Congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ,
I expect the figures are likely to be similar in New Zealand, but I read this week that for every nickel (that’s 5 cents) that the Inland Revenue Service in America spends on checking for tax evasion, they collect around $100 in taxes that were not originally declared.  

And sadly this is just another demonstration of the fact that we live in a society that is saturated with lies.  
Advertising consistently pushes the boundaries of truth.  
It is accepted that when a couple promise to live together and be faithful until death do us part, what they really mean is, ‘for now.’  
Even the holy cow of science has recently demonstrated that it too will present the ‘facts’ in a self-serving way if that suits the scientist’s ideology.  
ACC has blown its budget because we clever Kiwis all know that if our injury doesn’t quite meet the criteria for free treatment, well we just alter the facts a little so they do.  
We know also that when a politician says, “I do not recall having said or done such a thing,” they are using the ‘acceptable way’ of avoiding the question when they know perfectly well that that is exactly what they said or did.  

And all of this and more, together, is why, as I found out last week, if your child wants to do a little bit of busking, they must apply for a council permit and provide two character references, and two passport photos, and inform the council every time they intend to busk where they will do it and when they will do it.  
Because we live in a society where no one’s word can be taken for granted, we need paperwork, and character references, and credit checks, and multiple forms of I.D., and excessive security everywhere, and passwords for everything, and random audits, and government regulation, etc etc etc.

Well, these ‘trouble with the truth’ examples all reveal the very clear need for the 9th commandment: “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.”  For this commandment takes direct aim at all of this and more.

And yet, once again, as we consider the scope of the types of things I have just mentioned, which really only reflect the scope of the things mentioned in the Lord’s Day we have just read, the first question we need to ask and answer is how do we get from a commandment about false-witnesses to all of these other aspects of truth telling?  
Why does this commandment take direct aim at false witnesses?  

1.	And to answer this question we need to understand something about life in Israel at the time God gave them these 10 commandments.  
a.	For us, the courtroom is generally only something we ever see on the news.  
i.	It involves judges, lawyers,  a defendant in the dock, gavels for calling the court to order, stenographers to keep a record of every word spoken, special technical language, prosecution witnesses, defense witnesses, forensic, documentary, and eye witnesses, expert witnesses, pre-trial hearings, plea bargaining; indeed, the life and language of the courtroom is quite other-worldly; almost separated from normal life.  

b.	But not so in Israel.  Back in Israel the court of law was a part of everyday life.  
i.	Many passages of the OT reveal to us that the court essentially involved the local elders at the gate of the town.  Every day, every time you passed through those gates, you came into contact with the court system.  
ii.	Justice in Israel was not about a once in a lifetime case that needed to be heard in a district court in a far off city.  No, justice in Israel was an every day feature of normal life.  
1.	Property matters, relationship matters, criminal matters, business matters, all of these things were decided at the gates, all day long, and every day.  

c.	But you see there were no detectives or lawyers or DNA samples or even fingerprints.  Justice, then, was all about witnesses.  Everything hung on the words of witnesses.  
i.	And so this is why we read the following safeguard against injustice in Deuteronomy 19, “One witness is not enough to convict a man accused of any crime or offense he may have committed.  A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.”  
ii.	But still you can imagine how easily justice could be perverted if a couple of witnesses agree together to lie.  
1.	Indeed, it only took the testimony of two witnesses for someone to be found guilty of murder.  
iii.	This then is why this commandment was vitally necessary in the daily life of Israel.  
1.	To safeguard the exercise of justice, God says to His people, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.”  
iv.	And to reinforce the seriousness of this crime, being a false witness, Deut 19 goes on to say the following, “If a malicious witness takes the stand to accuse a man of a crime, the two men involved in the dispute must stand in the presence of the LORD before the priests and the judges who are in office at the time.  The judges must make a thorough investigation, and if the witness proves to be a liar, giving false testimony against his brother, then do to him as he intended to do to his brother.”  
1.	The witness was to receive the punishment that the accused would have received if his testimony had been accepted.  

v.	You see congregation, the only way for honour to exist in Israelite society (that’s the 5th commandment), the sanctity of life to be preserved (that’s the 6th commandment), sexual purity to be upheld (that’s the 7th commandment), and property rights to be respected (that’s the 8th commandment), was through the proper functioning of the courts of the land.  
vi.	And even though the courts now have a different character and place in our society than they did back then, the need for true witness is still a foundational benchmark of justice today.  
1.	This then is why the first application of the 9th commandment, for us also, is that when in court we too should never give false testimony or lie.  

But this aspect we might call the narrow focus of the 10th commandment.  Let’s turn to Psalm 15 though to consider the wide angle view.  

1.	Congregation, what we read in this short but very instructive psalm is a relatively simple and straight forward question.  The Lord is asked, “Who may dwell in your sanctuary?  Who may live on your holy hill?”  
a.	Now, the literal word translated here as “sanctuary” means tent.  And so, the author of the psalm is clearly speaking here of the tabernacle or the temple.  The “Holy hill” has Jerusalem in mind; Zion, the city set high on a hill.  And so, in essence, the question is Lord, how must we live to enjoy the fullness of fellowship with you?  What is the character of the man who may walk with the Lord?  And vv2-5a provide the answer to that question before a concluding blessing is given at the end of v5; “He who does these things will never be shaken.”

2.	Now, I want to talk briefly about the function of this psalm in relation to the question it asks.  
a.	As far as we can tell, one possibility is that this psalm served as a wisdom psalm.  
i.	As a wisdom psalm it would have been used, for instance, in the instruction of the young people of Israel.  
ii.	And so, boys and girls and young people, in a class not much different from your Sunday school and catechism classes today, the teacher would ask the children the opening question, “Who may dwell…?”, and the children would then learn and recite the answers before the teacher would speak the concluding blessing over them.  
1.	Catechesis, which simply means learning by question and answer has always been recognized as a powerful way to learn.  
2.	That’s why we have catechisms and catechism classes today.  

b.	But the other or another possible function of this psalm though is as a kind of entrance liturgy at the door of the temple.  
i.	As worshippers arrive, a priest or Levite asks them, “Who may dwell..?”  
1.	And the people recite the answer before the priest speaks the concluding blessing over them and lets them in.  
ii.	So used in this way its serves a tool for aiding or prompting self-examination.  Every time this question is asked and answered, the answerer must ask themselves, Am I living like this?  Am I prepared to worship the Lord?  

c.	And as an interesting side note, in connection with our study of the 10 commandments, how many conditions, do you think, are listed here as the conditions for dwelling in the sanctuary?  Ten.  Three in v2, three in v3, two in v4, and two in v5.  Ten conditions; ten commandments!  

3.	But let’s return now to the content of this psalm and note that it is a psalm that operates in two ways.  
a.	In the first place, this psalm speaks to the one seeking a relationship with God.  
i.	It says that if you want to enjoy fellowship with God you can do so if your walk is blameless, if you do what is righteous, if you speak the truth, if you do not slander, if you do your neighbour no wrong, if you cast no slurs, if you despise vile men, if you keep your oath even when it hurts, if you lend without excessive interest, and if you take no bribes.  
ii.	And so, if you are here today, perhaps for the first time, or perhaps inquiring seriously for the first time about how you too can enjoy relationship with God, this psalm reveals that you can enjoy relationship with Him if you keep His commandments, perfectly.  
iii.	This psalm teaches salvation by works.  

iv.	But if you are like every other human being conceived since Adam, this creates an enormous problem for you if you are honest.  
1.	For, as Psalm 14; the previous psalm, makes crystal clear, “There is no one who does good.  The LORD looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God.  All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.”  
2.	And if, in relation to just the 9th commandment, you honestly examine yourself in terms of just Psalm 15, you will know yourself to be a liar, a slanderer – someone who falsely tears down the character or name of someone else, or one who does not always keep your word.  
3.	And this means that, in and of yourself, you are unfit for relationship with God.  

v.	However, even at this first level, this Psalm still offers the hope of salvation; relationship with God, to those guilty of breaking the 9th commandment.  
1.	And this is so because there is one conceived since Adam, who was blameless, who did what was righteous, etc etc.  And His name is Jesus Christ.  
2.	And because he was fully human and fully God, and because He kept all the commandments perfectly, and because He took the sins of commandment breakers upon Himself as He hung on the cross of Calvary and died, He gained the right to enjoy relationship with God for all those who put their faith in Him.  

3.	Thus, the salvation by works spoken of here in Psalm 15 is not your works, but the works of Jesus Christ.  

4.	Dear friend, believe this; believe in Him, and you may dwell in the sanctuary of the Lord!  

Now, before we go on to conclude by considering the second level at which this Psalm operates, I want to make a side point about Bible translation.  
Some of you might have heard that from next year, the NIV will no longer be produced.  And this is because its publishers have decided that a newer version is necessary because the NIV has too much outdated language!  
Well, one of the questions that the translation team have so far refused to answer is how they will deal with what is known as gender neutralization.  
Sadly, it’s becoming increasingly popular among Bible translators to ignore the masculine words of the original languages and insert gender neutral words instead.  
They argue that even though the word man or men has been used in the original, we all know that both men and women are included so we will just use the word person.  
And this means, in Psalm 15 for example, that you will find Bible translations today that answer the opening question by saying “The one who is blameless, or the person who does what is righteous, etc etc.  Not “the man,” but “the one” or “the person.”  
Now while the desire may be noble, if this is done then the intentional and clear pointing forward of this Psalm to Jesus, the man, is obscured.  It becomes a psalm that speaks about salvation by works in a way that only focuses on the works of the reader; the person reading the psalm.  
And this is why we must oppose this form of gender neutralization.  We must not allow Jesus Christ to be obscured.  And we need to keep this in mind when we think about purchasing a new Bible for ourselves or others.

b.	But let’s turn lastly to the second level at which this psalm operates.  For this psalm speaks also to those who already live in relationship with God.  
i.	You see, the question that this psalm asks is also a faith question.  Whether originally asked by David or another, it is addressed to the “Lord”; the God of His covenant people.  
1.	Those who love God; who know themselves to be forgive sinners; whose trust is in Jesus Christ, also want to know about that which pleases the Lord.  
2.	Their hearts are so filled with thankfulness and gratitude for the saving work of Jesus that they want to know how to live for Him; they want to know how they can be more and more like Jesus Christ.  
3.	And so, this question also the question of each of us who want to know a deeper and closer relationship with God.  

ii.	And we know this because of passages in the Bible like Romans 6.  
1.	For there, having talked about the grace that has been shown to those whose faith is in Christ Jesus, Paul goes on to ask, “What shall we say, then?  Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?  By no means!  We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? … Therefore,” says Paul, “Do not … offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but … offer the parts of your body to Him as instruments of righteousness.”  
a.	And so the law then becomes a rule for grateful living.  

iii.	And this use of the law as a rule for grateful living that we find in the Bible is reflected also in the very structure of the Heidelberg Catechism.  
1.	For where in the catechism are the Ten Commandments dealt with in detail?  
2.	In the third section; the gratitude section; the faith’s response to salvation section.  

iv.	And so, in response to this faith question of ours about dwelling in the sanctuary of the Lord, the answer of God in Psalm 15 is, firstly, and in part, keep the 9th commandment.  

1.	Do not lie; “Speak truth from your heart.”  
a.	And so, boys and girls and young people, in class, do not cheat on your tests and exams, and when playing games or sport do not cheat.  
b.	When your parents ask you if you broke that handle or pushed your brother, don’t lie, be honest.  
c.	People of God, be honest when you are filling out forms and tax returns and applications for benefits, etc.  
d.	Be honest about what it is you are trying to sell.  Be honest when you record the hours you have worked.  
e.	Proverbs 12:22 says, “The LORD detests lying lips, but He delights in men who are truthful.”  

2.	But we need also to avoid slander and gossip.  
a.	Don’t share stories that reveal the faults and weaknesses of others even if they are true.  
b.	Watch out for conversations that begin with, “Look, I am going to tell you this in confidence because she’s your friend so don’t tell anyone else, but did you know…”  
c.	In one slander case, the judge ordered the defendant to gather up a bag of feathers and to throw them off a bridge.  The next day he said to the defendant, “Go back, now, and gather up every one of those feathers again.”  And he did this to show that it is impossible to call back an evil report once it has been delivered.  
d.	Proverbs 10:18 says, “Whoever spreads slander is a fool.”  

3.	We must be careful also not to make rash judgments about others, or condemning them without knowing all the facts.  
a.	In Luke 13, some people tell Jesus about a group of Galileans that Pilate had executed mixing their blood with their own sacrifices.  And their interpretation of these events is that these Galileans must have been guilty of some terrible sin.  Everyone had heard about this.  The news was everywhere, and this was the common judgment of all.  But Jesus says “No.  They were no worse than you.”  
b.	So when we hear about a politician who has been putting things on his credit card, just like we did this week, we shouldn’t join the crowd who immediately condemn him as a thief.  We wait until all the facts are out.  We uphold the reputation of others rather than tear them down.  
c.	Proverbs 18:7 says, “The first to present his case seems right, till another comes forward and questions him.”  
d.	We are to be those who give the benefit of the doubt; those who assume innocence until guilt is firmly proven.  
i.	When someone says something or does something, we are not to look at them in the light of past failures and say, “There they go again.  It all sounds good but I know how he or she operates.  I’ve seen it all before.  I know that they really mean this or that!”  

4.	Neither are we to be those who take something we have heard and twist it or add to it or present it in an even worse light to those that we pass the news on to.  
5.	We ought not be those who have suspicious minds that constantly call the motives of others into question.  
6.	And we must take care even with our humour.  
a.	Now, there is nothing wrong with humour.  There is nothing wrong with telling the occasional humourous story so long as there is no intent to deceive.  
b.	But Proverbs 26:18-19 says, “Like a madman shooting firebrands or deadly arrows is a man who deceives his neighbor and says, "I was only joking!"”  
i.	We should be those who joke rarely, and tastefully, and those who avoid joking that is designed to deceive or bring shame and embarrassment to others just for the sake of a laugh.  For so much hurt can be done by one who “was only joking!”  

7.	And we are also to be those who keep our word even when it hurts us, as it says in v4.  
a.	Our word should be our bond.  
b.	If we have given a commitment to be somewhere or do something that no longer suits us, we must keep our word.  
c.	If we have promised in our profession of faith to submit to the elders, and later become convinced on a non-essential matter that the church does this wrong or isn’t behaving as we think it should, this does not allow us the right to just walk away because we are fed up or disillusioned.  We have made an oath before the Lord.

8.	It is in these and many other ways then that the answer from God to this faith question is keep the 9th commandment.
v.	But even beyond this answer, is the more important answer of God to this question; Jesus Christ.  
1.	For in seeking to keep the 9th commandment we do so because Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”  
a.	We look to Him who is the truth hoping that we can reflect Him in our lives to those who do not know the truth.  

2.	And even as we fail to speak the truth as we ought, as we cheat, as we gossip, as we make rash judgments, and twist the words of others; even as we break the 9th commandment, we look to the one who went to cross because of sins against the 9th commandment.  
a.	You see, in Matthew 26 we read that following Jesus’ arrest “the chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for false evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death.  But they did not find any, though many false witnesses came forward.  Finally two came forward and declared, "This fellow said, 'I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.'"”  
i.	And so, because of the testimony of false witnesses, Jesus was considered worthy of death.  

b.	And then we read earlier from John 18.  There Pilate asked Jesus if He was the king of the Jews?  And “Jesus answered, "You are right in saying I am a king.  In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me."”  
i.	And do you remember how Pilate responded?  He said, “What is truth?”  

c.	Brothers and Sisters, young people, and boys and girls, truth is not a thing.  
i.	Truth is Jesus Christ.  
ii.	Truth is He who heard the High Priest say, “I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God,” and replied, “Yes, it is as you say.”  

iii.	So hear Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God, today, as He says to you the same thing that He said to His disciples in John 8:31-32, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.  Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

iv.	For this, people of God, is the end of the 9th commandment.

Amen?