(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

But we are up to commandment number nine in our 10 commandment series. And we did read through Deuteronomy chapter 19 for a reason, we are gonna come back to that later in the sermon, but commandment number nine is Exodus chapter 20 verse 16 which reads, thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. Thou shalt not bear false witness is the title for the sermon this afternoon. And is this mine, brother? All right, praise God. All right, so now when we think about bearing false witness, you know, we often think about lying, don't we? I mean, I think quite often, and I do this, other experienced soulwinners tend to do this when we go door to door soulwin to explain to somebody that they're a sinner, we'll often ask them a question, have you ever told a lie? You know, and if they say yes, we might say, well, you know, one of the commandments in the Bible is thou shalt not bear false witness. And of course, bearing false witness is to lie. Now, that's correct, I'm not saying that's wrong, but one thing that you need to understand is false witness is actually a very specific sin. It falls under the umbrella of lying, okay? One thing that you'll discover in your Bible, when you read your Bible cover to cover, if you haven't read your Bible cover to cover, you'd be surprised about what sort of things are in the Bible, okay? But one thing that comes up when people have read their Bible cover to cover, I've had this question many times, is is it wrong to always lie? Like, you know, is there ever a time to just, you know, tell a fib, because I've seen this story in the Bible, you know, what do you say, pastor, is it always wrong to lie? And look, when it comes to the average human being, the average life that you're going to live, okay, yes, lying is a sin, and it's always a sin, okay? When it comes to, you know, a normal life that you're going to experience, there are some exceptional cases in the Bible that we read about where people have told lies and God actually justifies what they've done, okay? Now, we're going to look at that, we're going to look at when that takes place, and so, you know, there's always these questions, is lying always wrong? I guess technically, no, it's not always wrong, but 99.99999% of the times, it's wrong, okay? And the 0.00001 time that it's not wrong, you're very unlikely to have to deal with that situation, okay, but if you did and you lied, you'd be fine, you'd be right with the Lord, okay? So we're going to touch upon this idea, what is a false witness? Now, if you can please turn from Deuteronomy 19 and turn to Exodus chapter one, let's start there in Exodus chapter one. Exodus chapter one, verse number 16. Exodus chapter one, verse number 16, we're going to just start with these exceptions. I want to show you that lying is an umbrella term and under lying, you've got bearing false witness. So Exodus chapter one, verse number 16, please, Exodus chapter one, verse number 16, it says, and he said, so this is what Pharaoh says, and he said, when ye do the office of a midwife to an Hebrew woman, 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, okay? So God is telling the midwives in Egypt, when a Hebrew woman is about to give birth and the Hebrew woman calls for the midwife for assistance, when that baby is born, kill the man child. Leave the girls alone, but kill the man child. And so when that baby, the idea is, once the baby gets delivered, the midwife, if they're obeying Pharaoh, would kill that baby, okay? And go, oh, mum, you know, he passed away, I'm sorry. You know, he's a stillborn. That kind of situation was to be played out. So Pharaoh is trying to turn these midwives into murderers. Okay? Now what takes place here? It says in verse number 18, oh, sorry, verse number 17, but the midwives feared God and did not, as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive. So did they obey Pharaoh? No, they didn't obey Pharaoh, okay? And not only did they not obey Pharaoh, which is one thing, you understand? I can understand that if Pharaoh, it doesn't matter what authority, what government power tells me to commit murder, I'm not going to do it, okay? I understand that bit of it. But what if that government power then calls you and asks you to explain why you've done that? You know, are you going to tell them the truth? Or are you going to lie about the situation? Well, look at verse number 18. And the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said unto them, why have you done this thing and have saved the men children alive? So why haven't you killed, why haven't you murdered the men? Okay? 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. So what are they doing? They're lying to Pharaoh. They're saying, well, what's actually happening Pharaoh is before we even get there to help with the delivery, these Hebrew women, they're so lively, they're so energetic, right? They don't even need the midwives, Pharaoh. They're already giving birth to the children before we even get there. That's the reason that they give to Pharaoh, okay? It's a lie. It's a lie. The reason they're not killing the men children is because they fear God. And that's right. If you fear God, you're not going to go and murder, especially a little child, okay? But you can see that they've lied to Pharaoh. You say, well, lies always a sin. Therefore I'm God, I'm sure, like I know what they've done. I wouldn't want to kill a little baby either. So I understand, you know, from one perspective, I can understand how they justify themselves, but surely they've sinned against the Lord. Surely they've done wrong in the eyes of God and God will chastise them for their sin. Well, what does verse number 20 say? Therefore God dealt well with the midwives and the people multiplied and waxed very mighty. Wow. These midwives lied to their authority. They lied to the government. They lied to Pharaoh and God goes, well done. I'm going to treat you well. And if you read for the rest of the chapter, God makes sure that they've got good accommodation. They've got houses built for them. Hey, they are looked after, these midwives, for doing what is right. But they lied to Pharaoh. They lied to Pharaoh. What about another story? You may remember the story of Rahab. I'll just quickly read to you. Rahab the harlot. You may recall that the Israelites sent two spies into the land and they were seeking to kill those spies and they ran into, they came across Rahab. Rahab hid the spies, the Israeli spies, and then she lied to the government once again. She lied to the soldiers that are seeking them to protect them, to keep them alive. And the Bible says in James 2.25, likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works when she had received the messengers and had sent them out another way? She lied. She said, no, the messengers ran that way. But she was protecting the spies in her own house. She lied against the government as well. And God says, hey, she was justified in her works. Again, when you read your Bible, you start to, hold on. They told fibs. They told lies. How is it that these people are being lifted up in scripture? And is there a time to lie against authority in this way? Again, these are exceptions. What do these exceptions show us, okay? It shows us that if your governing authority says, please kill somebody, please murder, or please facilitate in murdering, please give up these people so they can be put to death, and you know they've done nothing wrong, deserving of death, then it's fine to lie to protect life. It's fine to lie. You've never heard this preaching in a Baptist church before. It's fine to lie to protect life. Like, what do you think is worse, lying to protect life or murdering? Okay, so obviously these people are stuck between a rock and a hard place. Obviously, 99.9999% of the times, you tell the truth. What's the likelihood that you're going to one day stand before governments, and they're asking you, can you please go and murder someone? Or can you please give up the children of God so we can kill them? I mean, the likelihood is not very high, is it? Okay, it's probably not a situation that you're going to come across. But I wanted to leave it within context, because both of these things have to be about protecting life, okay? Now, some Christians take these stories, and then they'll justify their lies in general, whatever lie it is. You know, surely I can lie against the government about this situation, because even Rahab the harlot, even the midwives with Pharaoh did X, Y, and Z. Yeah, but now you've removed it out of the context. Just because you want to hide your income and not pay taxes and lie to the government, you know, you can't take these stories and justify what you're doing. I mean, if you want to lie and not pay your taxes, that's your business. But don't take these stories of someone actually not wanting to kill someone and lump it into your situation. No, you've removed it out of context, okay? Lying to protect life is correct, okay? Again, that exception, probably you're not going to have to face that, okay? You're not going to have to face that. But I just wanted to show you, I wanted to answer that question quickly, okay? Because it is something that gets brought up to me on a regular basis. All right, now please go to Proverbs chapter six. Go to Proverbs chapter six and verse number 16. Proverbs chapter six and verse number 16. Proverbs chapter six and verse number 16. Now, after saying that, you know, I want you to start thinking, okay, I can lie, you know? And how do I justify? Okay, the midwives, right? So I can, you know, whatever, all right? No, no, okay, look at Proverbs chapter six, verse number 16. These six things doth the Lord hate. Yea, seven are an abomination unto him. There are six things that we're about to read that God hates. And then there's like seven, which is a complete abomination to God. What are these things? Verse number 17. A proud look. We know God hates pride. Look at the second one. A lying tongue. God hates the lying tongue. We've all lied, haven't we? We've all lied. Maybe hundreds of lies, thousands of lies. Every time we've lied, God's hated our tongue for saying that lie. Okay, a lying tongue. Look, and hands that shed innocent blood. That would have been the midwives if they carried out what Pharaoh said. Verse number 18. And a heart that divides of wicked imaginations. Feet that be swift to run into mischief. Look at verse number 19. A false witness that speaketh lies. Now if you're, you know, you might be looking, hold on, twice lies are mentioned. But I wanted to show you that a false witness falls under the category of lying, okay? It's a different, you know, you might say, you know, if I lied about my age, okay? I just lied about, you know, I'm 41. In fact, I did accident, or it's not a lie if you don't know what they call that. They call it, it's called something else. Ignorance, okay? I said I was 42 when I was 41, okay? In a swim in Danden, Sydney, all right? Anyway, you know, if I just lied about my age or something like that, okay? Yeah, that's a lie, okay? But a false witness in the Bible, we looked at that in Deuteronomy chapter 19, is something different. It's actually far worse, and I'll explain to you why that's the case. But I want to show you that you've got a tongue that speaketh lies, and then you've got the false witness that speaketh lies. Then it says, and he, and this is number seven, and he that soweth discord among brethren. Okay, God hates all of these things, but number seven is a complete abomination to God, okay? Someone that soweth discord amongst the brethren. If someone comes into our church and tries to cause conflicts amongst God's people, okay, that in God's eyes is an abomination. I mean, this whole list is horrible, but that's like the worst in the list, okay, of all of them. So, hey, anyway, that's a side thing, but hey, we don't want to be people that cause discord and conflicts and issues within our church, all right? Now, back to Deuteronomy chapter 19, please. Back to Deuteronomy chapter 19, because this has the best teaching on false witnesses. We're going to understand what lying, we all know what lying is, but when God speaks about being a false witness, what is he really referring to? How is that different to just your regular, run-of-the-mill, what they call white lies, you know? There's no such thing as a white lie, you know? The idea with the white lie is kind of like, people say, well, I practice white magic. You know, we don't practice black magic. It's just a, you know, it's all wicked, okay? I don't tell the horrible lies, I just tell the white lies. It's wicked, okay? God hates us. God hates lies. God is a God of truth. He's given us his Bible. His word is truth. He's given us his spirit. It's a spirit of truth. God is all about truth, okay? And God hates lies, you know? So I don't want to take those little exceptions about murder and just apply it across the board. I want you to still understand and appreciate how serious the lying tongue is, okay? Now, when we get to the idea of the false witness, Deuteronomy chapter 19. Deuteronomy chapter 19, verse number 15. It 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. Now, what we're reading about here is the court system that God put into place for Israel, okay? If a man has done wrong, if he's committed a crime, all right, before he's brought before the judge, right? Before he's brought into court and the issue has been heard, how many witnesses are there? Well, there's one. There's one accusing him. It's not enough. Doesn't matter if he's innocent or guilty. It's not enough. One voice against this person is insufficient, okay? God says at least two and even better, three. Okay, even better, three. Now, let's keep going there. It says, verse number 16. This is why 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. 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 shalt thou put the evil away from among you. All right? So we learn a few things. God wants to make sure that people are protected to some extent until they're sufficient witness and until there's a court proceeding to classify them as guilty. You know, sometimes someone won't make an accusation against you or about someone. And I think in our natural makeup, we tend to just believe what people are saying. Even if it's just one witness. You know, oh man, did you know about brother so-and-so? He did, X, Y, and Z. I think we could automatically tend to believe that, okay? But listen, when it comes to any iniquity, one witness was insufficient. God says two or three, because one person can just bring forth a false witness. I mean, have you ever been lied about? Has someone ever told someone else lies about you? Have you ever been falsely accused? Again, I think if you lived a life long enough, you've been falsely accused. It happens to everybody. It happens to this pastor. It happens to everybody. I think if we all were honest, we'd all say yes at the time when I was falsely accused of whatever. It happens, okay? And the issue is in order to protect that person's integrity, God wants to make sure, look, we need at least two or even three people testifying of what's taking place, okay? Because again, one person can just tell a flat out lie, but if you've got two people or three people, you know, you're gonna hear events, and if those events don't match up, then you can tell that there's been lies said about this person. There's protection. You know, from God's system is you're innocent until proven guilty. You know, social media has made it that you're guilty until you're proven innocent. Because social media's all about accusations and lies and propaganda, okay? No, God's system is different. You're innocent until you're proven guilty, okay? So what is a false accusation? Well, if you look at this, what we just read, as I said to you, tell them a lie. You know, I remember going to school, hearing about World War II, and hearing about how certain individuals who were underage, I think the age to sign up for the military was 18 years old or something like that, okay, or 20, I can't remember exactly now, but you know, they were underage, and some people would lie about their age to get enlisted into the military to fight in World War II. Have you ever heard of those stories? You know, I have, yeah. I mean, they told a lie. That was wrong. They should not have lied on their forms, okay? Look, that lie was not causing somebody else to be thought in a negative light. Like, if that, you know, that information is affecting them, you know, and how they're going to be, whether they're gonna be enlisted in the army or not. A false accusation is different. You're telling a lie to slander against somebody else. You're saying a lie. You're telling others that this person did X, Y, and Z when you know full well they did not do those things, okay? You're destroying someone's reputation. You're taking their name and you're dragging it through the mud. You're causing people to think negative toward that individual. That's the false accusation, okay? Again, just telling the average lie is one thing, but you're telling lies to destroy somebody else, to throw them in prison, to be judged unfairly. That is the false accusation, okay? I hope you can understand the differences there, okay? But of course, the false witness is speaking lies. So let's keep going there. In fact, the next thing we learn there, just because accusations are made, the judges, okay, and the priests and the judges, once they hear the accusations, they're meant to make diligent inquisition. In other words, okay, we've got two or three witnesses, it doesn't mean we just believe what is being said, because again, a group of friends could have got together, collaborated their stories and accused somebody, or then the next step is to make sure, let's find further evidence, let's find out if this is true. Let's ask questions, let's investigate this matter further. And if the investigation leads to prove that the person is guilty in accordance to the witnesses, then that person needs to be judged, okay? But during that process of inquiry, if it's found out that the false witnesses have a total lie, then the false witness is to suffer the same fate that the other person would have suffered if he was found to be guilty, right? I mean, we hadn't looked at this before, that if someone had committed murder, they deserve the death penalty. Well, what if you did not commit murder, and you've had three people make a false accusation against you and say, it was this person, it was you that committed murder, okay? You know you didn't do it, it wasn't you, but they're accusing you falsely, okay? Well, if the court system agrees with what they're saying, you're gonna be put to death. But once that diligent inquisition is made, and they find out, no, this is not true, in fact, they're lying about that, then the witnesses are to be put to death, okay? They're to suffer the fate that they would have caused somebody else to suffer by the false accusations, okay? So that's the key difference. False witness falls under the umbrella of lying, okay? And it's to slander, it's to destroy, it's to rail against another person, okay? To destroy their reputation, destroy their lives. It says in verse number 20, do you try it in chapter 19, verse number 20? And those which remain shall hear and fear, and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil among you. And thine eyes shall not pity, but life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. Again, the false witness is to suffer the same fate that the accused would have suffered if he was found to be guilty, all right? If it's life for life, I gave you that example already, all right, if that man found guilty was to be put to death, and the false witnesses, the witnesses are found to be lying, or they're to be put to death, life for life, okay? Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. Now, remember, what we're in here is under the court system, okay? And of course, you may recall when Jesus Christ walked this earth, he goes, you have heard eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, as it were, okay? But then Christ says, hey, just turn the other cheek. What Christ is speaking about is our everyday life, okay? Learning to just put up with things, again, life is not always fair, you're not always gonna get justice, all right? Some persecutes your turn the other cheek kind of attitude, but when it comes to an issue being brought to court, then the right law is also being put in place, life for life, tooth for tooth, that falls under the court system, it doesn't fall under vigilante behaviour, you know, making your own justice, you know, making sure, if that happens in your own personal life, that you leave vengeance to God, you know? It's his responsibility to take care of those things outside of the earthly court systems, okay? Let's just understand that side of it. But I'm trying to bring out to you what the false witness is, accusing others. And as I said, you know, I saw some of your heads nodding, we've all experienced being falsely accused if you've lived long enough on this earth, okay? Someone said something about you, and how does that feel when someone lies about you like that? You know, I mean, it tears you up, doesn't it? It's like, why, I mean, what have I done to deserve this? Why does this person hate me so much to lie about me? Why has this person gone to my friends or my family or my whoever to say these things, and now what do they think about me? I mean, these things, I mean, you know, if you go to church one day, right, and you're talking great to somebody in church and you get along, and then you go to church next week and they just ignore you, they don't want anything to do with you, they turn their heads away when you walk in, they don't wanna greet you, they don't wanna say hello, if you say, look, I have no idea, well, I'll say, I'm not saying this is the only reason, but I say someone has said something about you. There's been a false accusation about you, okay? And instead of, you know, the idea of the Bible having multiple witnesses, diligent inquisition, they've just turned and believed that one witness, okay? These things happen, they happen in every church, okay? They happen in every church. If it's happened in this church, you know, and say, oh man, this church, every church, every church I've been in, they've got these issues, okay? When you put human beings together, I don't care how much we love the Lord, I don't care how long you've been saved, you put sinners together in one place and we spend hours together, there's gonna be conflict and issues. It's just how it is, okay? Because, and you know, we often think about it from our perspective, I've been falsely accused, people are, yeah, but you know what, I'm sure you've said things, I'm sure you've done things, you know, that you've, where you've hurt other people. I have no doubt, is it not me, Pastor Kevin? Yes, you, we all have, yes, I have. Even if you didn't mean it, it happens, okay? Because it's just who we are, it's why forgiveness is such a big issue, confession is such a big topic in the Bible, getting things right with your brother, such a big issue in the Bible, because God knows what we're like, we get in each other's face, we say something or we might exaggerate, and we might even be exaggerating as a joke, but then it's been taken as an insult. You know, you gotta just make things right. Because you know, some exaggeration kind of lies, aren't they? And even though you're kind of joking, but yeah, it can be hurtful. You know, it's just how it is, you know? People have joked about me, people make fun about me, and I encourage people to make fun about me, I actually like it, because it humbles me a little bit. You know, I actually, because I like being humbled, I'd rather be a lowly person, I'd rather be meek and humble, than like, oh, I can't believe you said that about me, you know, and be just full of pride, I'd rather kind of get offended a little bit, and kind of pretend to laugh, and then I'm like, oh, God, you know? Anyway, Proverbs chapter 19, please, turn to Proverbs chapter 19. Now while you turn to Proverbs 19, there was one little bit that I forgot to mention. A false witness is horrible, okay, in the eyes of God, destroying someone else's reputation, by just telling lies about them, it's a horrible sin. Okay, it's hurtful, it's destructive, all right? Now, when someone is found out to be a false witness, it's said there, in Deuteronomy 19, verse 21, and thine eye shall not pity, and then it's said, but life shall go for life, eye for eye, two for two. If someone is found out to be a false witness, and they're judged to be a false witness, whether in the court system, or whether something takes place in our church, you know, there are certain sins that if they take place in our church, that individual is to be kicked out of church. The sin of fornication is one of those things. Drunkenness is one of those things. Railing is one of those things. What is railing? It's kind of like making false accusations. Taking someone, trying to destroy their reputation, speaking lies about them, okay? That behavior requires somebody to be kicked out of church. Okay? The Bible says, and thine eye shall not pity. I don't like kicking people out of church. I've had to kick people out of church here. I've had to kick people out of church and in Sydney. Bless you up, Abba's Church. You know what happens? Because we all, we love the brethren. You know, we have, you know, we want to give people the benefit of the doubt, generally speaking, generally speaking, right? And then someone gets kicked out, they're found out to be a railer or whatever. It's like, oh, but maybe they didn't mean it. Oh, you know, I'm still, you know, they really deserve to be kicked out of church. You know, 1 Corinthians chapter five, if you don't know what I'm talking about. The Bible says, and thine eye shall not pity. Don't pity them. These people are wicked. Even if they're saved, even if they're Christians, they're wicked Christians for railing, for trying to destroy someone's reputation, someone's testimony. Don't pity them. You know, when the Bible has these words for us, and thine eye shall not pity, it's because God knows you will pity them. You'll be like, oh, that's a bit hard, Pastor. You know, they shouldn't, no, look, if someone is a railer, a false accuser, trying to destroy someone's reputation, okay, they need to go, until they're ready to ask for forgiveness, until they're ready to be brought back in, restored into church, to ask forgiveness from God, ask forgiveness from the church, then they'll be brought back, forgiven and forgotten, never brought up again, and to love that brother, just like they, as though they were never kicked out of church, okay? But if someone has to get kicked out of church for railing, okay, which can be, obviously, if you're railing, you know, false accusation would be railing, for example, okay, then, look, don't pity them, okay? They deserve to face that judgment. Look at Proverbs 19, verse number five. Proverbs 19, verse number five. The Bible says, a false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall not escape. You see that? If there's a railer in our church, brethren, it's my responsibility to kick them out of church. The Bible says, what did it say there? A false witness shall not be unpunished. They have to be punished, not just for their sake, but for our church's sake, okay? And parents, if your children bear false witness, if your children tell lies, what did it say? Shall not be unpunished. You have to punish your children for lying. Look, there's a lot of things my kids can do that, you know, where they will get chastised. There's a lot of things that they might do, right? But to me, the worst things that my kids can do is to lie to me. Like, I'd rather them tell me, look, if they tell me the truth, they'll probably still get in trouble for doing X, Y, and Z, okay, but if they lie about it, they're not only gonna get in trouble for what they've done, but they're gonna face a greater consequence where they're lying about it. You know, children, for those that are not in my family, I'm sure your parents are the same. If you do wrong, and you're like, man, mom and dad, they're gonna yell at me. They're gonna be so upset with me, okay? And then you're gonna be, oh man, should I lie about this? Because I don't wanna get in trouble. Or should I just tell the truth? Listen, you already saw that God hates the lying tongue. Okay? Look, if you do what is right, you say, but if I tell the truth, mom and dad are gonna find out. Look, they're gonna find out anyway. They're eventually gonna find out, okay? Just speak the truth. Don't get in trouble with God as well, okay? Just speak the truth, and I promise you this. If you speak the truth, mom, I messed up. Dad, I messed up. I did wrong. And you say, dad, I messed up. I'm sorry. You know what? Your parents are gonna be more merciful. They're gonna probably even be proud of you. They'll probably turn around and go, well, you know? I didn't have to chastise them this time. My children, they're growing up. They're growing, becoming more mature. They're taking responsibility for their actions. Hey, your parents might even pat you on the back instead of smacking you on the bottom. Okay, if you own up, and you take responsibility, and you say, dad, I've done wrong, I'm sorry. Okay? It's a much better result than lying, giving the lying tongue, because then your parents have to judge you, punish you for what you've done, and then punish you for the lies that you've said. Parents, please take Proverbs 19, five to heart. A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall not escape. Get to the bottom of it. Find out the truth. If you find out that your children lied, hey, don't have pity. You've gotta punish them. You've gotta punish them for what they've done. Go to verse number nine, same chapter. Proverbs 19, verse number nine. A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall perish. Now look, this is just four verses later. Why does God have to repeat it again? We have to repeat it again then, don't we? Parents, if your kids speak lies, you have to punish them. God, you know, whenever the Bible has something twice, in such close proximity, pay attention. God is trying to get your attention. I know what it's like to read the Bible, and you can read through your whole Bible. If you spend 15 minutes a day, you can get through your whole Bible in the year. I understand that, and it's great to read your Bible. But I know what it's like, you know what it's like. You read the Bible, you read your chapter, and you're kinda like, I can't remember what I just read. Or you read through it quickly, and you're like, I don't even know what it's saying. Look, when God says something twice, you stop. Okay, you just stop and go, hold on, wait. God wants my attention right now, okay? God wants you to understand just how ungodly, how wicked it is to have a lying tongue. The liar must be punished, or you're gonna face worse consequences, you know, letting that lying tongue continue. And look, I'm gonna quickly read to you from Exodus 23, verse seven. Now, if you have people coming up to you, lying to you, you recognize this person is just a liar, okay? People coming to you about false accusations about people, the solution is in Exodus 23, verse seven. I'll just read it to you, Exodus 23, verse number seven, which reads, keep thee far from a false matter, and the innocent and righteous slay thou not, for I will not justify the wicked. Keep thee far from a false matter. Stay away from, listen, if someone comes up to you, one witness, I'm gonna tell you about brother so-and-so, I'm gonna tell you about sister so-and-so. Look, it could be a lie, it could be a false witness. You stay away far, you go, no, I don't wanna hear that. That's not my issue, please don't speak to me about them in that way, okay? Stay far from the matter, don't get involved. I know we like gossip, we're just joking about gossip between services, hey, what's the latest goss, okay? But really, listen, when it comes to a situation which could be a lie, remove yourself far from it, okay? Far from it, that's the right. You don't wanna have problems with people. I wanna be in church, I wanna get along with people, you know, I wanna have brethren that I love and serve. You know what, just stay away from the gossip. Stay away from the false accusations. God, I don't know if the accusation is false. Well, is it just one witness? Because we already heard that if it's just one witness, it's something that should not be heard, okay? Until there's further proof, further witnesses of that situation. You know, I know that we all have issues. I know that we all have sins. I know that if you even came to my house and lived with me for several weeks, you'll start making a list of all Pastor Kevin's sins, okay? I know we're all filthy on the inside. I know in your mind there's probably things that I definitely don't wanna know about, okay? I'd rather just say, well, I know my brother and sister is a sinner, I know they've been saved, and I just wanna bless them and encourage them. I don't need to hear all the drama, all the problems, because I don't wanna think bad of people. That's what it does. You start hearing bad things about people, you're gonna start thinking bad about them. You're not gonna wanna hang around them, you're not gonna wanna be friends with them. But we're all sinners, some worse than others, but who cares, we're all sinners. None of us will make it to heaven if not for Jesus Christ. None of us meet God's standard. Praise God for Jesus who took our place, who gave us salvation. Are you still in Proverbs? Please go to Proverbs 14. Please go to Proverbs 14. Now, the reason you wanna stay away from a false matter is because the characteristic of a false witness. I want you to appreciate what the Bible has to say. You know, if you identify someone as a liar, I'm not saying they just drop the lie. I'm saying you know this person is just constantly, you know, what's the perpetual lie? I'm saying, what are you calling someone that's a perpetual liar? Was that sorry? Compulsive liar, where are you? You're back there somewhere. Compulsive liar, yeah, if someone's a compulsive liar, you know, or you found out, hey, they're a false accuser. They're trying to destroy someone's reputation, okay, based on nothing but lies, okay. This is the kind of person that they are. They're not just a brother that just made a mistake and we need to pity that person. Okay, there's a reason why God wants to punish these individuals. Look at Proverbs 14, verse number five. Proverbs 14, verse number five, it says, a faithful witness will not lie, but a false witness will utter lies. Well, that's obvious, of course, you know, if you're a faithful witness, you're gonna tell the truth. Yeah, but I want you to notice the word in there. A faithful witness will not lie, singular. It says, but a false witness will utter lies, okay. They're a compulsive liar is what they are. They can't help but lie. It's not like they're just, oh, maybe they're just wrong. Maybe they just made a mistake on this just one issue. No, the false witness is a compulsive liar. They have several lies. They lie and lie and lie. That's what there are, okay. They lie about their lives and then they, you know, they lie about that and they lie about that. They've got several layers of lies. Their life is full of lies. It's what I'm trying to say, you know, that yeah, they'll lie to you, but they'll lie about something else. It's not just one little misunderstanding, one little issue, okay. Hey, we ought to be the faithful witness that will not lie. Not even a single lie we ought to be aiming for out of our mouths, but the false witness will utter lies. Okay, that's what they're good at. That's what they'll keep saying, lying to you, lying to you, lying to you. I mean, I've, I'll share, you know, yeah, I'll share a quick story, you know, just a conversation. I talked to people, you know, we're in our church, we're in our church, and I heard a story, fantastic, wow, this person suffered, this person's gone through a lot of issues, and I was hearing some of the part of the story, I just realised, you know, this is not, it's starting to not sound true. It's starting to sound like a bit of a Hollywood movie. It's kind of just sounding like a drama more than real life. I mean, look, in real life, we go through problems, I understand, but just this person's story just didn't quite sound right. And then I started to dig in and ask questions, diligent inquisition, and then I'm hearing other things, and I'm going, that doesn't sound right, that doesn't sound right, that doesn't sound right, that doesn't sound right. And then I spoke to other people in that family. It's complete lies, complete lies. Then I found out later that the doctors are saying that this person is a psychopath. Psychopaths, you know? They're just, their lives are just full of stories, full of lies, just make believe. It's almost like, you know, to make my life important, to give value to my life, I need to create the story about who I am and where I've come from and what I've suffered. And you know, at the beginning, you just think people are telling you the truth, and you're worried, and you pray for so and so, and you, you know, but then you find out it's just all rubbish. Compulsive lies, they utter lies. They don't stop, don't stop. These people you should stay away from, all right? Proverbs, chapter 12, please. Proverbs chapter 12, verse number 17. Here's the next thing that you need to learn. Proverbs chapter 12, verse number 17. It says, hear that speak of truth, show forth righteousness, but a false witness deceit. Okay, that's the next thing you wanna learn. Not only do they have a problem with lying, but the false witness is seeking to deceive. They're seeking to deceive you, all right? They're trying to turn you into a fool, okay? What's deception? Deception is to believe something to be true, which is not. Okay, it's not just that person has a problem, they're trying to corrupt you. They're trying to corrupt your mind. They're trying to corrupt your judgement. This is why you need to stay away from people that you identify to be these compulsive liars, compulsive false witnesses. They're horrible people, okay? They wanna deceive you, they wanna corrupt you. They wanna damage you. You know, and again, that idea, but I just wanna be a friend. You know, shouldn't I as a friend just stick to that person and encourage them, no, you stay away from them because they're seeking to be destructive in your life as well. Do you see how thou shalt not bear false witness is more than just don't tell a lie, which, yeah, that's part of it, but the destructive behavior of someone that is this way, you know, you wanna stay far from these people, just far away, and look, even Christians, I'm sorry to say that, but even Christians can be this way. Okay, and again, you know, experiences in churches, just seeing what people say, what people do, experiences that I've gone through, sort of scratch your head, why would you lie about that? Why would you make that up? You know, and there are many things, many ways that you can prove that to be a lie. It's like, how do you just live like that? I don't really understand. Look, I'm not here to say I'm perfect and every single word that comes out of my mouth is truthful, but I try to live a life that's quite transparent, quite open, especially as a pastor. You guys know generally what my life is about. I don't really have anything to hide, because I understand how important it is for a pastor to speak truth and to have a life that is open and that people know who he is, where he's come from, where he's been ordained from, et cetera, et cetera. That's all important. I really don't understand how people can live a life of just lies, lies, but that's how they live. Really, people are like this. It's crazy, it's crazy to me. Can you please go to Psalm 27, Psalm 27. Psalm 27, verse number 12. Again, if you've lived life long enough, you're a product of someone's false witness against you, for sure, it's definitely happened, okay? Psalm 27, verse 12 says, "'Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies, "'for false witnesses are risen up against me "'and such as breathe out cruelty have you been lied about.'" You have, and I'm sure that what we're about to read, you've experienced when people have lied about you, the destruction it causes. Verse number 13, he says, "'I had fainted because I give up. "'People lying about me, people accusing me, "'I can't handle this, Lord.'" And please, again, these stories, these words, they're there to encourage us, to remind us that when we get down, the psalmist got down too, when he was lied about. "'I had fainted unless I had believed "'to see the goodness of the Lord "'in the land of the living.'" You know, like we're going through our Ecclesiastes series. When you're living a life about the Lord, you know, you just, well, what's the point of it all? I give up. He goes, yeah, I had fainted, because until I realized that God is good, that God sees it all, that God hears the false accusations, God knows what's true. Man may not know. Man may have been deceived by the false witness, but I know God knows what is true. Isn't that so great to be a Christian? So great. I can be lied about, I can be rared against, right? But I can just, well, Lord, you know, you hear it all, Lord. You hear it all, Lord, you deal with it. It's the best part of being a Christian, I think. I mean, after salvation, just being a Christian, it's the best part of it, Lord. These problems are too much for me, I don't know what to do. Can you take care of them, please, Lord? And you get on with it. It makes life so much easier, you know? Look at verse number 14, wait. Now, if you're in a position right now that is where you've been falsely accused, wait on the Lord and be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine hearts. Wait, I say, on the Lord. Wait on the Lord, okay? You know, there are some, I'm not saying that it's never wrong to go and clear your name to some extent, all right? If it's easy enough, or you think it's biblical enough for me to clear my name, go for it. I'm not saying don't do that, okay? But sometimes, just even the stress of clearing your name can be too much. Even the stress of having to deal with the issue, you know, and it's just a waste of time. You got other things to do in life. You know, just wait on the Lord. Say, Lord, you hear it all. You know what is true. You know I'm being falsely accused. You know, people are saying things about me that are not true, Lord. Please take care of, I'm your child, Lord. I'm gonna wait on you, Lord. Please strengthen me and deal with the Lord. He will, God steps in and he deals with these things. And I haven't got time to go through stories today. I don't wanna make preaching about my life all the time. But there are several times where I've just said, man, this person hates me, I have no idea why. This person's lied about me, I have no idea why. And then I'll say, Lord, it's in your hands. And then I find out later that person's, something's happened. Or the truth's come out. That person's disgraced themselves. And I'm like, all right, Lord, thank you. All right, thank you for being a great God. You know, you deal with it all. And it's so many, I can't even, there are so many stories. This is true, this is a reality. You know, you take your prayers to God about the situation and he'll encourage you, he'll protect you, okay. He'll make sure that the false witness stops speaking lies about you. Look at Psalm 35, Psalm 35 verse 11. Psalm 35 verse 11. Again, how does it feel to be lied about? Psalm 35, 11, it says, false witnesses did rise up. They laid to my charge things that I knew not. Has that ever happened to you? People say, oh, I've heard about you, that you're doing X, Y, and Z. Like, what are you talking about? You know, I think I told you guys a story, I'm sure, or at least some of the men. When we started our church, I got a phone call from some journalist asking me, so I've heard your church ties to Steven Anderson. Stupidity, rubbish, nonsense, okay. Just stupid things that people throw at you just to destroy your reputation or something. You know, we're here to serve Jesus Christ. We don't serve a man. Doesn't matter how many, the great man prays God for pastors like that. Praise God for men of God who start churches and preach the truth of God's word. But we're in church for Jesus Christ. If we give anything, we give it to the Lord. Because false witnesses did rise up, they laid to my charge things that I knew not. Verse number 12, they rewarded me evil for good, to the spoiling of my soul. Has that ever happened to you? You're doing good to someone. Good, good, good, but they've given you evil in return. That hurts, doesn't it? I mean, it's one thing if your enemy, you know, brings false witnesses against you, but what if it's your friend, someone that you're doing good to, okay? Verse number 13, this is his response. But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth. I humbled my soul with fasting, my prayer returned into mine own bosom. He goes, these people that have made false accusations against me in the past when they were sick, I prayed for them, I fasted for them, I sought the Lord to heal them, okay? Verse number 14, I behaved myself as though he had been my friend or brother. I bowed down heavily as one that mourneth for his mother. Okay, so what he's saying here is like, I've treated, this is my friend, this is my brother. They've made false accusations about me. And the feeling is like I'm mourning for my mother. Like if your own loved one passes away, the sadness, because that's what it feels like to have received this evil from people that I care about. Verse number 15, but in mine adversity, they rejoiced and gathered themselves together. Look at that. They make false accusations, and when they realize you're hurting, and you're mourning, and you're sad, and you feel lonely, they're laughing about it. Ha ha ha ha. Ah, ah, you know. Look how he's reacted to the lies, you know? It's horrible people. Wicked people, right? And look, and gather themselves together so they have meetings, secret meetings. Come over to my house. Come over for a cup of coffee. Let's talk about Sister Zone's house. They gather themselves together, all right? The abjects gather themselves together against me, and I knew it not. They deter me and cease not. With hypocritical mockers in feasts, they gnash upon me with their teeth. All right? Be careful. Be careful about when you're invited to someone's house. Hey, we should fellowship. We should have time together, and speak, and rejoice, and share things about the Lord, and share life, but don't let your meetings become an area where you're just bashing some individual. It's wicked. You'll destroy, you'll hurt someone. Your brother or sister in the Lord. Eventually, it's gonna come out. You think you're having some secret meeting? It's all gonna come out eventually. Some little bird is gonna speak, okay? And then that person's gonna be very hurt, very sad. They've been praying for you. They love you. They've done good to you, all right? And if you're not careful, they'll turn to God and say, God, you sort it out. Then you'll be in trouble. Can you please go to Mark 14? Mark 14, verse number 55. Mark 14, verse number 55. Mark 14, verse 55. Now, when you are falsely accused, maybe you're hurt right now, maybe you have been dealing with false accusations right now, I want you to remember that even though life can be horrible sometimes like this, as Christians, our eyes are upon who? Jesus, yeah? Upon Jesus. Remind yourself of this truth in Mark 14, 55. Mark 14, verse 55, it says, and the chief priests and all the council, who are the chief priests? They're meant to be God's people, God's ministers, the religious leaders. These are the people that are supposed to be the closest to God, the wisest in the scriptures, the ones that are teaching God's people. That's what they're meant to be doing. What are they doing, actually? They sought for witness against Jesus to put him to death and found none. They're trying to find a reason to kill Jesus. Verse number 56. What does the Bible tell us? Christ's ministry was only three years long. Throughout his ministry, he constantly had false witnesses. He constantly had people lying about him, constantly. And he's like the perfect son of God. He's never done anyone wrong. He's never sinned. He's only been a blessing. Hey, anyone that goes to Jesus for help, he's gonna help them. If you go to Jesus for healing, he's gonna heal you. You go to Jesus because you're blind, he's gonna make you see. You go to Jesus for salvation, he's given you salvation. He's given himself completely to people. And yet he had to face false accusations. Verse number 57. I will destroy this temple that is made with hands and within three days, I will build another made without hands. But neither so did their witnesses agree together. So they took the story of Christ speaking about the temple of his body, that after three days, he will rise from the dead. They take that lesson and say, well, Christ said he's going to destroy the temple. He's gonna blow it up. He's gonna cause a riot, rebellion, he's gonna plant bombs. He's a terrorist. And that's why we're going to kill this guy. False witnesses. And again, why am I telling you that? Because if you haven't gone through it and you will go through it, just remember that Christ went through it. Christ went through it and he never did anyone wrong. He only offered salvation. He gave his whole life for sinners, for the enemies of God to be saved. So yeah, it doesn't feel good when people lie about you. You're like, man, I've just done you good, but you've not done as good as Jesus. And even he had to suffer this. He had to be hurt. And here are the false witnesses against him. So listen, if our master went through it, then you're gonna go through it as well. But again, we draw to the Lord. He gives us strength. Christ knows what we suffer when we bow our knees and go to God and say, God, they're lying about me. God, they're seeking to hurt me. Christ knows exactly what you're feeling because he went through it himself, okay? He can give you comfort. He can give you strength. He can give you aid when you go through this. Please go to 1 Timothy 5, 1 Timothy 5. I need to teach on this, but what about false accusations against a pastor? And yes, I'm the pastor of this church, but I'm not just preaching. If you find yourself in some other church in some other time, okay, and you hear things, pastors did so and so, did you know this? You know, what's the right response? 1 Timothy 5, verse number 19. The Bible reads, against an elder. Now that word elder can be used interchangeably with a pastor or a bishop. Against an elder, receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses. Listen, if someone comes up to you and says, I've got to teabag Pastor Kevin's support, and he's done something so horrendous, I need to go talk to you about it. The Bible says against an elder, receive not an accusation. Don't even receive it, okay? No, I don't want to hear it, all right? But, so there is a time to hear it, okay? But before two or three witnesses. All right, there are two different opinions of what this verse could be talking about. And I think both opinions are correct. You can apply this in the right way, okay? Number one, let's say we're in church and someone comes up to you, I saw Pastor Kevin walk out of the pub. You know, he was drunk, he was vomiting. You know, he's disqualified as a pastor. Okay, you hear that. So he said, look, first of all, one witness. I don't want to hear that, please. But if there's two or three people in the church, say, hey man, we saw it too. Yeah, man, between services, pastor said he's going soul winning, but we saw him walk out of the pub. He wasn't soul winning in the pub, trust me. All right, I mean, then look, okay, let me hear what is to be said here, because there's more than one witness here, okay? We still need to make diligent inquisition, don't forget that, that was an important part of figuring out whether things are true. So I do believe that is one application. That's fine, I don't believe that's contradictive to the scriptures here. The other view is this, which I think is okay as well. Someone does come to you, there is one witness. I saw Pastor Kevin, he was with some other woman, that wasn't his wife. Okay, whatever, whatever, whatever it is, okay? There's one person, you say, wait, hold on. The Bible says not to receive an accusation, but before two or three witnesses. So before you tell me, let me get two or three other people from my church, two or three other men in my church, so we can all hear what you have to say. All right, what are you doing for yourself? You're protecting yourself. Okay, you're showing people, I'm not involved in this gossip, okay? But if it's such a significant issue that needs to be heard, let me bring other people here, so then we can make good judgements, we can find out, we can ask questions, whether this is true or whether this is false. And don't forget, something like this, obviously I mentioned adultery or drunkenness of a pastor, not only should the pastor, like, first of all, even a regular church member is meant to be kicked out of church over these issues, okay? And a pastor, I certainly believe, should have to step down. They're disqualified from the ministry, okay? What if that witness is not true? What if it's a false witness? Then that person needs to be kicked out of church. Okay, we're still ready, okay? Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, hand for a hand, life for a life, okay? So I do believe you can apply any of these two scenarios where you're not contradicting the scriptures. Anything besides that, brethren, you're contradicting the scriptures. You know, I've heard it said, someone said, well, no, it's fine for me to receive from one witness as long as I, if I believe it's true, then I can take it to other people and tell them about what took place. What in the world? What kind of nonsense is that? Okay? So there is a way, like, if this pastor, look, it's not about any sin. I'll tell you now, I'll testify to you now, I've sinned today probably, I don't even know what, but I'm sure I've sinned today, okay? Does that mean that's it, you're disqualified, step down, you know, let's get two or three witnesses, he's gone. Obviously we're talking about a serious situation. In fact, if we keep going there, it says in verse number 20, them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear. So whoever is found out to be the sinner is to be rebuked before all. If a pastor is disqualified, the whole church needs to hear about it, and anyone affiliated with that church needs to hear about it. But what happens in the IFB world? Which is such a shame. They sweep it under the rug. Oh, the pastor stepped down from that church, shh, don't, you know, it's too hurtful, it's too damaging, shh, don't worry about it. That's not right. You're meant to rebuke them before all. In the same chapter it speaks about a pastor, you know, to receive double honour, if he's laboured in word and doctrine. Well if it's double honour, you know what, it's double shame. It's double the embarrassments. It's double the, you know, the, what's the word I'm looking for, the rebuke. It's double everything if you're a pastor. Obviously this is not talking about any small, small, I shouldn't say small, but we're not talking about any sin, we're talking about major sins, where this person should be stood down from the ministry, is obviously the context. Otherwise, every pastor sins, otherwise, we'll never have pastors, okay? As soon as you're qualified, and you step up to be ordained as a pastor, later that day you're gonna have to step down because you've committed a sin, okay? Obviously we're not talking about regular sins here, we're talking about things that disqualify that individual. But then that sin, rebuke before all that others also may fear. Can you please turn to, oh well, actually you don't need to turn there, I'll just read it to you. Because we already read this passage, but this concept, this idea, comes from Deuteronomy 19, which I'll read to you again. Deuteronomy chapter 19, verse number 19 says, then shall ye do unto him that had thought to have done unto his brother, so shall thou put the evil away from among you. And those which remain shall hear and fear, and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil among you. The reason we wanna rebuke before all is so others will fear. Say, did you know a pastor committed such a bad sin, he's been called out, he's committed adultery, for example, and therefore, man, we better not commit adultery. Hey, we better make sure that the next pastor that steps up is a pastor that loves his wife, that loves his family, they've got it together, we don't wanna see this kind of mistake happen again. But what if it's a false accuser? Then they are to be sinned, they are to be rebuked before all as well. Okay, like for like. Hey, we found out that your accusation of pastor going to the pub was a complete lie. We found out that pastor was actually so winning with brother Callum this afternoon. Okay, and he can testify that he was out there wherever. You're a liar. You know what, next church service, that person's name is to be mentioned and rebuked before all, so that others would fear and go, we better not lie, especially about our pastor. That people lie about pastors. Your pastor's been lied about already. Thank God, man, you know that I've already experienced. You know, if someone has a heart to be a pastor one day, especially younger people, let me encourage you to just live life for a little bit, work a job a little bit, like do normal life for a while, okay? Because the same pains and struggles that you're gonna learn there, you're gonna be able to then carry that into the ministry and you'll be okay. But if you're like straight out of high school, I just love Lord, I wanna be his pastor, and that's why you're gonna suffer a lot of hurts that you would have, the experience would have come just in regular life and you'd be able to deal with it better as a pastor. I'm actually happy that I started pastoring when I was, I think I was 37 or something like that. Even though I decided to be a pastor when I was 20, I realised, man, if I was 20, I'd probably get easily offended. I probably would have given up by now. I can probably think of several things that could have gone wrong or I would have preached false doctrine or something by, not major things, but just things. I'm thankful that there's been experience to understand what people are like and what church is like and what happens in life. False accusations come, lives happen, and then the importance that are railer, they don't go unpunished. They have to be kicked out. They have to be dealt with, otherwise it causes damages to the church. Let's go to one more passage. We'll end on this one. Please turn to Matthew chapter 11. Oh, sorry, Matthew chapter five. Turn to Matthew chapter five. Matthew chapter five and verse number 11. Actually, I'm sorry, I will go a little bit over today. Just give me an extra five minutes. I know I've already preached for an hour or so because I do believe this is important as well. If you've gone to Matthew five, keep your finger there and go to Luke 19. Go to Luke 19. Have you made false accusations? Have you lied about somebody and you've caused them hurt and pain and you've not made those things right, okay? It's easy to be the victim and to claim, yes, I've been a victim. It's not easy to admit when you've done wrong. It's not easy to admit when you've been the false accuser. Okay? I have no doubt, even though we're a smaller church, I have no doubt that someone in the congregation today has made false accusations about somebody and they've not fixed that yet. I have no doubt because we're human beings. We all sin. Okay? So if that's you, Luke chapter 19 verse number five. Luke chapter 19 verse number five reads, 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. Story of Zacchaeus. You know, Zacchaeus was a very short man. In order to see Jesus over the crowds, he had to climb a tree. And Christ says, hey Zacchaeus, I'll come and stay at your place. You know, it's awesome, right? Verse number six. And he made haste and came down and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all murmured and saying that he was gone to be a guest of a man that is a sinner. So Zacchaeus was not liked by his community. Hey, why is Jesus hanging around Zacchaeus? Now the problem with Zacchaeus is he was a tax collector. No one likes tax collectors. No one likes paying taxes. Okay, so just naturally no one likes him, okay? But let's keep going there. In verse number eight. And Zacchaeus stood and said unto the Lord, behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. Zacchaeus got saved, okay? And he's just been blessed by God. Because God, you know, Lord, I've got too much. I'm gonna take half of what I have. I'm gonna give it to the poor. Like, you've been such a motivation to me. You've touched my heart, Lord Jesus. I wanna do something good. So this is what he thinks about, right? He's got this wealth. Then he says this. And if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold. Hey, we've looked at this before. Thou shalt not steal. If you stole a lamb, a sheep, you're to restore fourfold. What is Zacchaeus saying? He knows that he's made false accusations. He knows he's been a false witness. He knows that he's done wrong as a tax collector, right? He's gone to Joblo fishermen and said, hey, look, you need to pay up. You know, Joblo fishermen maybe owns one talent of taxes. He goes, actually, what you really owe is two talents, okay? And the rest is pocketed for himself. He's made false accusations. You owe more than what you think you do. He's pocketed for himself. That's why no one likes Zacchaeus. He's not just a tax collector, but he's made false accusations. He's made himself rich by lying about what people owe to the government. And he goes to Jesus, he goes, you know what? I'm gonna restore them fourfold. I stole that fisherman's one talent. I'm gonna make sure I return back four talents to him. I'm going to make this right. I've been a false witness, Lord. I've made false accusations. I'm gonna make this right. If that's you, if you've lied about somebody, and you know it's caused hurt, you know it's caused damage, I don't care how you justify yourself, you know? Oh, but I'm the tax collector. I'm the government official. I'm meant to collect taxes. I don't care how you justify yourself. You know what? If you're walking with Jesus, you ought to have the heart that says, I'm gonna make things right. I've done wrong to this person. I'm gonna make it right. I've taken one, I'm gonna give them fourfold. I'm gonna fix this. I'm gonna fix that relationship. That's what you do if you've been the false accuser. Don't just say, well, that was sometime in the past. You know, I don't wanna hear you think about it. No, go and fix it. All of this stuff was in the past of Zacchaeus. Okay, false accusation hurts. You've damaged someone's life, someone's reputation. Go and fix it. Be a friend. Be a brother. Fix relationships, fix the conflicts. Go back to Matthew five, please, Matthew five. You say, well, that's not me, pastor. I've never really been a false accuser or anything like that. Or if I have in the past, I've already sorted that out. I've made peace with people. But what about if you're on the receiving end of false accusation? What do I do now, pastor? You know, people are against me. They've lied about me. How do I fix this? What do I do? Matthew chapter five, verse 11. Jesus Christ says, blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you. Look at this. And shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. What? If people have lied about you, they've said all manner of things about you falsely, Jesus says, blessed are ye. You're blessed. You're blessed. Doesn't feel like a blessing, pastor. Jesus says, you've been blessed. Can you turn those feelings into feelings of joy? It's hard, isn't it? You're saying, no, hold on. You're saying, pastor, I've been lied about. You don't understand. I've been backstabbed. They've, you know, they turn against me. False accusations. You want me to just say, what a blessing. Yeah, that's what Jesus says. It's a blessing. Why is it a blessing? Verse number 12. Rejoice. You know what? Woo hoo! That's what he means. No, no, you're doing the same, pastor. Brother so-and-so, family so-and-so at church, lied about me. Woo hoo! Rejoice. And be exceeding glad. For great is your reward in heaven. For so persecuted they the prophets, which were before you. Can you do that? If you're on the receiving end of being falsely accused. Blessed, what a blessing. Yes, thank you, Lord. Why? Because great are your rewards in heaven. Amazing. Isn't that amazing? I told you, God balances the books. Okay, you fix what you can on this earth, but not everything's gonna be fixed. Okay, if you've been falsely accused, just leave it in God's hands. Trust me. Trust me as your pastor. Leave it in God's hands. Say, Lord, if I can't make peace on this earth, I've tried, I've done everything I can, they refuse. Well then, remind yourself, I've got treasures in heaven. I'm gonna rejoice. I'm gonna be blessed. In fact, bring it on. Bring on the false accusations, because I want greater treasures in heaven. That's the right approach, as hard as it is to bring yourself to come across that. Anyway, the story of Zacchaeus. Okay, if you're the accuser, and the story here of the blessings, the truth in heaven, if you've been falsely accused. You know, God's always got an answer. He's always got a solution for the struggles that we go through. And it's always to the best end for God's people that do things right. Okay, thou shall not bear false witness. You guys understand how hurtful, how damaging it is. Okay, to lie, to slander, to rail, to make false accusations about someone. Please, take that out of your behavior, out of your life. Be people that speak the truth. Let's pray.