Weekend Sermon -- Ten Commandments -- "Thou Shalt Not Bear False Witness"

     Welcome to the Weekend Sermon.  Thank you for reading the blog this week.  I hope that everyone is doing well today.
     I want to thank everyone for your prayers regarding the bad weather in my area.  So far, it hasn't been too bad.  I would ask that you please continue to pray that my area won't get any more heavy rain and have flooding problems.  Also, there are a lot of negative things happening at work right now.  Please pray that I can weather the storm at work and keep pressing on.
     I would ask that during your time of prayer this week that you continue to remember those in Louisiana who were affected by flooding.  Also, please remember to pray for all those around the world who have had to deal with storm damage.
     Let us pray for those in Puerto Rico who are being hit especially hard by the Zika Virus. I heard a report on the radio that up to 25% of the people could come down with the virus there.  Let's pray for an end to this problem all over the world.
     As always, we need to pray for peace in the world.  Remember the people in Syria especially.  For our prayer focus countries this week, let's pray for Cameroon and Turkmenistan.
     We have two messages left to go in our series on the Ten Commandments.  Today, we will focus on the commandment that states, "Thou shalt not bear false witness against your neighbor."
     This commandment is often misinterpreted as a commandment against lying.   While I believe one can draw that meaning from the commandment, and we will focus on that in a bit, that is not the main meaning of this commandment.
     In order for any society to function properly, there must be a system of law and justice that is fair and that the general public can believe in and support.  Part of maintaining that system if for there to be truthfulness in all the proceedings.  That is what this commandment is speaking about in particular.  When a person is called upon to testify in a court of law, or they are a witness to some event, that person is expected to give truthful evidence or a truthful statement.  To not do so constitutes perjury, and in many countries that crime is severely punished.
     If we did not have truthfulness of witnesses, the entire legal and justice system would crumble.  No one would believe anyone else, and we would have anarchy.
     Now, that is the primary meaning of the commandment, However, there are other meanings that we can draw from this commandment.
     Lying is almost always wrong.  Truthfulness is not only important for the administration of justice, it is important in business and social relationships.  It is part of being able to trust another party and conducting our affairs with them.
     As believers in Jesus, we should be people who speak the truth.  We should be people of our word who stand by our promises.  Jesus was the embodiment of truth, and as His disciples, we should emulate our Lord in this matter.
     There are times when you may have to not tell the truth in order to achieve a greater good.  In these instances, a person has not violated the commandment.  For instance, I just finished reading a book about a Jewish man who fled from the Nazis when they tried to take him to a camp.  He was hidden for a time in a farmhouse be some of his acquaintances.  One day, some Gestapo agents came seeking the man.  His friends were not truthful with the Gestapo, and it helped to save the man's life.  They didn't tell the truth, but it achieved the greater good.   In most instances, we will be able to tell the truth and do what is right.  Instances like in the above example are rare.
     Most of the time, we don't tell the truth in order to get ourselves out of trouble or to make ourselves look better.  This is always the wrong thing to do.
     Sometimes, we lie to ourselves.  We know down deep in our hearts that what we are doing is not right, but we come up with ways to justify our behavior.  We believe the lies we tell ourselves, and keep on doing what we are doing.
     Sometimes, we also lie to God.  We tell the Lord that we will do what He has called us to do, and then we don't do it.  We make vows to Him, and then we don't follow through.
     All of these are situations where we play fast and loose with the truth.  We should not do them as Christians.
     There is another way that I believe that this commandment applies in our society today.  In the academic world, there is an epidemic of cheating.  Teachers and professors report that cheating among students is at record levels.  This attitude of cheating to get an advantage is rampant throughout society.  For instance, many cheat on their taxes because they don't think that they will get caught.  All of these ways of going around the truth are violations of the commandment.
     All of us have been less than truthful at some time in our lives.  This is probably the commandment that is violated the most.
     However, there is good news.  In spite of what we have done in the past by violating this commandment, there is forgiveness in Jesus Christ.  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive our sins.  He will remove our sins from us as far as the east is from the west to remember them against us no more.
     If you have difficulty being as truthful as you should be, ask the Lord to empower you by the power of the Holy Spirit to be a person who speaks the truth and lives out the truth.
     Next week, we will finish our series on the Ten Commandments.  I have decided what we are going to study in the weeks leading up to Advent, but I am not going to reveal that until next week.  On Monday, I will post the verses.  I do hope to have a review for next Wednesday.  May God bless you all.  Amen.