THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT.
TRUTHFULNESS.
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
_What is meant by this commandment?_
We should so fear and love God as not deceitfully to belie, betray,
slander, nor raise injurious reports against our neighbor, but apologize
for him, speak well of him, and put the most charitable construction on
all his actions.
* * * * *
THE OBJECT of this commandment is to secure truthfulness, [Eph. 4:25+]
and to guard our good name. [Prov. 22:1+] Without truthfulness we could
not believe anything we heard, and the utmost confusion would prevail in
the affairs of men. A good name is one of our most precious earthly
possessions.
This commandment _forbids_ all lying. It _commands_ perfect truthfulness
and a charitable judgment of others.
I. WHAT IS FORBIDDEN.
ALL LYING is forbidden. [Ps. 34:13+] False witness against other
_persons_ is the worst form of lying. All lesser forms of lying are
forbidden along with the greater.
1. _False Witness against our Neighbor._ We must not tell a falsehood
about another person either in court or in every-day life. We must not
BELIE him, that is, tell an untruth about him.
BETRAY. [Prov. 11:13+, Prov. 24:28] We must not abuse our neighbor's
confidence by revealing his innocent secrets, and thus annoying or
harming him. One who pretends to be another's friend, and yet betrays
him, is acting a lie. We dare not, however, hide crime; and we must tell
what we know about others if the court, or parents, or persons who have
a right to know, inquire of us.
SLANDER NOR RAISE INJURIOUS REPORTS. [Exod. 23:1+, Lev. 19:16, Ps.
15:1-3] We must not invent nor repeat false reports concerning our
neighbor. We must not say behind his back what we fear to say to his
face. We must not magnify his faults, [Matt. 7:3-5] nor impute evil
motives to him, nor make his words and conduct look as bad as possible.
The slanderer is worse than a thief and causes incalculable suffering
and misery. [Prov. 25:18+, Jas. 3:5-8] We should remember that words
once spoken live on for good or evil, and cannot be unsaid; and that we
must give an account to God for every word we speak. [Matt. 12:36]
2. _Lying of Any Kind._ A lie is a conscious falsehood uttered with the
purpose of deceiving. It may be acted as well as spoken. [Prov. 6:13] We
must not deceive nor try to deceive others by telling an untruth, by
hiding the truth or a part of it, by hypocrisy, flattery, boasting,
broken promises, conventional lies, "white lies," "lies of necessity,"
guesses given as facts, etc.
II. WHAT IS COMMANDED.
1. _Truthfulness._ Truth is of God; [Deut. 32:4] lying is of the devil.
[John 8:44] As children of God we must be truthful. [Col. 3:9+] A liar
is an abomination in God's sight. [Prov. 12:22, Prov. 17:15] If
necessary, we should be ready to suffer and die for the truth.
2. _A Charitable Judgment of Others._ We should
APOLOGIZE FOR OUR NEIGHBOR, and defend him when his character is
unjustly assailed. [Matt. 7:12, Prov. 31:8, 9] We must be careful,
however, not to excuse or make light of sin. [Isa. 5:20+] We should
SPEAK WELL OF HIM whenever we can do so truthfully. We should speak of
his virtues rather than of his faults. [Matt. 7:1, 2+, Jas. 4:11] If we
cannot speak well of him, then, unless it is absolutely necessary, we
had better not speak of him at all. We should
PUT THE MOST CHARITABLE CONSTRUCTION ON ALL HIS ACTIONS. [I Pet. 4:8+, I
Cor. 13:4-7, Gal. 6:1] We should, as far as possible, make the best and
not the worst of what our neighbor says and does. We should think and
speak of him only in kindness.
QUESTIONS.--1. What a the object of this commandment? 2. What does it
forbid? 3. What does it command? 4. What is the worst form of lying? 5.
What is included under false witness? 6. What is meant by belying our
neighbor? 7. What is to be said about betraying him? 8. What is to be
said about slander and the slanderer? 9. Define a lie. 10. In what ways
do men speak and act lies? 11. Why should we be truthful? 12. What is to
be said about apologizing for our neighbor? 13. What rule should we
follow in speaking of others? 14. How should we think and speak of our
neighbor?
SCRIPTURE VERSES.--Eph. 4:25. Wherefore putting away lying, speak every
man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.
Prov. 22:1. A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and
loving favour rather than silver and gold.
Ps. 34:13. Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.
Prov. 11:13. A talebearer revealeth secrets: but he that is of a
faithful spirit concealeth the matter.
Exod. 23:1. Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with
the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.
Matt. 7:3-5. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's
eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt
thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and,
behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the
beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out
the mote out of thy brother's eye.
Prov. 25:18. A man that beareth false witness against his neighbour is a
maul, and a sword, and a sharp arrow.
Col. 3:9. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old
man with his deeds.
Is. 5:20. Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put
darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet,
and sweet for bitter!
Matt. 7:1, 2. Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment
ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be
measured to you again.
I Pet. 4:8. And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves:
for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.
READING.--The False Witnesses against Stephen, Acts 6:8-15.
ILLUSTRATIONS.--_False Witness_: Against Christ, Matt. 26:60; against
Naboth, I Kings 21:10; against Paul, Acts 25:7. _Slander_: Absalom
against David, II Sam. 15:1 seq.; _Lying_: Jacob, Gen. 27:19; Jacob's
Sons, Gen. 37:32. _Betrayal_: Judas. _Speaking well_: Jonathan, I Sam.
19:4.