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[Announcer] (0:00 - 0:19) Think about the Bible like you never have before. You're listening to Christian Questions. Access more audio, videos, and Bible study resources at ChristianQuestions.com. Our topic is: "What Does It Really Mean to Bear False Witness?"

Part IX of our Ten Commandments Series. Here's Rick and Jonathan.

[Rick] (0:22 - 0:30) Welcome everyone, I'm Rick. I'm joined by Jonathan, my co-host for over twenty-five years. Jonathan, what's our theme Scripture for this episode?

[Jonathan] (0:31 - 0:36) Exodus 20:16: "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor."

[Rick] (0:36 - 1:25) Our Ten Commandments series has now brought us to the Ninth Commandment regarding not bearing false witness against our neighbor. To properly dig into the meaning of this command, we need to remember its context. After the first several commandments taught us about our spiritual connection with God, the next several focused us on our human connections with one another.

While this Ninth Commandment does not seem as dramatic as don't murder, don't commit adultery, and don't steal, it does raise our thinking and instruction to a new level. That level is not only about our thoughts and actions toward one another; it applies that behavior in a clear legal sense. What did this mean for Israel?

More importantly, what does this mean for us as disciples of Christ?

[Jonathan] (1:26 - 1:31) We really have to appreciate the Ten Commandments because they cover every aspect of life.

[Rick] (1:32 - 1:40) Really, really do. If you have a question you go to the commandments and you find out how to act, how to be, what to look for. You're right. You're right.

Absolutely.

[Jonathan] (1:40 - 2:13) Now we will consider the Ninth Commandment, which is another "external action commandment" that has a dramatic focus on how to contribute to and maintain a just and respectful society. Exodus 20:16: "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor."

There are three important words to understand: "bear," "false," and "witness." Basically it's saying, don't testify to an untruth or a sham as a witness in a dispute.

[Rick] (2:13 - 3:15) A sham--something that's made up to cover something else up. Don't make something up in that testimony. What makes this commandment very unique is it has a clear focus on much more of the legal setting.

Do not testify to any form of untruth when you're testifying against your neighbor, which means that you're probably going to have a situation come up where you may need to testify against somebody because of wrongdoing, but we are talking about never speak untruth. We're thinking from a very legal perspective for this episode. This legal aspect brings a different type of sin into the spotlight.

This is important. It is the sin of publicly and legally accusing your brother on the basis of pre-planned falsehoods for the purpose of publicly and legally damaging or destroying him. This obvious "external action" is a premeditated evil.

[Jonathan] (3:16 - 3:26) I was thinking the possible motivation for someone doing this could be envy, jealousy, hatred, and testifying falsely for profit.

[Rick] (3:27 - 4:02) Yeah. It could be any one of those things or all of those things. The point is that it is a premeditated evil, and that's what the commandment is here to help us understand. Let's expand on this.

The Law, the Jewish Law, was specific about forbidding this behavior. Our first example that we're going to go into seems to have its beginnings, the beginnings, in a more social setting where mob mentality can easily develop and then be displayed in a legal setting. Let's look at Exodus 23:1-3:

[Jonathan] (4:03 - 5:01) "You shall not bear a false report..." Let me pause here. The word for "false" is the same word as in, "do not take the Lord's name in vain."

"Vain" is a falsehood or an exaggerated fantasy view of what is real. Continuing with verse 1: "... do not join your hand with a wicked man to be a malicious (which means violent or unjust) witness.

You shall not follow the masses in doing evil, nor shall you testify (or answer) in a dispute so as to turn aside after a multitude in order to pervert justice; nor shall you be partial to a poor man in his dispute." Wow. This is saying, get it right and don't let evil or mob mentality influence you.

The last point is, just because someone is poor doesn't mean you need to bend toward them. Having pity on someone is one thing, but the truth is another.

[Rick] (5:01 - 5:33) You're right. Either side, if you're being pushed by the mob mentality or you're being pressed by this feeling of, well, they're poor--truth is truth. That's such an important basis. God's Law really made that point through all of the commandments.

When you think about it, that's like a foundation for everything. What we're supposed to do then is take all of this input and this influence from the emotionally driven and stand, like you said, only for truth. The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

[Jonathan] (5:34 - 5:36) So help you God. I'll include it.

[Rick] (5:36 - 5:53) That's right. That's where we're supposed to be. We need to keep that in order.

Let's go a little further in this Exodus 23 example, because that's the setup--the mentality that can go into the legal aspect of things. Now, let's look at Exodus 23:6-9:

[Jonathan] (5:53 - 6:26) "You shall not pervert the justice (a verdict pronounced judiciously) due to your needy brother in his dispute. Keep far from a false charge, and do not kill the innocent or the righteous, for I will not acquit the guilty. You shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and subverts the cause of the just.

You shall not oppress a stranger, since you yourselves know the feelings of a stranger, for you also were strangers in the land of Egypt."

[Rick] (6:26 - 7:20) In this Exodus 23 example, we're being told--Israel was being told unequivocally--you do NOT pervert justice. You keep far from false charges. God is saying, I won't acquit the guilty because you are doing this on purpose.

You're going to suffer a consequence. Don't oppress a stranger. Don't look to kill the innocent.

Put things in order. Jonathan, it's really simple-- Be 100% utterly, completely truthful.

It's interesting that God says at the end of this, you don't "oppress a stranger, since you yourselves know the feelings of a stranger, for you also were strangers in the land of Egypt." Then I'm adding from which I, the Lord God, delivered you. It's that loyalty section again, that comes up that we need to, that Israel needed to focus on and really hold on to tightly.

What do we have from this first example? From just looking at the commandment--Standing for Righteousness and Speaking Truth:

[Jonathan] (7:21 - 7:41) The Law makes it clear that the thinking and actions of the masses may not be just, and we should therefore stand against it in any legal matters. It is tragic how full of injustice our world is today, particularly when false accusations are used to advance selfish agendas.

[Rick] (7:42 - 8:25) We are so used to that, that we don't even give it a second thought. That's where the great danger is and that's why this commandment, even though it doesn't sound as dramatic as do not murder--"you shall not bear a false witness,"

okay, I should speak the truth. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But when we realize the depth of what happens when we don't abide by truth, everything falls apart.

We need to see this and understand it. The Law also focused on the need to stand justly, not in those bigger matters, but also in individual matters, individual disputes. What if it's just you against me?

Now, that'll never happen, but what if it's just you against me? Okay, how are we supposed to deal with that? Well, let's look at Deuteronomy 19:15-17:

[Jonathan] (8:26 - 8:52) "A single witness shall not rise up against a man on account of any iniquity or any sin which is committed; on the evidence of two or three witnesses a matter shall be confirmed. If a malicious witness rises up against a man to accuse him of wrongdoing, then both the men who have the dispute shall stand before the LORD, before the priests and the judges who will be in office in those days."

[Rick] (8:53 - 9:25) What this is saying is, if there's a dispute between you and I, and I come and I say, Jonathan did this wrong, and he did this to me, and I can prove it, the responsibility of those in authority, according to the Jewish Law, was to look at us both and scrutinize us both with the same level of integrity, to make sure that both sides are weighed very carefully. Let's go a little bit further to see what happens. Deuteronomy 19, because this is dramatic, Deuteronomy 19:18-21:

[Jonathan] (9:26 - 9:56) "The judges shall investigate thoroughly, and if the witness is a false witness and he has accused his brother falsely, then you shall do to him just as he had intended to do to his brother. Thus you shall purge the evil from among you. The rest will hear and be afraid, and will never again do such an evil thing among you.

Thus you shall not show pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot."

[Rick] (9:56 - 10:16) You can see that Israel was based on a very stringent Law of justice. If I am falsely accusing you, and I say Jonathan should lose his home because of what he did to me, it was so egregious, and they find out that I am making up a story about you, the Law says I should lose my home.

[Jonathan] (10:16 - 10:17) Wow.

[Rick] (10:17 - 10:39) The Law is very, very specific, so it's designed to do what?

To make you think about, I better tell the truth. That's the design. That's what the Jewish Law was there for.

It was based on clear-cut integrity and truth. Again, we look at this whole thing, look at Standing for Righteousness and Speaking Truth:

[Jonathan] (10:39 - 10:49) The Law makes it clear that in individual cases, the word of an accuser must be tested with the same integrity that questions the accused.

[Rick] (10:50 - 13:27) Okay, question with the same integrity that questions the accused. Jonathan, as we go through this episode and go through "you shall not bear false witness," as we were doing the preparation work for it, it reminded me of an experience about what happened to our daughter Amy when she was only fifteen. There're pieces of that story that fit very dramatically into this, and I can tell you as a personal testimony, they weighed heavily on me. The first part of the story, Amy, our daughter, at age fifteen, was raped.

Hardest experience of our lives. The recovery went on for years. Once we found out, it was a trauma to have to deal with. I remember right after finding out and Amy is home, and our family is sitting around the table, and we have no idea what to do, and my son is sitting next to me.

He's sick. He can hardly sit up, and he gets this phone call, and I'm listening. I could hear it, and there's this deep voice on the other end that says, "I understand you have a problem."

I knew exactly what was happening, and part of me wanted to just ignore it because I wanted "the problem" to be hurt. I did. He hurt my daughter, and I wanted to go back on that. Even though there was no bearing of witness at this point, in my heart, I had a choice.

I could be quiet, pretend I didn't hear, and advocate for violence because he "deserved it"-- and I felt like he did, I felt like it. By God's grace, and it was only by God's grace, I recognized it, and by His grace, I looked at my son, and I said, "Tell them no.

Call off the dogs. This isn't happening. Not on our watch.

We're doing this the right way." But, Jonathan, there was that sense of being willing to allow the mob mentality that we were just talking about to expand and grow and do damage, and it felt like I would have felt so good for a moment, and then I would have regretted it the rest of my life, so it fits in. Now, there's more of the story to come as we go through the bearing of false witness, as we try to put the pieces in order, but let's now move on to the New Testament and see how that all goes together. Okay, so as we move to the New Testament and the teachings of Jesus, the first thing we're going to notice is that Jesus did not directly expand on this commandment.

You say, well, why wouldn't he expand on this commandment? There was no direct teaching needed. That's why. The summation of his other teachings was powerful enough to prepare his true disciples to follow this commandment without even having to think about it.

[Jonathan] (13:28 - 13:57) A text from our last episode illustrates this; Matthew 15:19-20: "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. These are the things which defile the man..."

Rick, as you said earlier, Jesus didn't elaborate on this commandment of being a false witness, but he did remind us of how it does defile those who engage in it.

[Rick] (13:58 - 14:45) Yes. He had put such a basis in place for us. His teachings bring us to the "why" of right and wrong, and that "why" always begins with the corruption of our sinful hearts. Again, I can speak to my own experience when the part of the story that we just talked about, I wanted that young man to be hurt.

Personally, physically, I did. I knew that was wrong, and by God's grace only, I was able to push it aside. It was a battle though, Jonathan, and the battle continued.

Now let's look a little further in Jesus' example. Let's look at how Jesus summed up "how" the entire Law was put in place when answering this question about the importance of this commandment. Let's look at Matthew 22:36-40:

[Jonathan] (14:45 - 15:19) "And he said to him, YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND. This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF. On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets." We can bear false witness against ourselves by dwelling on our failures and putting ourselves down after we've already repented and asked forgiveness.

[Rick] (15:20 - 16:40) That's a very interesting way of looking at this. Now, the initial intention of the Jewish Law didn't cover that, but that's a very important aspect of what Jesus taught us. To be able to apply this to ourselves, if we are forgiven, then we are forgiven, and it's very much a legal experience.

When Jesus takes away sins from us, he's taken them away, and we really don't have a right to those sins anymore to go back and dwell on them. That's a really, really powerful, very, very personal thought of how both parts of the commandments—loving God and loving our neighbor as ourselves—really work together. Jesus taught the primary purpose of the Law as a whole, and that's the key.

The Law as a whole is to first honor God and secondarily, to thoroughly respect those around us. You can't have one without the other. Jesus is adamant about the fact that you can't do the love of God without loving your neighbor, and you can't truly love your neighbor unless you first love God.

The two just cannot be separated. Let's go a little further with Jesus in his example, because he didn't teach directly on this commandment, but let's look at the example. The night before his crucifixion, Jesus gently reminded his disciples of the most important things.

Let's go back to John 14:5-6:

[Jonathan] (16:40 - 17:03) "Thomas said to him, Lord, we do not know where you are going, how do we know the way? Jesus said to him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life;

No one comes to the Father but through me." Jesus is simply saying, look at what I say, look at what I do and where I go and look how I act. This is the way.

[Rick] (17:03 - 17:44) That's why Jesus didn't have to explain every detail, because he gave us the living human example, and that was the path. He paved this incredible path and just basically said to us, walk in my footsteps and you'll be fine. That's really what we search for;

Jesus as the way. It's obvious that his teachings locked us into striving for a purity of heart and mind that was rarely seen, because he set such a high lofty example. He lived all of the commandments.

We look at that and we recognize that, and it's always a great, great example. The other side of it, what about those who opposed him?

[Jonathan] (17:44 - 17:57) Well, those who opposed Jesus will be judged with righteousness in the kingdom of God. In addition, they will have the ability to repent and live that repentance.

[Rick] (17:58 - 20:48) There is something in store, but there will be judgment, and like you said, with righteousness. That's the key to everything here, Jonathan. That brings us--as we're looking at unfolding what Jesus taught us based on the Jewish Law, which was very specific, very emphatic--brings us to one of these mirror questions, questions that we have to ask ourselves, questions I shouldn't be asking somebody else, I should only be asking me.

How well do my thoughts and emotions toward those who are on the other side of important issues reflect these fundamental values that Jesus taught his disciples? How well do my emotions, my thoughts and my emotions reflect Jesus and not me? Jonathan, I want for a minute to go back to the story with our daughter Amy.

After we found out about this situation, and I don't remember if it was a day after or whatever, it was really really soon, I realized that we have to report this to the police. It was a very difficult thing. I took our daughter downstairs into the family room, just she and I, and we sat, and I said, okay, I need you to tell me everything that happened, everything you remember.

Jonathan, this is one of the hardest things I've ever done, because to have your kid tell you about being violated, it just doesn't set. It doesn't set well, it doesn't set right. I had to sit there. Couldn't even look at her...

I would just look down, and I would write what she said. The temptation, because she didn't remember a lot, the temptation was to sort of finish the sentences, because you knew what happened, or you think you knew what happened, but I couldn't do it, because if I did, I was making assumptions. This paper, this experience that she and I went through painful step by painful step, and clarification and all of that, was handed over to the police department as a written testimony of the truth of the matter, and it could not, therefore, be embellished by a single word.

Again, Jonathan, that was another hard thing, because she didn't remember everything because it was such a traumatic thing and other circumstances were involved, so when we recognize, do my emotions take over, I can readily identify with how that can happen. I'd lived it, and it was not comfortable. Now with that in mind, about trying so hard to keep to just the truth, let's now go back to the religious leaders of Jesus' time.

The only way those religious leaders of his day could be rid of him was for them to energetically pursue the breaking of this very commandment. Let's look at Matthew 26:59-63:

[Jonathan] (20:48 - 21:40) Listen to their desperation. They threw everything at the wall to try to make it stick. "Now the chief priests and the whole Council kept trying to obtain false testimony against Jesus, so that they might put him to death. They did not find any, even though many false witnesses came forward. But later on two came forward, and said, This man stated, I am able to destroy the temple of God and to rebuild it in three days. The high priest stood up and said to him, Do you not answer? What is it that these men are testifying against you?

But Jesus kept silent." They were the religious leaders of the Jewish nation, and what were they just saying?

Truth doesn't matter, because the greater good was to exterminate Jesus.

[Rick] (21:41 - 22:17) Look, I get the idea that truth can be a tool when it's convenient. I understand how that feels from our own experience. Not that we're justifying it even at one-tenth of one percent, but even their pursuit of slander and lies couldn't stand in a legal sense.

They were looking for lies. They were promoting lies. They were encouraging lies.

False witness didn't work, so the high priest was forced to go in a different direction. Let's go back to Matthew 26:63-66:

[Jonathan] (22:17 - 22:42) "...And the high priest said to him, I adjure you by the living God, that you tell us whether you are the Christ, the son of God. Jesus said to him, You have said it yourself; nevertheless, I tell you, hereafter you will see THE SON OF MAN SITTING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF POWER, and COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN."

Let me pause there. Rick, why did he say that?

[Rick] (22:42 - 23:26) He said it because it had to be said, because they could not find anything to convict him on. He knew, according to prophecy, according to the will of God, that his time was up. This shows us, Jonathan, that this was a one-hundred percent willing sacrifice.

They didn't corner him. They didn't surprise him. He voluntarily gave himself over to their maliciousness, their darkness, their evil, their pride, so that God's will would be done.

You say, well, how could that be God's will? Because the Lamb had to be sacrificed so all of this could eventually be made right.

[Jonathan] (23:26 - 24:15) We'll continue with verse 65: "Then the high priest tore his robes and said, He has blasphemed! What further need do we have of witnesses?

Behold, you have now heard the blasphemy; what do you think? They answered, He deserves death!"

How dramatic. What a show. This display ignited a mob mentality.

Remember in Matthew 23, when Jesus pronounced all those woes against the religious leaders, he ended it with this statement: "For I say to you, from now on, you will not see me until you say, BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!" Even his murderers will be given an opportunity to turn their lives around in God's kingdom.

[Rick] (24:15 - 24:46) That's why Jesus willingly gave his life. That's why he is the example and nobody else, for those very reasons. He gave them something to build their corrupt and vile case upon because they had no evidence and their hearts and minds were firmly set on unjustly being rid of him.

Unjustly. The Law said, "you shall not bear false witness." And yet, it didn't matter because they had an agenda that was bigger.

[Jonathan] (24:46 - 25:10) This truly shows Jesus' surrender and doing God's will to pay, what? The ransom price for Adam and the entire race. What a savior! He knew what the consequences were for telling the truth, and he was willing.

He knew his time had come, as you mentioned, and he gave them, his enemies, the desires of their hearts.

[Rick] (25:11 - 25:25) He did. He did. You can scratch your head, but then you recognize the greater good served by integrity and truth and following God's word and God's will. Jonathan, you wonder here, how many commandments did they break in their pursuit of Jesus' life?

[Jonathan] (25:25 - 25:26) So many.

[Rick] (25:27 - 27:54) Yeah, we don't need to listen, but take a look and think, because it really is dramatic. Now let's go to another mirror question. How many commandments might I be breaking with my thoughts and emotions?

Would I be tempted to apply my thoughts and emotions on a level of formal action when those thoughts and emotions maybe aren't based in truth, but based in the raw anger or frustration or hurt I may have felt? Jonathan, again, this comes back to the story with our daughter, because we did the things we needed to do. We submitted the police report, the guy's arrested, but what ends up happening is, he leaves the country.

So there was no justice served. There was no justice served. You can look at that and say, he got away with it.

Then you can begin to think, huh, maybe I should have made the story bigger, because he deserved punishment. And he did. Maybe I should have embellished.

Maybe I shouldn't have just stopped my son from listening to that.... You have all those second thoughts, but the bottom line is, it would have been wrong. It would have been not following a standard that has been laid out for us very clearly.

Just like you said for the religious leaders, that young man--young man at that time--he will have to face what he did in the day of judgment, in the day of reconciliation. He will have to face it, and by God's grace, he will hopefully have the ability to be reconciled.

But for us, we need to have that forgiving attitude, because we leave it in God's hands. The example of the Pharisees is a pretty dramatic example. Let's go to another really dramatic example because it lays out a process.

Let's look at the disciple Stephen. We know Stephen was the first Christian martyr. The only way some of Jewish religious leaders of that time could quiet him down was to pointedly pursue the breaking of this very commandment, bearing false witness.

In so doing, they revealed the process. They actually showed us the process by which we, as human beings, rationalize bearing false witness and recruit others to do so. Listen to what they do and how the process unfolds.

The first point of the process; we have a passionately held position that we believe is unshakable, so we are sold out to our position. Let's lay out the Scriptures now. Acts 6:8-9:

[Jonathan] (27:54 - 28:08) "And Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people. But some men from what was called the Synagogue of the Freedmen...rose up and argued with Stephen."

[Rick] (28:08 - 28:51) They rose up and they argued. They had these great signs and these great wonders and yet they argued. Remember, the theme here is "you shall not bear false witness." It's okay to argue.

You have a different perspective. Okay, bring it out, but do it with integrity. Let's watch what happens now, because remember, the theme is "you shall not bear false witness."

The second point is; when met with overwhelming logic, we stoop down to defend our position rather than to stand up and discuss. We stoop down to defend rather than stand up and discuss. Here's what happens.

Listen carefully. Acts 6:10-11:

[Jonathan] (28:51 - 29:09) "But they were unable to cope with the wisdom and the spirit with which he was speaking. Then they secretly induced men to say, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God."

[Rick] (29:10 - 29:27) "You shall not bear false witness!" What did they do? You're right.

They secretly induced men to lie! It could be a legal situation that they could say, we heard him say that, because their agenda was too big.

[Jonathan] (29:27 - 29:34) Rick, it's bad enough to be a false witness, but to talk others into it is on a whole other level.

[Rick] (29:34 - 30:09) Yeah, well, they joined the Pharisees with that, didn't they? Because that's exactly what the Pharisees were doing as well. We've got these first two points, passionately held position that you think is unshakeable, and then you're met with something that's threatening.

Instead of standing up to reason, you stoop down to defend. That brings us to the third point. We take the exaggerated and false statements that we've encouraged others to make and fuel the fire of our threatened position.

How do we do that? We create a frenzy. We create a frenzy.

We create massive emotion. Acts 6:12-14:

[Jonathan] (30:09 - 30:35) "And they stirred up the people, the elders and the scribes, and they came up to him and dragged him away and brought him before the Council. They put forward false (or erroneous and deceitful) witnesses who said, This man incessantly speaks against this holy place in the Law; for we have heard him say that this Nazarene, Jesus, will destroy this place and alter the customs which Moses handed down to us."

[Rick] (30:36 - 31:45) They put forward false witnesses again with new lies. "You shall not bear false witness!" The Law was clear, and they didn't give it a thought.

They just didn't abide by it. It wasn't a matter. You said it earlier, Jonathan, because their interpretation of the truth of their agenda was bigger.

Therefore, real truth, real integrity didn't matter whatsoever. We've got the passionately held position. We've got being met with overwhelming logic and stooping down to argue instead of discussing.

Now we've got exaggerated false statements and creating a frenzy. The fourth step is the result of this unrighteous exercise is a complete abandonment of integrity. Now these are religious leaders--

a complete abandonment of integrity for the purpose of extinguishing a legitimate question or perspective. A complete abandonment of integrity. "You shall not bear false witness!"

You see how powerful the Law is and how easily humans go off the track in the name of God.

[Jonathan] (31:46 - 31:47) And they killed him.

[Rick] (31:47 - 31:48) Yes.

[Jonathan] (31:48 - 31:49) They killed him.

[Rick] (31:49 - 31:50) Yes. Yes.

[Jonathan] (31:51 - 32:13) The evidence they came up with wasn't worthy of a death sentence.

And this was done in the name of godliness? We have seen this behavior from church systems, especially during the Dark Ages. It was built on idolatry and taking the Lord's name in vain by torturing and murdering Christian martyrs.

Why? For power and control.

[Rick] (32:14 - 32:31) What we see in Scripture has been repeated through history. Folks, this should be a warning sign for all of us. We need to step up.

We need to look at the Scriptures. We need to hold on to what they teach us. Jonathan, final Scripture.

Let's put this in order and on a very positive note. Ephesians 4:29-30:

[Jonathan] (32:34 - 32:49) "Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. Do not grieve the holy spirit of God, but which you were sealed for the day of redemption."

[Rick] (32:50 - 33:19) Our responsibility is to let no unwholesome word proceed from our mouth. Remember, words are provoked by emotions, by thoughts. That's what Jesus taught us.

Cleanse our hearts. Stand for a higher standard so that we can be God-honoring and not God-destroying in the things that we say and we do. Finally, Jonathan, Standing for Righteousness and Speaking Truth:

[Jonathan] (33:20 - 33:38) No matter how driven we are about our position on serious disagreements with others, speaking falsehoods is never appropriate. Elevating things to a formal level with any hint of malice or contempt is diametrically opposed to any hint of a godly character.

[Rick] (33:38 - 34:17) Speaking in a very legal sense, "cease and desist." That's the message from looking at this idea, this concept of the Law, the Ninth Commandment that says, "You shall not bear false witness." What it's saying on the positive side of the external instruction is, you shall always speak truth with integrity, no matter the end result for yourself.

That's what we need to do because that's what Jesus did. Think about it. Coming up in our next episode: "What's Wrong With Wanting What Others Have?" Part X

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