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I'm just going to quickly read to you from Exodus chapter 20 verse number 16 where we do have the Ten Commandments. Exodus 20 16 it says, Thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbor. And so the title for the sermon tonight Brevin is Thou Shall Not Bear False Witness. Thou Shall Not Bear False Witness. Commandment number nine. Alright, so we've had the reading there in Deuteronomy chapter 19. We are going to come to that at some point. When it comes to this topic of false witnesses, Deuteronomy chapter 19 is probably the best chapter in the Bible dealing with the topic of false witnesses. Now let me just very quickly say that, you know, often when we go door to the soul in you know, we're trying to give a list of sins that people have committed. You know, the first one that would generally come to mind is you know, have you ever told a lie? We would say, you know, one of the Ten Commandments is thou shall not bear false witness. And you know what, Brevin, in order to if you are to bear a false witness that is lying. Okay, it is lying. But really when you think about this idea and the commandment of a false witness it is very specific. It is a very specific type of lie. Okay, the commandment is thou shall not lie. I mean, God could have just written that in the Bible if he wanted to. But you need to understand that lying is a bit of an umbrella term in the Bible. There are different ways of lying and God sees it through a different lens of what you're lying about, why you're lying, etc. etc. Let me just give you some thoughts around this because, you know, I talk to a lot of Christians and one of the questions that comes up often to me about the Bible are the passages that we're about to read. So keep your finger there in Deuteronomy 19. We'll come back later on. But please turn to Exodus chapter 1. Turn to Exodus chapter 1, please. Exodus chapter 1. I just want to show you a few passages here. I just want to show you that lying is a bit of a larger umbrella term. And under the umbrella term of lying you do have false witnesses. But then we do have a time when you can lie and be right with God. You can lie and be right with God. Okay? And this is something that a lot of people just struggle with. And I think if you just understand lying as an umbrella term and then understand under that umbrella term there are different types of lies that you can tell and that God will deal with you differently depending on what you're doing with that lie, with that falsehood, okay? But in Exodus chapter 1 verse number 16 we have the story, we know of course the book of Exodus is where the Israelites being under slavery by the Egyptians and God would use a great man like Moses to deliver the nation out of Egypt. And you may recall that the Israelites are multiplying, they're growing in numbers and so Pharaoh the king of Egypt tries to basically cause the little babies that are born to die. He's basically bringing in abortion. Abortion after birth though. Which I mean, it's wicked either way. You know, whether you're killing a baby outside of, after it's born or you're killing a baby that's still in mother's womb it is still wicked either way. But it's trying, you know, so Pharaoh basically comes and asks the midwives that if a man child, if a boy is born to kill that child but if it's a girl to leave her alive. And it says here in Exodus chapter 1 verse number 16 this is Pharaoh and he said when ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women and see them upon the stools if it be a son then ye shall kill him but if it be a daughter then she shall live. So what's the commandment of Pharaoh? If it's a boy, kill the boy, right? If a woman gives birth, a Hebrew woman gives birth to a boy kill that child. Verse number 17 But the midwives feared God and did not as the king of Egypt command them but saved the men children alive. So they disobey Pharaoh. They don't kill the baby, the baby boys when they're born. Why? Because they fear God. It says in verse number 18 And the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said unto them Why have ye done this thing and have saved the men children alive? Verse number 19 What do the midwives say? Verse number 19 And the midwives said unto Pharaoh because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women for they are lively and are delivered ere the midwives come in unto them. What are they saying? They say Pharaoh the reason we're not killing these baby boys when they're born is because the Hebrew women they just give birth. They don't wait for the midwives to turn around, you know? I couldn't even get to the birth in time. The mother had already delivered the child and so I could not get my hands on the baby boy because mum and dad they're protecting that child that they gave birth to. Now, are the midwives telling lies? Absolutely. Okay. Because they made the decision to not kill the men children. They made the decision to not kill these sons but they're lying to Pharaoh. They're lying to their government, okay? And saying look, you know, before we get these Hebrew women they're given birth. They don't even midwives, okay? So are they lying to Pharaoh? Absolutely. Now, have they done something righteous? Or have they committed sin? You know, and those are the challenges that, you know, people ask people ask these kinds of questions. Because I think, you know, if you take this view that all lies are sinful then you're going to really struggle with the next verse. Look at the next verse. Verse number 20. Therefore God dealt well with the midwives and the people multiplied and waxed very mighty. Did God chastise? Did God correct? Did God judge these midwives for lying? No. The Bible says God dealt well with the midwives. So how can that be? Well, they lied and guess what? They did something righteous. They did something right. That they were seen with grace and mercy through the eyes of God. Why? Because there is a time that we can lie in the Bible, okay? And when would that time be? Well, let's talk about that in a moment. There's another passage that you may be aware of when I'll quickly read to you about Rahab the harlot. It's just in James chapter 2 verse 25. I'll quickly read to you James chapter 2 verse 25. It says, likewise also, not Rahab the harlot, sorry, likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works. Hey, what works did she do? When she had received the messengers and had sent them out another way. You say, what is that about? Well, there's a time when the Israelites sent some spies and Rahab the harlot took them into her house because they knew that the people, the authorities were trying to find these spies. And if they found these spies, these Israelite spies, what would they do to them? Obviously, they would kill these spies. And so Rahab protects them. She takes them into the house and asks them, can you, when you come and destroy and take over the city, can you make sure that I live? Can you make sure? Because she heard about the God that had delivered them out of Egypt. And so when the authorities come to her door and they ask her, have you seen the spies? What does she do? She lies to them as well. She says, oh, they've gone this way. They've gone that way. When really she's protecting them in her own house. She lies to the authority as well. And so we have some examples here of lying and yet, but what says Rahab the harlot was justified by lying. She was justified by her works. She was justified by protecting these spies. So there is a time when lying is perfectly right. And that time is when you're protecting life. When someone is trying to kill, you know, you don't want to be a facilitator of murder. Or if someone says to you, can you go and kill somebody and you've got to lie your way out of that? That's perfectly fine according to the Bible. I bet you've never heard a preacher say this before. But we have the scriptures. No, God deals well with the midwives. In fact, the Bible says that God ends up building these midwives houses. You know, God makes sure that they're well taken care of when they've lied. They didn't want to take baby's life. That's fine. Now, here's the challenge. You know, obviously that would fall under the umbrella of lying, but it's righteous. Why? Because you're protecting life, you know. If someone is seeking for you to murder or if you have to tell a lie to protect someone's life before they're killed, brethren, it's righteous. But here's the big mistake a lot of Christians make. They'll see these stories where people are lying to their authorities and then they'll think, well, you know what? I've got this issue here. And I feel like lying to my authorities. Well, the midwives in Egypt, they lied and they were righteous before God. Yeah, but you know, let's not take it away. Let's not rip these examples out of what's actually taking place. Okay. They're lying to protect life. They're lying so, you know, they would not commit murder, okay, that there would not be a killing, there would not be this cold-blooded murder of little children or of people that were sent by God to spy out the land, okay. This isn't every little issue. I told a lie. Oh, how do I justify myself? Well, the midwives, come on, man. You know, you can't just put every lie under the same category. Okay, lying is an umbrella term and then there are other things that fall under that umbrella. Okay, all that to bring you to the next point. Can you please turn to Proverbs chapter 6? Turn to Proverbs chapter 6, please. Proverbs chapter 6 and verse number 16. Proverbs chapter 6 and verse number 16. Because as I said to you, the title of the sermon tonight was, Thou Shann not bear false witness. So what is bearing false witness? Is it lying? Yes, it's lying. But it's not just telling a lie. Like, you know, I've heard, you know, we'll have a look at this. Look at Proverbs chapter 6 verse number 16. Proverbs chapter 6 and verse number 16. The Bible says, These six things doth the Lord hate, yea, seven are an abomination unto him. So what are these six things? And then there's a seventh as well. But what are these six things that the Lord God hates? Number one, verse number 17, a proud look. So God hates pride. Point number, what's number two? A lying tongue. Does God hate lies? Absolutely. A lying tongue. Let's just keep going. And hands that shed innocent blood, and heart that divides of wicked imagination. So we've got four there already. Number five is feet that be swift in running to mischief. Hey, what's number six? Verse number 19, a false witness that speaketh lies. Do you notice how in this passage, six things that God hates, you've got telling lies and then you've got bearing false witness or a false witness that speaketh lies. So, you know, a false witness, it is lying, but it is different than just your regular run of the mill kind of lying. Okay, that's why it's kind of listed as number six versus number two in this list of six things that God hates. And you say, what is the seventh thing? What is the abomination unto God? Well, it keeps going there, verse number 19. And he that soweth discord among brethren. You know, if you come into church and you're causing mischief and problems and arguments and fights and conflicts within church, this is an abomination in the eyes of God. Okay, anyway, that's the side thing. The point being, a false witness, you can see they're being categorized differently to just a regular run of your mill lying, all right? Now, let me just give you an example of what this could look like. You know, I remember stories when I was in high school, you know, we were looking at, you know, history class and World War II. And, you know, this happened in many nations, but, you know, people that wanted to go and sign up for the military, sometimes they were too young. And so they would what? They would lie about their age. They would lie about their age, they put their, you know, their false but date of birth on paperwork, pretend to be older and then be, you know, accepted into the military to fight. Hey, they're telling a lie. Is that a sin? Absolutely, it's a sin. It's wrong. I'm not saying it's fine. It's wrong. It's a sin. But then what is false witness? What is bearing false witness? Well, a false witness is when you take somebody, okay, and, you know, you lie about them, you tell them, you tell people, you tell a judge, a court system, and actually you'll notice that this is about a court system as we look at the judicial committee chapter 19, and you say that this person did X, Y and Z crime or this person has done X and Y sin when you know that this is not true, when you know this person is innocent, you know this person has not done those things and you go and you bear false witness about someone else. Wouldn't that be quite different to someone just lying about their age or something? You know, because if you're lying about your age, you're not really hurting anybody else, are you? But when you're bearing false witness, now you're causing this person to face any types of harms, maybe being arrested, maybe being thrown in jail, maybe even put to death in the Bible times for certain crimes that are worthy of the death penalty. And so bearing false witness is you taking somebody else, lying about them for evil purposes. They can be harmed or hurt or even killed, okay? So you can see that would fall under a different category. Now, both of them are sin. I'm not saying that one's not a sin. They're both sins, okay? Just lying about your age or whatever, you know, and bearing false witness. But you can see that it's a different, it falls under a different category under the umbrella of lying, okay? Now let's go back to Deuteronomy chapter 19. Deuteronomy chapter 19. And as I said to you, this chapter probably has the best teaching on false witnesses. And you'll notice that it falls under the category of a court system, you know, being brought before judges, a magistrate, et cetera, et cetera. Deuteronomy chapter 19 and verse number 15. Deuteronomy chapter 19 and verse number 15. The Bible says, one witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity or for any sin. In any sin that is sinneth, at the mouth of two witnesses or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established. You know what? If I found out that somebody had robbed the bank and I witnessed it, I know exactly who that is. And I go to the authorities and say, you know what? I know this man robbed that bank. But if I'm the only one that witnessed it, like I'm the only person, it's not enough to bring that person before the courts. It's not enough. You need a second witness. You need a third witness, okay? At least a second or even better, a third witness of what took place, okay? Why is that? Because the mouth of one witness, it could, you know, what you're doing is when you're opening up two or three witnesses, you're minimizing how many people could actually lie, okay? Like if you just got the one person and you're just trusting the one voice, you know, the chances of that person that is lying, you know, I guess it's 50-50, right? They could be 50% telling the truth or 50% lying. But if you got something else, no, I also saw that person. I also saw that person, number three, now you're minimizing that this is not, you know, you're basically saying, you know, you're increasing the likelihood that this is, this really did take place, that this person then deserves to be brought before the magistrates, before judges, and be tried for the accusation that has been brought before them. Now you might say, well, you know what, if there's one witness, if there's two witnesses, if there's three witnesses, this person must be guilty. No, because all three witnesses could be lying, right? I mean, you could have two or three friends, they might hate somebody and they just want to get that person front in jail, and they could come together with their different events and they could be lying and that person could be incorrectly convicted, okay? The point being, until you have two witnesses, that matter should not be brought before the court. Then it says this in verse number 16. If a false witness rise up against any man to testify against him that which is wrong, then both the men between whom the controversy is shall stand before the Lord, before the priests and the judges, which shall be in those days, look at this, and the judges shall make diligent inquisition. Let me stop there for a moment. So if you've got two or three people saying, hey, yes, we've seen this guy commit this crime, well, you're still not meant to just believe them just because there's been two or three witnesses, what are you next to do? The judges are meant to make what? Diligent inquisition. They're now to find out, ask more questions, ask about the story, what took place, try to gather more evidence, try to make sure that this person definitely is guilty, that what the accusations that are being brought forward are truthful, okay? So diligent inquisition must be made, you can't just say, well, there's two or three witnesses, therefore this man is guilty, that's not enough, okay? Diligent inquisition is required. Again, we're talking about the fact that somebody has made a false witness there in verse number 16. Let's keep going there in verse number 18. And the judges shall make diligent inquisition, and behold, if the witness be a false witness and have testified falsely against his brother, then shall you do unto him as he had thought to have done unto his brother. So shall thou put the evil away from among you. Isn't that amazing? These laws of God, they're just amazing. You know, if I lie and I say, you know, I saw this person commit murder, and then diligent inquisition is made, and they find out that I'm a false witness, and now we know, well, I'm a false witness, this man is innocent now, he did not commit what he said, but I've lied about it, then what punishment should I face? A slap on the wrist? No, no. I should be put to death. I should face the same consequence that I'm accusing that man, the consequences that that man would have dealt with if my witness was received as truth. But you can see how people can lie. You know, people lie in the court system. You know, I don't know if, brother, you've been there, I don't know if they make you swear in the Bible anymore, that's what you see on TV, or, you know. But at the end of the day, you know, even when you're brought before the court, now look, ideally, you want the truth coming out when people are being tried. You know, God has a justice system, but at the end of the day, you know, it's not going to stop people from making false witnesses. And, you know, God's way of combating false witnesses is to make sure that if you've made a falsehood, listen, you're not just mistaken, you're not just, oh, I think it was that guy, you are saying, it was this man, and you know full well it was not that man. Okay? Then you deserve to be punished, you know, for the same level of punishment that that other man would have received because of your false accusation. Let's keep going there. Verse number 20. There it is, right? If you were being a witness for this person to be put to death, well, life for life, you lose your life. Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. You know, the punishment ought to, you know, meet the accusation that was made, right? The crime that you falsely made, you know, your punishment should be for that crime that you falsely accused somebody having committed, which they did not do. I love this about God. And, you know, you might say, well, that false witness, they were just mistaken. You know what? If you don't know for sure, then shut up. You know, unless you're 100% certain and you know it's the truth, then you ought to speak up as a witness. But if you don't know, hey, why run the risk of being considered a false witness? If you don't know, shut up. If you don't know any better, you know, if you have nothing to add, you know, don't contribute to potential false witnesses against somebody that may very well be innocent. This is one of the Ten Commandments. One of the Ten Commandments, okay? So we need to be mindful about, you know, passing on false information, you know, against other people that could be to their hurt, could be to the destruction of their reputation, slander, et cetera. I do believe you can put all of that under the same category. Railing, slander, making falsehoods about somebody, trying to destroy someone's reputation. And as I said, this is one of the Ten Commandments. I hope you can see now that bearing false witness isn't just telling a white lie or whatever people... There is no such thing as a white lie, by the way. You know, lies are sin. You saw that, okay? Unless you're lying to protect a life, okay? But false witness is something very specific. It's about the court system. It's about maybe causing somebody to be harmed or evil being done upon them for a lie that you knew did not take place, all right? Now, as I said to you, as we saw there in Dieu Domine 19, have a look at that again in verse number 21. It says, and I shall not pity. So if somebody is found to be a false witness, and they're gonna, let's say, they're gonna get a death penalty, okay, for being a false witness. Don't pity that person. Don't feel sorry for that person. Oh, he was just mistaken, as I said. Oh, you know, does it really deserve that level of punishment? Don't pity that person, okay? Because they've done such a great evil in the eyes of God. You know, a false witness must be punished. Can you please turn to Proverbs 19? Turn to Proverbs 19 and verse number 5. Proverbs 19 and verse number 5. Proverbs 19 and verse number 5. The Bible says, a false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall not escape. This is what God wants. If you're a false witness, then you should be punished. Okay, you should be punished. And look how much God cares about the false witness being punished. You drop down to verse number 9, Proverbs 19 verse 9. A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall perish. I mean, God says it twice. He gets to verse number 5, he says it, and it's like, just in case people forget it, you know, if God's going to say something twice in such close proximity, you must know that this is something that is heavy on the heart of God, that he definitely wants us to understand and accept that he hates false witnesses, and that this person should not go unpunished. What is the solution? What is the solution to false witnesses? You know, what if someone comes to you and says, you know what, I've seen X, Y, and Z take place, and you have a suspicion there that this might be false. I don't think this is true. I'm going to quickly read to you from Exodus 23 verse 7. You stay there in Proverbs. Stay there in Proverbs. But Exodus 20, I love Exodus 23 verse 7. It says, keep thee far from a false matter. Because when you start hearing something false, something that is just not lining up, stay far away from it, brethren. I know what we're like as human beings. I know what I'm like. You kind of want to know, well, what are you guys talking about? What is this about? You know? No, if you start to hear something that just doesn't sound right, brethren, stay far from it. Keep thee far from a false matter, and the innocent and righteous... sorry, and the innocent and the righteous slay thou not, for I will not justify the wicked. Stay from a far matter. You know, it's thou shalt not bear false witness. It's not just, don't speak false witness. Hey, don't even receive it. Don't be someone that communicates false witnesses. Oh, but I didn't say it was someone else. But you're bearing that. You're passing that information on. You know, as it said, they keep you far from a false matter. That'll keep you safe from getting into the sin of a false witness. Please turn to Proverbs 14. Proverbs 14 and verse number 5. Proverbs 14 and verse number 5. Now I want to just show you a couple of passages in Proverbs here about the character of a false witness. You know, if you have a friend, you have a family member, you have a church member, okay, that gets found out for bearing false witness, okay, I want you to understand what the Bible has to say about this person's character, okay, because again, I don't want people to think when someone is just bearing false witness, I want you to think that they're just... they didn't mean it. You know, they were just mistaken. Okay, now this is a major sin in the Bible, okay, and it really shows you what kind of character they are when they're speaking false things like this. Proverbs 14 and verse 5. It says, a faithful witness will not lie, okay, but a false witness will utter lies. Okay, well you say that obviously. Okay, if you're going to be a faithful witness, you're going to be telling the truth, you're not going to lie. Well, that's obvious. A false witness will utter lies, that's obvious. But don't miss the point of this proverb, okay. So the faithful witness, someone that is telling the truth, will not tell... will not utter... will not lie. Hey, that's singular, will not lie. But what does a false witness do? But a false witness will utter lies, plural. Okay, a false witness is not just somebody that tells a lie once and made a mistake. They're uttering lies, plural, okay. They're a serial liar, okay. In other words, they try to throw everything... you know, they'll throw everything to the wall hoping something will stick. They'll lie, they'll lie, they'll lie, you know, just hoping there's something that will convince this... you know, convince others that this man is a wicked man. Convince others that this man has done wrong. And they'll just throw lie after lie after lie. This is their character. This is their character, brethren. Again, it's not just, oh, he's mistaken. No, he's a serial liar. He utters lies, okay. He's not a faithful witness. Go to Proverbs chapter 12. Proverbs chapter 12 and verse number 17. Proverbs chapter 12 and verse number 17. It says, he that speaketh truth showeth forth righteousness, but a false witness deceit. Okay. So, again, what are we learning about the false witness? They want to deceive. They're not just mistaken. They want to deceive. They want to cause deception. They want to deceive you, okay. They want to win you over to their side to make you think horrible thoughts about a certain person. You know, they want to slander and lie and lie and you just be like, well, you know, they can't just lie. Surely they're not lying. Surely what they're saying about this person must be true. No, they want to deceive you. Okay, they want to deceive you. They want to bring you to their side to turn you against other people, to cause somebody harm, to cause them injury. This is the kind of character, this is the character of a false witness, brethren. You know, if you know somebody who is a false, not that they're just told a lie, okay, but they're actually lying about somebody else to destroy their reputation, okay, to cause them harm, these are wicked people and you need to stay away from them. Stay away from them, okay, because they'll idolize. Within their heart is deceit. They will deceive you. It's easy to be deceived because, you know, generally speaking, when it comes to our friends, our family, even our church members, don't we just automatically take the position that what they're saying must be true? I mean, that's like, why would I think that somebody that I know well is going to lie to me? Why would I automatically think that they're there to deceive me? You know, no, this is what they are. They are bad characters, okay? They're a false witness. This is a major sin in the Bible. All right, can you please go to Psalm 27? Psalm 27, verse number 12. Psalm 27, verse number 12. We've looked at, I guess, the false witness, the character that they are, but I wanted to also just show you the consequences or the suffering that somebody can go through when they are falsely accused, okay? And we have some examples of this in the Psalms. I just pulled out two, just to get your thoughts around this, but Psalm 27, verse 12. Psalm 27 and verse number 12. The Psalmist says, Deliver me not over to the will of mine enemies. Look at this. For false witnesses are risen up against me and such as breathe out cruelty. You know, the Psalmist is going to God, saying, God, there are false witnesses against me. People are lying about me. People are slandering me. People are making false accusations. I've not done what they tell other people that I've done. How does he respond to the false accusations? Verse number 13. I had fainted. He says, look, I give up. I just can't go on. You know, it discourages you to be falsely accused. I had fainted. Unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living, wait on the Lord. Be of good courage and He shall strengthen thine hearts. Wait, I say, on the Lord. So we have some great advice here. If you've been falsely accused, yeah, you're going to faint. Yeah, you're going to be discouraged. Yes, you're going to be hurt. It's going to feel like you've been stabbed in the heart and you don't know why people have turned against you. You don't know why people are lying about you. You know why people want, you know, to cause people to turn against you? But then you remember the goodness of the Lord. Okay, wait upon the Lord. Be of good courage, as it says there, and He shall strengthen thine heart. Brethren, you are going to face, I'm sure you're going to face false accusations in your life. You probably already have, okay? I know as a pastor I have, and even before I was a pastor, I have faced false accusations. People just like to lie. You know, you're just trying to serve the Lord. You're trying to do the best you can, walking in God's ways, and people are just going to, for whatever reason, whatever wicked reason is in their heart, they're going to rise up against you, make false accusations, and hope to turn people against you. Okay? These things can happen. But I just want to show you that, yeah, you know what? If you make false accusations, you're going to cause somebody to faint. You're going to cause them to get discouraged and upset and cast down. Alright? Psalm 35, please. Psalm 35, verse number 11. Psalm 35, verse number 11. Psalm 35, verse number 11. The Bible reads, False witnesses did rise up. They laid to my charge things that I knew not. You know, they're saying, well, you did this, you said that, you promised this, well, what are you talking about? I don't even know what you're talking about. False accusations. Verse number 12. Psalm says, look, I've got such a clear conscience, all I've done to this person that is making false accusations against me, all I've done to him is good. All I've done is just to be a help, an encouragement, a friend to this person, and I just don't know why. I don't know why they've turned against me. Verse number 13. But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth. I humbled my soul with fasting and my prayer returned into my own bosom. He said, look, when these people that make false accusations against me, look, you can see that these are friends. These are people that are close to the psalmist, because when they got sick, he says, I got into sackcloth, I was mourning, I wanted them to recover, I've gone and fasted for them, I've gone and prayed for them. And it says this in verse number 14. I behaved myself as though he had been my friend or brother. So you can see this person making false accusations against the psalmist, to him, was a friend or a brother. I bowed down heavily as one that mourneth for his mother. That's what false accusations feel like. Like you've mourned for someone that had died. Why would someone just lie about me like this? Why would someone just want to tear me apart, destroy my reputation? It's like you've lost your mother. That's the emotion. It's a similar type of emotion that you can go through. This is why you can see in the previous psalm where the psalmist fainted, he goes, I can't handle this. You know, it's too much. Verse number 15. But in my adversity, they rejoiced. When they see you struggling because of false accusations, they're rejoicing. Woo! And gathered themselves together, hey, let's come together, let's plan against this person. Yay, the abjects gathered themselves together against me, and I knew it or not, I didn't even have an idea. They're getting together, they're having meetings against me, I didn't even know this. They did tear me and cease not. With hypocritical mockers in feasts, they gnashed upon me with their teeth. All right, so, you know, the psalm, you can start to see how many of the psalms actually speak of Jesus Christ and you know that, you know, people gnashed against him with his teeth when he was on the cross, etc., etc. Anyway, I just want to show you the effects of a false witness. If people have made false witnesses, witness against you, made slandering or railing against you, it can really destroy you, it can really cast you down, right? Especially if it's someone that you consider a friend or a brother. And so I just want to show you those effects. So, you know, this is a sin that, brethren, you need to avoid this at all costs. You know, just lying about someone just to make you feel better, make you think, you know, trying to elevate yourself in the eyes of others compared to other people, lying about someone just openly, you know, this is a horrible sin. I don't even know how you can bring yourself to do this, especially to a friend or a brother, lying about them, destroying their reputation. Now, please turn to Mark 14. Turn to Mark 14. Mark chapter 14 and verse number 55. Mark chapter 14 and verse number 55. We're now looking at Jesus Christ and we know the story of Christ. Okay, did Christ commit sin? Of course not. Did Christ do anybody wrong? No. Okay. Christ, he came and he died for sinners. He came and offered his life. And we know the story of Christ being arrested, brought before the chief priests, brought before Pilate, the authorities, et cetera. It says in Mark 14 verse 55, Mark 14 verse 55. And the chief priests, these are the religious leaders. These are people that are teaching the Israelites the laws of God. You know, they're supposed to be. They're the ones that are supposed to be serving in the temple of God. And the chief priests and all the council sought for witness against Jesus to put him to death and found none. They're like, come on, there's got to be a witness. There's got to be some testimony that we can cause Jesus Christ to be put to death. Surely Jesus has done something wrong. There is none. Christ has done nobody wrong. So what happens? They want to kill Jesus. Verse 56. So you can see the advantage of the two or three witnesses. Someone can make a false accusation, make a false witness. But then when you call the second guy, hey, can you testify the same thing? He had a different story. They did not match up. And so they're struggling to find witnesses against Jesus. They're even trying to turn toward false witnesses. How can we put Jesus to death? Verse 57. So this is what they bring against Jesus. Jesus says that he can destroy, he's going to destroy the temple and he will build it. You know? I mean, what? Now if you know what the teaching of Christ, what was he teaching about? He's teaching about the temple of his body. He says, look, you destroy this body, you destroy this temple, it's going to be raised again in three days. We know that Christ resurrected from the dead three days later. That's what Christ is teaching. But they're taking this idea, this teaching of Christ, and saying, well, Jesus is actually speaking of the physical temple. The one that we're going through Ezra now. The one that they're rebuilding in the book of Ezra, Jesus Christ would say he destroyed that temple, and they're trying to use this, you know, he's just like a rioter, you know, he's destructive, etcetera, etcetera. But even when they're trying to bring this teaching of Christ, they can't even agree with what Christ taught on the issue. But brethren, the reason I just wanted to show you that is because even if you've gone through the difficulties, even if you have fainted, even if you've been discouraged and your friends and your brethren and people that you care about have lied about you, bringing false witnesses, bringing slander and false accusations against you, brethren, so has Christ. Christ has gone through that. And you know what? It ended up where Christ was actually put to death for this. You know, Christ did not deserve to die. Okay? But there were so many people that gathered themselves against him. But this was the plan of God, that Christ would die to death and save us from our sins. This is why it's so beautiful that we have a Savior that understands the struggles that we go through. Even the false accusations. You know, you're not going to be falsely accused to the point where you're going to have to die for the sins of everybody. Okay? But you might be falsely accused. You will go through that. I'm sure you probably have, as I said already. But I want you to remember, when you're going through this, you know, bring your hearts and your minds back to Jesus Christ, that he faced false accusations. And he did it willingly to die for your sins. And I think many times when we're going through our struggles, we just set our eyes on Christ. And we understand where Christ has gone through so much more than what we possibly could go through. And then we can be encouraged, you know, in the power of the Lord Jesus Christ in his love, understand what he has done for us to get us through the false witnesses. Please turn to 1 Timothy 5. Please turn to 1 Timothy 5 and verse number 19. 1 Timothy 5 and verse number 19. This idea of false witness also comes up in 1 Timothy 5. And this time it's about a pastor. And I'm not preaching this because I'm a pastor or anything like that. You know, it just falls under the category again of the false witnesses, the idea here. But in 1 Timothy 5 or verse number 19, you know that people will lie about pastors. Do you believe that? Do you believe that people can make false accusations against a pastor? Church members can make false accusations against a pastor. Against me? Against other good pastors that are just trying to serve the Lord Jesus Christ? Okay. Look at 1 Timothy 5, verse number 19. Now you better understand 1 Timothy 5 a lot more once you've understood Deuteronomy. Okay. But it says in 1 Timothy 5 and 19, against an elder, and that's again a pastor, against an elder receive not an accusation. It says look, if someone comes to you, make an accusation against a pastor, and say look, I'm in this past, you know, pastor Kevin. You know, he's committed this sin. You know, he's done this horrible thing. You know what, don't receive it. Hold on, hold on. Someone coming to you about that, don't receive the accusation. It says here, but before two or three witnesses. Now I understand that this verse alone can be a little challenging. I know people have different opinions, okay. And here's the thing, sometimes when something takes place, and you know you've got to take action, you know, and you're not sure what to do, let me just give you the golden rule. Make sure whatever action you take is not contradictive to what you're reading. Okay, sometimes you can do things in different ways, so long as it's not contradictive to what the word of God says. Alright, so there are different opinions on this. And I think both, you know, the two examples I'm going to give you, I believe they can fit well in this situation. Okay, so if someone comes to you, you know, pastor Kevin, don't worry about me, some other pastor, alright. You know, this pastor has done X, Y, and Z, and it's one witness, don't receive, brother, I don't want to hear it. Okay, I don't want to hear it. I don't want to hear what you've got to say. Why? It could be a false accusation. Why? They could be trying to deceive you. Why? Because they could be uttering lies. Okay, you don't know. Okay. And so the only reason you may want to listen to that accusation, you might say, well, hold on brother, before you come and tell me this, okay, this is something serious about the past. Now obviously, look, this is not just an everyday kind of sin. Okay, because past is sin all the time. In fact, let's say look at verse number 20 there. Them that sin rebuke before all. Okay, so you're not just bringing an accusation about the past, just for a general sin. We're all sinners, but I sin every day, brethren. The thought of foolishness is sin. Okay, I'm sure I have stupid foolish thoughts pretty much every day of my life. I sin every day, brethren. If that's the case, if you're just going to take the past as sinned, well, there'll be no past that's left on this earth. And as soon as you get ordained to be a pastor, guess what? Day number one, you've been disqualified. Because he's sinned. Obviously, this is talking about some serious matter. A matter where this pastor will maybe have to step down, all right, or come and bring a defense for something that might not be true, and he's got to bring his defense in place, right, to protect his reputation, whatever it is. It's something serious, right? It might be that, you know, I saw this pastor walk out of the pub, and he was drunk. Well, that would disqualify a pastor. You might find out, well, this pastor's been committing adultery on his wife. Yeah, that would disqualify a pastor. You might find, well, you know, we thought the pastor was married to this one woman, and find out later, you know, he was secretly married and divorced in the past. That would disqualify the pastor, right? I mean, we're talking about major things that would need to be brought forth before the entire church, and rebuked before all. And when someone comes, and, you know, pastors on X, Y, and Z, the first thing you should say, hold on, but before two or three witnesses. You know what, if this is such a serious thing for you to bring, I need to have another two or three people here to witness that you are the one bringing this accusation, because what did it say to us? What was the scripture that we saw there in Exodus chapter 20? Sorry, Exodus chapter 23, verse 7? Keep thee far from a false matter. You don't want to be seen as someone that is contributing to a potential false accusation. You know, have others there, because then others can testify, if it's found out that this is a false witness, they can testify, yes, this man is trying to cause discord amongst the brethren. This person is trying to cause problems within the church. The other way you can understand this passage, if someone says, brother, I need to talk to you. You know, the example, as I said, I saw Pastor Kevin walk out of the pub drunk, vomiting, throwing up, etc., etc. And you have a second person, yeah, I was there too, I saw him as well. You have a third person, I saw him as well. I saw him get into the car drunk and he couldn't drive, etc., etc. Now you've got two or three witnesses. And you know what, are you to believe it? No, you make diligent inquisition. Just because there's two or three witnesses saying the same thing, you still need to make that diligent inquisition. All three could be lying. You can see that God really wants to protect the innocent when you look at the process here. You know, you're innocent until proven guilty. Unfortunately, many times we hear something has taken place, we hear something about somebody, we just believe it automatically. And it's almost like they're guilty and they've got to prove themselves to be innocent. No, you're innocent until you're proven guilty. The witnesses are the one that is trying to make you view others, your judges as the guilty party here. So we've got to be careful, especially when it comes to a pastor. And I'm not saying this because I'm the pastor. It's just, it's what the Bible teaches. It takes a lot of work, it takes a lot of effort for somebody to become a pastor. And if someone's going to be disqualified, it better be a serious issue. It better be a serious issue. Now let's keep going there, verse number 20. First Timothy chapter 5, verse number 20. Them that sin rebuke before all that others also may fear. Now the natural reading, as you read through 1 Timothy 5, the thought there is, well, if it's found out that the pastor definitely has committed this sin, this pastor is definitely disqualified, rebuke the pastor before all. And I do believe that is a good way to view and understand this passage as well. Okay, yes, you know what, if a pastor has done such a wicked sin that they're disqualified, the entire church needs to know about it. It needs to be called out, alright. It's not just let's sweep this under the rug, let's not let anybody find out this happened to the pastor because it might hurt the church and we'll just get some other man quickly in as a pastor before anyone finds out. No, you know, them that sin rebuke before all. You know, if a pastor has done a sin worthy of being disqualified or being called out, then the whole church needs to know about it. Okay, yes, even myself. If I commit adultery against my wife, something like that, brethren, this needs to be rebuked before all. You know, I need to be disgraced. Okay, pastors are to be given double honour, you know, in this chapter as well. Okay, yeah, if you're given double honour, then you should receive double shame if you've done a sin that is worthy of being disqualified like that. But, okay, and yes, as I said to you, yes, that is the correct interpretation, that the pastor needs to be sin rebuked before all. But when you understand the book of Deuteronomy, okay, keep your finger there and please go back to Deuteronomy chapter 19 and verse number 19. Deuteronomy chapter 19 and verse number 19, you'll notice that Paul is borrowing language from the Old Testament. Okay, as he writes 1 Timothy chapter 5, he's borrowing language from Deuteronomy chapter 19. And let's have a look at it again. Deuteronomy chapter 19, verse number 19. And then I want you to compare it there with 1 Timothy 5 as we've just read there. Okay, Deuteronomy chapter 19, verse number 19, look at this. This is speaking about the false witness. So if the person that is a false witness is found out to have said something false, okay, it says there, Then shall you do unto him as he had thought to have done unto his brother, so shall they put away evil from among you. Look at verse number 20. And those which remain shall hear and fear and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil among you. So brethren, when we look at Deuteronomy 19, 19, who is the one being accused here? The false witness. Okay, and this is something that needs to be expressed to all, alright. That all need to hear that this man has been a false witness. Why? So those that remain shall hear and fear. Now look at, go back to 1 Timothy chapter 5 and verse number 20. 1 Timothy chapter 5, verse number 20, it says, Them that sin rebuked before all that others also may fear. So when you look at that and you compare it to Deuteronomy 19, who is the one being sin rebuked before all? The false witness. This is why diligent inquisition is necessary. When someone rises up against a pastor making accusations, it could be true, it could be false. Alright, and if it's true and the pastor's worthy to be stood down, disqualified, etc., the pastor is to be rebuked before all, but it's found out that the person that's brought the accusation is a false witness, they are to be rebuked before all. They are to be called out. They are, just like we read earlier, they are to face the same consequence of the punishment for the false accusation that they've made. And so if they're making a false accusation that may cause the pastor to be kicked out of the church, well that person needs to be kicked out of the church because of the false accusation that they've made. Alright? So we've got to be careful when we hear things about pastors. I'm careful when I hear things about other pastors. When I hear things, you know, this happened or this happened, I don't really want to hear about it. I don't want to really go there, okay? Because I don't want to be seen as someone who's contributing to a potential false accusation. You know, as I said, keep yourself away from false matters. Alright, please go to Luke chapter 19. I'm near the end of the sermon now. Luke chapter 19 and verse number 5. Luke chapter 19 and verse number 5. Because, I don't know, maybe you've been a false accuser. Maybe you've been a false witness in your life, in your past. Maybe you've slandered, maybe you've railed against somebody in your life in the past and you know, you've caused someone a lot of hurt, a lot of pain. Potentially, I mean, we're all sinners. Look at Luke chapter 19 verse number 5. Luke chapter 19 verse number 5. You know, we often like to say, yeah, I've been falsely accused but maybe you've been a false accuser as well. I don't know, alright? Luke 19 verse 5. It says, And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must abide at thy house. Zacchaeus was a publican, a tax collector, okay? Jesus Christ says, listen, I've come here, Zacchaeus, Zacchaeus is up in the tree because he's short, he's trying to see Jesus. Jesus says, look, I'm coming to your house. Amen. I love this story. Verse number 6. And he made haste, that's Zacchaeus, and came down and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying that he was gone to be a guest with a man that is a sinner. And Zacchaeus stood and said unto the Lord, behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor and if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold. You know, the previous commandment that we had to look at was thou shalt not steal. And we saw that if someone had stolen a sheep, they would have to restore that sheep fourfold. So you can see Zacchaeus is applying the principle of the Old Testament laws. He says, look, if I've taken somebody by false accusation, in other words, he knows he's made false accusations. Okay? He knows it. He knows that he's lied about people, you know, someone's gone to pay their taxes, and he's lied and said, hey, no, you've actually got to pay more than that. And then he's pocketed for himself. You know? I mean, he's made false accusations against people, and he says, boy, you know, he's come to realize, you know, he's had the Savior, you know, come to his house, he spent time in fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ and now he realizes, man, I'm wrong. I've been a false accuser. I need to make things right. I've stolen from my fellow man by false accusation. And so it says, I'm going to restore it fourfold. I think this is a great story. And as I said to you, you know, if you've been a false accuser, if you've been a false witness against somebody, you need to go and make that right. You need to go and fix that. If it's restored fourfold, that's what you've got to do. You know? I mean, I hope nobody has ever done this sin. It was such a wicked sin, but, you know, as I said, we're a church of sinners. We're a church of sinners. And I'm wrong. Brevin, if you've made false accusations, if you've been a false witness, you know, if you've lied and slandered and railed against someone to someone's hurt, you need to go and fix that. Get right with Jesus. All right? Get right with Jesus. This is the effect of Jesus on the life of Zacchaeus. You know, what effect is Jesus having on your life? Please go to Matthew chapter 5. Matthew chapter 5 and verse number 11. Matthew chapter 5 and verse number 11. So I've got two conclusions. Number one, if you've been a false accuser, you've been a false witness, go and fix it. Go and fix it straightaway. Okay? But then maybe you've been falsely accused. Maybe you've been the victim of this. Well, don't forget Matthew chapter 5. Matthew chapter 5, verse number 11. Matthew chapter 5 and verse number 11. Again, I love these other words of Jesus. He says, Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Brevin, if someone lies about you, makes false accusations, Jesus says, you're blessed. What a blessing! What? That's hard, isn't it? You know, it's like if someone makes false accusations against you, makes a false witness against you, is slandering against you, is railing against you. You know, you kind of want to get even. You kind of want justice. You kind of want to let everyone know that you've been wronged. Jesus says, hey, you're blessed. Instead of getting angry and doing evil for evil, he says, hey, counts it as a blessing. Wow. I mean, that is so hard. That is so hard. Why are you blessed? Look at verse number 12. Rejoice and be exceeding glad. So contrary, isn't it? So contrary to the will of man. Rejoice and be exceeding glad. This is this. For great is your reward in heaven, for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. Brevin, if someone lies about you, false accusations, trying to slander, destroy your reputation, destroy your testimony, you know, rejoice, be glad. Great is your reward in heaven. Bring it on! That's the attitude. You know, you want to lie, you want to slander, keep going then. Keep making my lies about me then if you have to because there's great rewards in heaven to be falsely accused. You know, we're not always going to see justice on this earth. You know, sometimes you may be falsely accused and you've done nothing wrong and then there are going to be negative consequences. Maybe that false accuser has successfully deceived others against you. It happens, you know. You're not always going to get justice on this world, you know. But then again, I do believe that we always do because even if we don't receive the right justice in this world, Jesus Christ steps in and blesses us. Jesus Christ steps in and rewards us. He comes and gives us these great rewards for all eternity. And I think, you know, we're going to get to heaven, we're going to be shocked at just how many rewards we earn, you know. I mean, there are some rewards that we know we're going to get for the good works that we've done for the Lord, for the soul winning, for the service in the house of God, for serving the brethren, etc., etc. But then there'll be other things. Say, well, Lord, why this? Well, because you gave a cup of water to a little child in my name. Why this? Because you received a prophet in a prophet's name. Why this? Because you're falsely accused. Remember that time you were falsely accused and you fainted and you discouraged, you know. Well, look, here are your rewards for the false accusations that have been made against you. What a blessing. What a blessing. And so, brethren, that's the conclusion. If you've been a false accuser, go and get it right. Go and restore it fourfold if you have to. But if you've been falsely accused, you're blessed. Rejoice, for great is your reward in heaven. Let's pray.