minor matters. We cannot shy away from the truth, but we need not attack them personally. It is one thing to fight a doctrine, it is another to attack the person who holds it. 2 Timothy 2:24-25 shows us the manner we should have towards those who disagree with us. If we are right, then meekness is in order. If we are wrong, and we are the ones God has to lead to repentance it is even more needful. The more ferociously we fight the worse it will be if we are wrong.

3. Backbiting is a great evil because it destroys love. “…as it is not the natural way of winning love, to entreat and beg it, and say, I pray you love this person, or that thing; but to open the goodness of the thing or person, which will command love: so is it not the natural way to stir up hatred, by entreating men to hate this man or that; but to tell how bad they are, which will command hatred in them that do believe it. Therefore to speak evil of another, is more than to say to the hearers, I pray you hate this man…”

4. We can be guilty of lying if we repeat evil of people without sufficient proof. “They who often speak evil of others behind their backs, it is ten to one will speak falsehoods of them when they do not know it. Fame is too ordinarily a liar, and they shall be liars who will be its messengers… If you know it not to be true, or have not sufficient evidence to prove it, you are guilty of lying and slandering interpretatively, though it should prove true; because it might have been a lie for aught you knew.”

5. We should be careful not to speak before we have heard the whole of the matter (Prov. 18:17). “It is gross injustice to talk of a man’s faults, before you have heard him speak for himself. I know it is usual with such to say, O we have heard it from such as we are certain will not lie. But he is a foolish and unrighteous judge will be peremptory upon hearing one party only speak, and knoweth not how ordinary it is for a man when speaketh for himself; to blow away the most confident and plausible accusations, and make the case appear to be quite another thing. You know not what another man hath to say till you have heard him.”

It is interesting that one of things that God sets forth for those who would dwell with Him is that they should speak the truth in their hearts and neither backbite nor take up a reproach against their neighbors (Psalm 15:2-3).

Christ was tempted in all points as we are, yet He never sinned. This gives Him tremendous understanding of the frailty and failing of humanity. He never condones sin, but He sorrows for the sinner. There is no self-righteousness in Him, even though all righteousness is in Him! One of the most interesting pronouncements He made was in Matthew 23:36-38, “Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.” Note the tenderness He had even to those who had repeatedly rejected Him and were about to crucify them. He truly warned of the judgment that would come, but without any bitterness or railing. Truly, He is our example to follow!

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