Greetings and welcome to Heritage   Reform Presbyterian Church on this Lord's Day, August 3rd,   2025. It's good to be gathered to worship the Lord with you   all. Just a few announcements. We did have a group last Tuesday,   so there'll be no group this Tuesday. So this will be off   this week and then back, God willing, next week. We do not have any other, to   my knowledge, schedule changes except for today. We need to   be out by 1 p.m. for a funeral that they're going   to be having. I guess we're going to be using this building as   well. So any help you can give after we eat today to clean up   and so on is appreciated, but we should be able to get out   with time to spare. I do not believe there are any   other announcements, and if not, then let us prepare our hearts   and minds for worship with a moment of silent prayer and meditation. Brothers and sisters, please   stand to receive God's call to worship, taken from Psalm 97,   carved images, who boast of idols, all you gods. Zion hears and   is glad, and the daughters of Judah rejoice because of your   judgments, O Lord. For you, Lord, are most high   above all the earth. You are exalted far above all   gods. Let's not confess our need for   God's grace together. Our help is in the name of the   Lord, who made heaven and earth. Beloved, I receive God's greeting.   Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus   Christ. As God has welcomed us into his   presence to worship him, let us do so remaining standing and   singing 216. Praise to the Lord the Almighty.   216. Praise to the Lord, the Almighty,   the King of creation! O my soul, praise Him, for He   is thy health and salvation! All ye who hear, bow to his temple   drum near, earn the glad adoration. Praise to the Lord, who o'er   all things so wondrously reigneth, Shelters the under his wings,   they so gently sustaineth. Hast thou not seen how thy desire   hath been Granted in what he ordaineth? Praise to the Lord who doth prosper   thy work and defend thee. Surely his goodness and mercy   hear daily attend thee. Honour anew what the Almighty   will do. Here with His love He befriending. Praise to the Lord with marvelous   wisdom hath made me. Decked in with health and with   loving He guided and saved me. How often, really, hath not He   brought thee relief, Spreading His wings to o'ershape thee? Praise to the Lord, O let all   that is in me adore Him! Let's come before the lord in   prayer. come before you to praise you,   the almighty one, the maker of heaven and earth, and the one   who has redeemed us from our sins. Lord, help us indeed to   worship you in spirit and in truth, to worship you according   to your holy will, remembering who you are and what you have   done for us in Christ. Please bless us now in your holy   presence as we gather in your name as your people on this,   your day. Be with us now and strengthen   us in You. We ask all this in Jesus' name. Amen. Please be   seated. Let's now hear from God's law,   taken from Colossians 3. We're looking at verses 1-7. Colossians 3, 1-7. If then you were raised with Christ, Seek those things which are above,   where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind   on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and   your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our   life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.   Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth, fornication,   uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Because of these things, the   wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, in which   you yourselves once walked when you lived in them." Well, we   have the instruction, the command here as Christians to put our   mind on righteous things, things above, that is, things that are   pure and holy where God is. It doesn't mean that we are passive   or inert in this life. That's not what it means to be   heavenly minded. We see what it means to be heavenly minded.   It says to put off sinfulness and to put on righteousness.   That is what we are to go after and to pursue. The reason, verse   3, is because we have died. We have died to sin, and we are   alive now in Christ. Our life is hidden in Christ,   and Christ is seated in the heavenly places, and the reason that He   is there is because He is that Holy and Righteous One, which   is going to tie in very much with our sermon today from Psalm   15. well only those who are righteous and holy and spotless will dwell   in the heavenly Zion the New Jerusalem heaven itself that   is where Christ is and perfect righteousness and so we are to   pursue that now as well and so therefore verse 5 were to put   off the All the things that are listed there, sexual immorality,   uncleanness, evil passions and desires, covetousness. And we're   going to see that some, sorry, we did see that some with stealing   last week, the eighth commandment. And we're also going to look   today at bearing false witness. And of course, the passions that   come with wanting to lie and cheat and steal and get ahead   as well. We have this warning, or really   this reality, the wrath of God is coming on those who live and   walk in this wickedness. But we do not walk in this anymore   because we've been redeemed in Christ. And so the command here   is to continue walking in righteousness as his redeemed people, putting   our minds on the righteousness of Christ, what he's done for   us, and how we should walk after him in integrity as well. And so let's have a moment now   of silent prayer, confessing our sins in our hearts, and then   I will lead us in prayer, confessing our sins and praising us for   His grace and salvation in Christ. So let us pray. Have a time of   silent prayer. Heavenly Father, we do come before   you confessing that we are your people, and yet we are still   also tempted by the lust of our flesh, the sinful desires, the   fallenness that remains in us and in this world. Help us, Lord, to put off sinfulness   and to put on righteousness. As you command us, Lord, guide   us so that we would meditate upon your word and its truth,   that we would consider the goodness of glorifying you, the joy and   delight of living a righteous life, that the pleasures of sin   are fleeting and ultimately useless and only lead to hell and your   wrath and judgment. Lord, remind us of your mercy.   and your grace to us, that you are a worthy God, that you are   worthy of all adoration and service. And even though we are unworthy   sinners, yet you have sent your Son, Jesus, to pay for our sin   and to put us back on the path of righteousness. But let us   be heavenly minded in this way so that we are useful to you   in this life on this earth, that we would walk in integrity and   in godliness, that we would put off the deeds of the body and   put on holy actions so that we are serviceable to our fellow   man and give him glory. Help us to do that and not squander   our lives and pointless amusements or endeavors,   but to pursue the best things and to prioritize those and to   be most fruitful in your kingdom. We thank you that your son, Jesus,   has covered our sin, has fulfilled all righteousness, and has gone   into glory. We know that Christ, our head,   entering glory in the flesh, glorified next to you, with you,   is our sure hope. If Christ, our head, is exalted   to your right hand, we shall be as well. So let that be our   guide, our north star, our sure hope of resurrection and the   eternal life to come. Strengthen us by Christ our head,   so that we grow into you more and more day by day. We ask all   this in Jesus' name. Amen. We'll hear these words   of pardon taken from the following verses, 8 through 11. But now   you yourselves are to put off all these anger, wrath, malice,   blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to   one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds   and have put on the new man who has renewed in knowledge according   to the image of him who created him. where there is neither Greek   nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor   free, but Christ is all and in all." And so the good news of   the gospel here is that if you are in Christ, you have put off   these deeds as a form of enslavement. You're not living and walking   in them. If you are, then you're not redeemed. But if you are   not, if you're walking in the Lord, if you're repenting of   your sin, if you're slaying these evil desires, if that is your   delight to do so, and your sorrow when you fail to do so, well,   you know that you have been severed from this world and grafted into   Christ. And you have the complete and   full forgiveness of your sins. It is Jesus who redeems us. It   is Jesus who takes us out of our sinfulness and into his righteousness. And there is that complete forgiveness   of our sins past, present, and future that we have in Him, that   justification, but there's also that ongoing daily growth and   sanctification that is in Him. And so by faith we look to Him   who has washed away our sins, and also by faith we look within   to see His renewing grace in us and the transformation that   He is producing. And if we see these two things   in our lives, no matter where we've come from, as it says there,   Whether Greek or Jew, whether of the highest cultured people   or the lowest of the earth in Christ, He is all in all. He   washes away our sin. He redeems us. He sanctifies   us. And that is good news indeed, that we all, all who are in Christ,   have complete and perfect salvation and are being sanctified. Well,   knowing this great forgiveness in Christ that we have and the   renewing that he's bringing about, his goodness to us, let us praise   him for that, standing together and singing 107B, praise the   Lord for he is good. 107B. 107B, and we'll sing together. for his mercies ever sure from   eternity to eternity endure. Let His ransomed people raise   songs to their Redeemer's grace. From captivity released, From   the South and from the North, From the West and from the East,   In his love he brought them forth, Ransomed out of every land, ♪   From the adversary's hand ♪ ♪ Wand'ring in the wilderness ♪ ♪ Far they   roamed the desert way ♪ ♪ Found a settled dwelling place ♪ ♪   Where in peace secure to stay ♪ they cry By a pathway straight and sure,   To our city strong, secure. Sons of men, away to praise God   the Lord who reigns above. We shall sing His words and ways,   Let us now confess the faith together as God's people. And to do so, let's take our   Psalter hymnals and turn to the back there. The first is the   76th question of the Shorter Catechism on page 973. 973. I will read the question. Please   respond aloud with the answer. Which is the ninth commandment?   The ninth commandment is, Thou shalt not bear false witness   against thy neighbor. And then let's turn over to page   893. And we're looking at question   112 on the top there of page 893. What is God's will for you in   the ninth commandment? That I never give false testimony   against anyone, twist no one's words, not gossip or slander,   nor join in condemning anyone rashly or without adhering. Rather,   I should avoid, under penalty of God's wrath, every kind of   lying and deceit as the very works of the devil. candidly and openly acknowledge   it, and I shall do what I can to attend and advance my neighbor's   honor and reputation. And we will look at that more   in our sermon when we get there in just a bit, looking at the   ninth commandment together. But responding to what we've   heard from our confession, now let us stand together once again   and sing the Gloria Patri. You playing that or no? No. OK.   All right, let's sing that together. Glory be to the Father, and to   the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is   now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Amen. Amen. Please be seated. Now let's come to the Lord in   prayer once again, making our requests known to him with Thanksgiving. And since this is the Sunday   for the Lord's Supper, we will hold the Lord's Prayer until   the time for the Lord's Supper. So we will not recite the Lord's   Prayer right now. We'll do that during the Lord's Supper. Let   us go to the Lord now in prayer. Father, again, we come to you   as your people and we thank you for the forgiveness of sins and   even above and beyond that, Lord. Not only are we forgiven, not   only are we growing in you, putting off sin and putting on righteousness,   but Lord, we can come to you as a loving and gracious Father.   who answers our prayers. Lord, if all we had was the forgiveness   of our sins, that would be a wonderful blessing. But to make us your   people such that we serve you, obey you, and you receive us   in our worship and our praise, and you hear our prayers. Lord,   what a great blessing that is that we so often neglect and   squander by not coming to you with our needs as we should.   So Father, as you command us to not be anxious for anything,   But in all things by prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving   to make our request known to you to come to do that now, Lord.   And we want to pray according to your word as well regarding   our nation and country, our leaders and rulers, that they would rule   according to your word, according to the light of nature that you've   put in their hearts and minds. Lord, we know that many of our   rulers are not born of your spirit. They're not true Christians and   yet you've not left the world even without a witness of right   and wrong. And so we pray if nothing else by the law, the   work of the law written on the hearts of all mankind that they   would rule in righteousness and for the good of your people. And certainly we pray, Lord,   for Christian rulers and leaders who have the law written on the   heart anew and afresh by the power of your spirit into the   saving of their souls. Lord, that's what we most need   and desire, is godly Christian leaders and rulers that would   rule good for all, according to your holy word, so that we   may lead a peaceful and quiet life, so that the church would   be well furnished to proclaim the gospel would help us to recover   these things and to actually pray for these things, as your   word calls us to do. And may you bring about that   great blessing to our nation and land. We pray for those being   persecuted in the church, Christians here and abroad, that we would   stand faithful before, whether it's minor mocking or major inflicting   of pain or imprisonment or whatever the case may be, God, that we   would Be faithful, that we would encourage one another under affliction   and hardship from this world. Father, we pray that we would   continue to be faithful in our families and homes, and also   as a public witness against great evils, abortion, sexual immorality,   blasphemy, and so on. We pray that at Heritage we would   be a faithful witness in all these ways, privately, with our   families publicly and our witness and our lives and our words and   deeds, Lord, that you would use us mightily, that we not be afraid   or ashamed to be known as Christians and genuine Christians, not just   going to church on Sundays as a cultural tradition, but truly   loving you from the heart and teaching sinners your ways. Father,   help parents at home to instruct their children well. Help us   to parent by your gracious promises to us and our children. Help   husbands and wives likewise to love one another and be that   pure picture of Christ in the church and the devotion that   we are to have to each other. May that be a witness to others,   but also be a sanctification, a holiness to us as well, and   a witness to our children also. Father, we pray for the physical   strength and well-being of the congregation, for those dealing   with aches and pains from sickness or car accidents or bereavement   or whatever the case may be. Lord, we pray that you would   give healing and comfort to each person, each family here. We   know that we do groan in so many ways under the affliction, the   curse of sin that remains and yet we are grateful to know that   in this life what suffering we face is the worst that we will   have to endure because of your mercy and grace and that you   will redeem us and are redeeming us body and soul and will bring   us to that place where there's no more sin, sorrow or suffering. We thank you for that, Lord,   and we pray that that would be a motivation to us to endure   afflictions and hardship with patience and in righteousness. Help us to encourage and help   one another in our needs, body and soul as well. To pray for   one another, to lend a helping hand, to do all the things that   we ought to do for each other. And so reflect your grace and   mercy and kindness to one another as your people. Father, we pray   for our sister churches, for Kings Reformed in Florida, for   Reverend Parker and his continued healing, and for the ministry   there for Reverend, or sorry, for Elder Burrell also, and for   Reverend Hammond in South America and the church there, for Reverend   Levy and his various Bible studies and other matters that he is   leading, and be with him as well, and be with all of our ministers   and elders in our denomination that they would serve and follow   you. We pray for other churches that we have relationships with   here locally, in town, right here. So on Station Baptist,   we thank you for their kindness and hospitality and for the VBS   that we just had that our kids were a part of as well. We pray   that you bless them and keep them faithful to you. We pray   for Faith Bible Church and Pastor Smiley for the good relationship   we have as congregations there as well and having worship with   them also. We pray for other local ministries that they would   be faithful and stand firm. We pray more broadly for other   relationships we have with churches in our state that they would   honor you also. Father, we pray that in due time you would grant   to us our own facilities and building to worship in, to use   as to the best of our abilities that we can, the classroom space   and so on. Lord, we pray for provision,   either through continual savings or a church merger that we've   been praying about. We pray, Lord, that you would   bring it about, and if it's your holy will, that would be a good   thing for everybody involved in that and that it would be   used mightily for your glory and the advancement of your kingdom.   Father, finally we pray for the giving and our tithes and offerings.   We know, Lord, that you love a cheerful giver. We know that   you call us to give to the church and for the good of the church.   So may we give abundantly as we are able, and may what is   given be used well for your name and honor and glory. We thank   you again for all your many blessings, Lord, and we ask all this in   Jesus' name. Amen. Let us now indeed worship the   Lord in the giving of our tithes and honors. so Brothers and sisters, let us   stand together and sing the doxology. Praise God from whom all blessings   flow. Praise Him all creatures cheer   below. Praise Him above the heavenly   hosts. Amen. Please be seated. If you have your Bibles, please   turn to Psalm And as we look at the ninth commandment   together, I've chosen this text as our primary text to go through   together. And let us ask the Lord once   again to bless his holy word to the nourishment of our souls.   Let us pray. Father, again, we ask that you'd   help us to focus on your word. Lord, we need it. We need your   word. We need to be, we need a word from you, God. We need   to be instructed and exhorted from you now and have your word   applied to us. Help your minister to do that   well. Help us all to come under the   power of your word, to be built up in you, and to serve you faithfully. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Psalm 15, beginning at verse   1, hear now the word of the Lord. A psalm of David. Lord, who may abide in your tabernacle? Who may dwell in your holy hill? He who walks uprightly, and works   righteousness, and speaks the truth in his heart. He who does   not backbite with his tongue, nor does evil to his neighbor,   nor does he take up a reproach against his friend. In whose   eyes a vile person is despised, but he honors those who fear   the Lord. He who swears to his own hurt   and does not change. He who does not put out his money   at usury, nor does he take a bribe against the innocent. He who   does these things shall never be moved. Let's start a reading   of God's holy word, and may he add his blessing to it. Commandment   of the Decalogue, and it's here. And looking at not bearing false   witness, you shall not lie, you shall not bear false witness,   I think a lot of times we only think of that in the sense that   it's stated in. If I'm not lying, then I'm perfectly   keeping this commandment. Well, what does it mean, actually,   to not lie or to not bear false witness? It means more than just   refraining from saying something that is false for the purpose   of deceiving or harming or whatever the case may be. We must not   only not speak lies and untruths, but we must speak the truth.   We must stand for the truth. We must actually bear witness   to the truth in order to keep the ninth commandment. We must   be shaped by the truth in our lives as we seek to serve the   Lord. And so, we need to see that Christians   are people of the book, the truth of God and his son, Jesus Christ,   Christ himself, who is the way, the truth, and the life. I'm   sorry, let me turn this on. Also, some people may be cold   because I'm kind of chilly. Yes, Christians are people of   the book. We are following the truth. And so, if he is the   truth and we're not to bear false witness, then we must bear witness   to God, to Christ, to the one who is true. And so with that   in mind, our sermon theme then is that those who love the truth,   speak the truth, and live by the truth shall dwell with God   forever. That is essentially what Psalm   15 is saying. And we're going to look at that   Together, those who love the truth, speak the truth, and live   by the truth shall dwell with God forever. And so the first   two verses here make up our first point. In that, we're just gonna   look at loving truth and righteousness in the heart in particular. And   then verse three, our second point, speaking only what is   true about others. We should only speak what is   true about others. Then our third point, verses four and five,   living by the truth, no matter the consequences. So we've got   to love the truth in our hearts, we've got to speak the truth   about others, and God, of course, above all. And then we should,   in general, be living by the truth, no matter what it costs   us, what personal loss we may face in this life, we're speaking   the truth. We must continue to bear and thereby keep the ninth commandment. So, with that in mind, let's   begin looking at our first point, loving truth and righteousness. Notice the psalm opens with this   question to God, to the Lord. Lord, who may abide in your tabernacle? Who may dwell in your holy hill? Well, we know that at the time   of writing, and when David was there writing the psalm, there   was that physical tabernacle temple that would be constructed   there in Jerusalem. We know Jerusalem itself was   set upon a hill, and so there was this visible manifestation   of the heavenly Jerusalem, heaven itself, there on earth, in the   tabernacle, in the temple, and so on. And so the question is,   who will abide there? Who will dwell? Who will remain   there in the presence of God forever? And now, of course,   that Christ has come and Christ is our head, he is seated in   the true Jerusalem of heaven above and we gather at local   churches, local places as the body of Christ, as the people   of God and indeed, we are ascending into the true heavenly Mount   Zion by faith in the spirit to Christ when we gather for worship   but even then, we don't abide there. We don't stay together   24 7 in worship. We're not continually in that   immediate glorious presence of god seeing him face to face. Not yet and even our worship   is still physically on earth even if we're lifted up by the   spirit as it were into heaven. So, the question is, who will   dwell with god and glory forever? That's the question that's being   uh posed here to never is the one so privileged, so   blessed to have that eternal life in the very presence of   God Almighty. Now you see how it's answered   at least the beginning of that in verse two. He who walks uprightly   and works righteousness and speaks the truth in his heart. And so   we want to look at that beginning with the source. Our hearts must   be renewed. We must be born again truly.   We must truly have Christ in our lives, in our hearts, not   just as an attachment or an addendum or an addition to our lives,   not just a life enhancement, but life itself. So many Christians,   so many people, so many so-called Christians, they receive Christ   as a little flavoring to what they want to do, to their lives,   whether they realize that or not. That's what happens a lot   of times when the gospel is presented as Jesus just wants to make your   life better, right? He just wants to improve things   for you. He feels so sorry for you. And   people say, yeah, I like a Jesus like that. I'll take that, please.   But when you preach that you're dead in sin and that you're under   the condemnation of God, apart from Christ, and what you must   have is not merely a new decision that you make, but a transformation   in your soul to be born again, to have your affections renewed,   right? To have new life, the new birth.   Well, that's a completely different thing. Now our life indeed is   hidden in Christ with God, as we heard earlier. And so that's   the transformation that must occur. And the truth of that,   the evidence of such a transformation, is that you speak the truth in   your heart. You love the truth in the heart. You meditate upon   the truth in your heart. And you're speaking it in your   own heart. You're not lying to yourself. You're not bearing false witness   or deceiving yourself, which of course, if you do that and   you fudge on the truth, you twist things up, you deceive yourselves   and you're gonna justify that in your words and deeds to others   as well. And you're gonna bear false witness   outwardly if you're doing that already inwardly. We know Satan   is the father of lies. We know Satan is the great deceiver. We know all of those outside   of Christ are children of the devil. So, what are they doing? To one degree or another, they're   deceiving themselves. And even as Christians, we are   tempted to do that. And if we're honest, we know   that sometimes we do that as well. So repent of that. Be sure that your heart is set   on the truth of God, that you're not lying or twisting the truth   one bit to justify yourself. I'm not talking about personal   justification before God. I'm talking about justifying   your day-to-day actions and so on. But of course, for your salvation,   for your justification as well, be sure that you're trusting   in the Lord God alone. So that's what we're called to   do. The one who will enter glory   is the one who has his heart, his head, all of that set upon   God to serve him and love him from the heart, and so it must   begin there. Well, let's go on quickly. I'm   just going to move quickly to the second point, spend a lot   more time here on this point. So, for those who love the Lord   in their hearts, and they're speaking the truth, loving truth,   and therefore speak the truth. So point two, we should speak   only what is true about others. Again, if we want to keep the   ninth commandment, that seems pretty straightforward. That   we should not lie, we should not slander, we should not twist   the truth, we should not be gossips or busybodies, we should not   backbite, as it's put in verse three. He who does not backbite   with his tongue, nor does evil to his neighbor, nor does he   take up a reproach against his friend." Well, it's interesting,   the word backbite there is often translated spy, or to spy, or   search out. So think about the sin of spying   others out with your tongue. I never thought of it that way,   but I think that really makes the point. That is what's going   on with this backbiting or this bearing false witness or gossiping   or slandering. You're spying other people out   with your tongue. You're going around other people   almost as a spy or as a tailbearer. And you're going to reveal what   their secrets are in their lives. You're going to make them look   bad. You're maybe gonna put on a facade to say it's for their   well-being or to warn others or whatever the case may be,   but you're actually saying things about somebody that really don't   need to be made public or outright lies or exaggerations or whatever   the case may be. Well, somebody who does that   and makes a practice of doing that is not somebody who's gonna   enter heaven, right? He who does not backbite with   his tongue. The Lord hates lying lips. nor   does evil to his neighbor." Or normally, again, you're spying   others out with your tongue. You're doing evil to your neighbor   in that way. He does not take up a reproach   against his friend. Right? A reproach, a charge against   somebody, to put them to shame, to put your neighbor to shame   for no good reason, to try to bring a bad name or a bad reputation   on somebody. This could be digging up dirt   on somebody, something that happened long ago, uncovering secret sins   and exposing that to create great issues or problems, something   that doesn't need to be adjudicated before the public, or even worse,   just outright fabricating or exaggerating something, almost   making something up whole cloth that isn't true at all. What   should friends do? Well, the scriptures tell us   friends should cover transgressions. Again, not to lie, not to say   that, oh, so-and-so is not a sinner, not to say if someone has actually   done something wrong that you lie about it and say they have   not done that wrong. But not every sin that is done   in private needs to be talked about publicly to others. We don't need to bring unnecessary   shame or scorn upon others, especially those whom we call our friends. We know our friends far better   than strangers. We know our neighbors better than somebody on the other   side of the world. So we also know their faults   better than most. And of course we talk about that   in marriages as well. We definitely know our spouse's faults better   than virtually anybody. And a lot of times we talk ill   of our spouses when we're under duress, and we ought not to do   that either. A good friend does not broadcast as well, to be fault-finding   in that way. That is not what we should do. That is a violation   of trust, a breaking, a rupturing of friendship and loving bonds.   To join in or shame a friend proves you're in fact their enemy   and not their friend, a slander, a tell-tale. So we should not do that. Part   of not bearing false witness is the duty to bear a true witness   when a false witness is being spread. So if somebody you know   and love, or even if it's not somebody you know and love necessarily,   maybe it's somebody, I don't know, your boss or something   like that, you don't have warm feelings for him, perhaps, but   you know that what is being said about him something he's not done, even   if you don't care or like the person, the right thing to do   is to speak the truth on that matter, to clear his good name. That is what the ninth commandment   actually calls us to do. Now, quite obviously, we can't,   we don't know all the details of every person's lives. We can't   resolve or fix every issue. There might be somebody we know   something about far away that's incorrect and you can't always,   you know, you know, jump down there, fly down there, and and   set the record straight. Obviously, there's limits to   to this with our neighbor, with those that are, you know, in   our lives day to day that we have real impact with. We really   do have a duty to not hide the light of the truth under a bushel   but to proclaim the truth especially over against error and lies and   slanders about about our neighbor, right? Do not bear false witness So, to give a brief illustration   of how this can play out sometimes. last week on I don't I guess   it would have been on X but I was basically saying how sometimes   in the church today, people will say, well, you don't really need   a father or mother because god is your father and mother and   I said, that's not good news of the gospel to say that in   Christ, you don't need bread or whatever the case may be.   If the gospel destroys these other needs, it's actually not   good news for us. Well, somebody online who makes   a habit of doing this quickly tried to say that I was denying   the teaching of God's word when it says, when Jesus says that   to be his true disciple, you must go after him and he must   hate father and mother and sister and brother and so on and so   forth, that I was contradicting or denying that by what I had   said. But of course, what I'm addressing,   and I think many people can understand and recognize this, is that when   you come to faith in Christ, You still are called to pray   for your daily bread, for your daily necessities. Paul still   said, uh it is better to marry than to burn with passion. He   didn't say make Jesus your boyfriend, right? I've heard that kind of   weird stuff before as well. I'm sure a lot of people have   heard that. You know, I'm just dating Jesus right now. That's   cringe. That's disgusting, right? So, the good news of the gospel   isn't that uh I have bread from heaven now and I don't need food,   shelter, and clothing. Or, you know, I don't have duties   anymore to my parents, to honor them, to keep the fifth commandment,   and so on. And yet some people want to just present you in the   worst possible light, to say that you meant this, even though   it's quite clear in the Tandor, right? That, too, is a form of   bearing false witness. We should not do that. As we   look at larger catechism, we should think the best of others   and give the best interpretation of others and their words. We   should seek matters out. If we're not sure what is meant,   we should ask for clarifications and so on and so forth. We don't   have a right to say, here's how I understood this person, therefore   I'm going to tell everybody this is what they meant, unless we're   sure this is what they meant. Because we don't want to bear   false witness, even ignorantly or unintentionally. And so, the   larger catechism is very helpful, it's very detailed, but I think   it's also very helpful on all the commandments, and especially   the 9th commandment as well. So let me read the question and   answers to that in the larger catechism from 144 and 145 to   you. 144, what are the duties required   in the 9th commandment? Listen to all the duties that   are here. The duties required in the 9th Commandment are the   preserving and promoting of truth between man and man. So we gotta   uphold the truth, we talked about that. And the good name of our   neighbor as well as our own. Appearing and standing for the   truth. I can't take a lot of time on   each one of these, I wish I could, but we are obligated to stand   for the truth. Or else we're breaking the 9th   Commandment, we're bearing a false witness. We do this from the   heart, sincerely, freely, clearly, and fully. I speak the truth,   the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, that idea. Speaking   the truth and all of the truth in matters of judgment and justice. I'll think about how many say,   you know, you can't judge me, or, you know, judge not. Well,   yes, we should not judge falsely, but we are called to judge for   righteous judgment. We're to speak the truth in matters   of judgment and justice, and all other things the esteem of   our neighbors, right? Innocent until proven guilty.   Thinking well of them until it's demonstrated otherwise. That's   a Christian duty as well. Loving, desiring, and rejoicing   in their good name. Sorrowing for and covering of   their infirmities, right? Again, not something instead of being envious   about the 10th commandment next week, God willing, we should   acknowledge it. That's bearing a true witness.   If we deny the giftedness of somebody, we're not bearing a   true witness about them. Defending their innocency, a   ready receiving of a good report, and unwillingness to admit of   an evil report. We should be cautious when we   hear a report that is negative. We should be glad to hear a righteous,   a good report about somebody concerning them. We should discourage   tell-bearers, flatterers, and slanderers. Those who are going   about gossiping and deceiving should be discouraged, should   be rebuked. Love and care of our own good name and defending   it when need require it. You must bear a true witness   about yourself. You must testify to your own uprightness when   you are being falsely accused. Keeping of lawful promises. Keep   your word. Don't promise one thing and take   it away. Studying and practicing of whatever things are true,   honest, lovely, and of good report, right? To be heavenly minded   and set your mind on things above and so on. So we see that list   there, and each little section there has Bible verses that go   with it, but I think you get the point. It is comprehensive   in order to keep the ninth commandment. There are many duties that we   have to God and to one another. Proverbs 26, 24, and 25 also   warns us against those who are perverting and twisting the truth   of our tailbearers. Basically, it says, he who hates   disguises it, disguises his hatred with his lips, and lays up deceit   within himself. When he speaks kindly, do not   believe him, for there are seven abominations in his heart. Though   his hatred is covered by deceit, his wickedness will be revealed   before the assembly. So we must uphold the truth and   have a charitable esteem of others, and yet at the same time, we're   also warned against a certain type of person who makes it his   desire and goal not only to lie about others out of hatred and   bitterness, but even disguises it with flattery with his lips.   So how do you know? How do you uphold the ninth commandment? When on the one hand, you're   the correct error and the stand for the truth. You're supposed   to uphold a good name and have a good charitable disposition   towards others. And yet, the scriptures also   warn us that there's a type of person that you gotta watch out   for. Well, how do you make that judgment   without sort of pre-judging them or whatever? Well, you gotta   use discernment. You've got to actually know the truth, you've   got to see how others speak and operate, and when it becomes   evident that they're going about as a tailbearer, and I think   when we're honest we can recognize, you know, eventually we're looking   out for that when others are doing that, or when we ourselves   may be be leery of somebody who goes   about doing that and even inform them, hey, I think you're revealing   some things here about someone who you should not be doing that. In that same chapter in Proverbs,   it says, do not answer a fool according to his folly, lest   you also be like him. And then the very next verse   says, answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise   in his own eyes. sort of slap a Bible verse down   and say, here's what it says to do. You have to look at the   word of God in totality and apply it to the actual person in front   of you, right? Somebody can lose their good   name and reputation by their wicked actions. We're not told,   God is not saying to be naive in that situation. If you have   a foolish person before you, depending on the circumstances,   it may be wise to respond to them and answer them. It may   be foolish to do so. And that's essentially what Proverbs   26, 4-5 is saying, and that takes, again, wisdom and discernment   to know which is which at the right time. You could be casting   pearls before swine, or you could make yourself look like a fool   if you don't answer the charge that he makes against you. It's   a difficult thing at times when that happens, but we have to   be wise and know when to speak and bear the truth and when to   just move along from somebody as well. Consider Jesus in Matthew   23. He's pronouncing all these woes   in the Pharisees and really tearing into them, and in the middle   of that, he calls them several times fools and blind. So he's   calling them fools, and yet he's also rebuking them and correcting   them, but really warning others about them, and their dishonesty,   and their wickedness, and their false witness that they bear   of God and of themselves and others as well. We know that   other times, Jesus refused to answer their questions. We know   that either he left or ignored them and was silent, or sometimes   instead of answering their questions, he would ask them a question, as a dove, as the Word of God,   as Christ himself says we are to be. Well, that takes time   to do that. It's not always...we don't do   that perfectly, but in bearing true witness and keeping benign   commandment, it's going to take discernment, because this is   something, to bear a true witness of somebody else, to not be a   false witness against our neighbor. It takes a lot of work. That   means we've got to know what the truth is, we've got to know   the person or the circumstance or situation that we're dealing   with as well and know it well, and then we've got to be sure   that whatever we're saying is actually upholding the truth   in that particular situation and circumstance regarding that   person or persons or institutions or whatever they Right? Not murdering is not quite   as complicated. Now, when it gets into the heart   and heart affections, of course, it's more complicated. But it's,   you know, I don't have to know somebody inside and out to decide   not to kill them. But you kind of do have to know   somebody pretty well to be sure you're bearing a true testimony   about them. Or, you know, to not bear false   testimony toward them. That's why we should be charitable   in our esteem of others. Okay, well, the larger catechism,   of course, has more to say in the next question. And then it   asks on the other side, what are the sins forbidden? We talk   about our duties required. What are the sins forbidden in   the ninth commandment? And the good name of our neighbors   as well. in a bad light, or the good name   of our neighbor in a bad light, or our own. Especially in public   adjudicature. In other words, if you're testifying   in court, if you're summoned before court, especially there,   you're not to bear a false witness, but that's true anywhere, of   course. We're not to give false evidence, we're not to suborn   false witnesses, we're not to wittingly appear in a plea for   an evil cause. We're not to outface and overbear   the truth. passing unjust sentence, calling evil good and good evil,   rewarding the wicked according to the work of the righteous,   the righteous according to the work of the wicked. We're not   to commit forgery. We are forbidden from concealing   the truth. We're also forbidden from undue silence in a just   cause and are holding our peace when iniquity calleth for either   a reproof from ourselves or a complaint to others. In other words, yes,   there's a time when you must speak up to reveal the truth. either by reproving the person   who's in error or not, he's in the dark, doesn't understand   what's going on, or if that's not the appropriate channel or   means to make the appropriate complaint to someone else because   of the error or the lie, the false witness that's being, that's   going on. Speaking the truth unseasonably.   Yes, there's even a way in which we can speak the truth to a bad   end or for a bad purpose, not to glorify God. You know, you   may be speaking the truth about somebody else sin, which may be real, but you're   not doing it out of a genuine love for them, but out of hatred,   or you're speaking the truth in a way that is, you know, not   at the right moment, not at the right time, not in the right   measure, not effective, and you're just blasting somebody, you know,   with the truth in a way that isn't actually going to be beneficial.   You know, it's We've got to be wise in how we   communicate the truth as well. And of course, it says, or maliciously   to a wrong end. We shouldn't speak the truth   for a wicked purpose outright. Or perverting it to a wrong meaning.   Just telling the truth and then twisting it into something false.   Kind of like Satan did in the garden in certain ways. Or in   doubtful or in equivocal expressions. Really taking the truth but saying   it in a way that makes it seem not quite so clear. There's so   many ways that you can bear false witness or shade the meaning   of something in a direction that is not entirely accurate and   true. That's bearing false witness even to those minor degrees as   well. There's so many things that are listed here. Perverting   it to the wrong meaning, to the prejudice of truth or justice,   speaking untruth, lying, slandering, backbiting, detracting, tailbearing,   whispering, too highly or too meanly, too   lowly of ourselves or others. Again, have a right estimation   of yourself and others. Because if you're saying you're   too great, great if you are, you're lying about yourself.   If you reduce yourself below where you're at, you're lying   about yourself or others. Don't do that. Raising false   rumors. Unnecessary discovery of infirmities. aggravating smaller faults, you   know, digging up a smaller fault. You know, two years ago, honey,   you were rude to me. I've never really let that go,   you know, whatever the case may be. You burnt the toast that   one time. That was really bad. And, you   know, aggravating smaller faults. We're not to do that. Hiding,   excusing, extenuating of sins when called to a free confession.   receiving countenancing, evil reports, stopping our ears against   just defense. You know, you've made up your   mind this person's guilty. You hear somebody giving defense,   counter evidence to that, and you don't wanna hear it. I've   made up my mind. And you don't like the fact that   maybe you came to the wrong conclusion. So you stop your ears to a just   defense of this person. Evil suspicion, right? Wrongly   suspecting somebody just out of, you know, maliciousness.   envying or grieving at the deserved credit of any, endeavoring or   desiring to impair it, the credit that is due to others. Because   again, that's a false witness. If somebody deserves credit for   something, you say, well, that wasn't a big deal what they did,   or I could have done that. You're saying something false about   them. Rejoicing in their disgrace and   infamy, scornful contempt, fond admiration, breach of lawful   promises, courts, practicing or not avoiding   ourselves or not hindering what we can and others, such things   as procure an ill name." So that's obviously detailed, and I'm just   blasting through that quickly there, but I think it hopefully   gives us an idea of the scope. When we hear, you know, you shall   not lie, you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor,   we say, okay, I'm not lying about people, and that's the long and short   of it. But really, the larger catechism in those details, and   the Heidelberg Catechism, which we confessed and read together,   does this as well, in a more summary way. It helps us examine   our heart, right? When you get those details, the   deceptions, the tricks, the twists that we may not even recognize   in our heart, of how to achieve this commandment, and what to   avoid. Each commandment, you can go   through there and look at that, and examine your own heart to   see if you're upholding these against them. At one point, Paul   was accused of saying, let us do evil that good may come, right?   God gives grace to sinners. Paul certainly taught that we're   justified by faith, not by our works, and so some sort of put   his words to say, well, then good works aren't necessary,   or that we can actually commit evil and just ask for forgiveness   later, basically, and God's grace will overflow from that. He wasn't   unclear, he didn't speak amiss. He was slandered. And he says   that explicitly in Romans 3.8, that there's this slanderous   report about him, and so on. And other places in the Scriptures   it speaks of the sin of slander, and the apostles and others were   being slandered. Well, it seems in our churches today, perhaps   in our nation even more broadly, that violating the Ninth Commandment   is one of the deepest issues that we have. We do it almost   unconsciously, I think, at times. And in part, I think, it's because   we sort of have a shallow understanding of the Ninth Commandment. We   don't look at the layers of it, we don't look at it in our heart,   we don't look at how we're to keep it, how we're to bear true   witness and not bear false witness, and so on. In Proverbs 25, verse   2, it says the glory of kings is to search out a matter. On that passage, Matthew Henry   says it is God's glory that He needs not to search into a matter   because He knows it without search. But it is the honor of kings,   with a close application of mind, and by all the methods of inquiry,   to search out the matters that are brought before them, to take   pains in examining offenders, that they may discover their   designs and bring to light the hidden works of darkness, not   to give judgment hastily, or till they have weighed things,   nor to leave it wholly to others to examine things, but to see   with their own eyes. brothers and sisters, we're not   all kings. None of us are kings except perhaps in our homes,   the men are the lead as a king like Christ to their families.   We do have duties there in our own homes to lead our our our   our household in the lord to search out things, to search   out a matter, right? We can't leave that wholly to   others. Yes, we rely on those who know   more but we should be listening and learning and gleaning and   being able to at least understand why how they got there, how they   arrived there, so that we can communicate that in our households   effectively as well. But just the same, whether we're   not a king technically or not, we should delight in searching   out a matter. We should delight, all of us, man, woman, and child,   in our places and callings to search things out, to understand   them and comprehend them so that we are not easily deceived. You   can bear false witness against your neighbor because you believed   a false report about your neighbor, which we looked at earlier in   the larger catechism. And you maybe believed this false report   and formed this false opinion because you didn't search out   the matter carefully and diligently. And when it comes to the church,   the pastors, the elders, the leaders in the church, we had   better search out matters before we begin saying things, before   we begin accusing others. And we can talk about a lot of   the contemporary issues in our nation, in our churches today,   what a Christian nation looks like in these sorts of matters,   and the accusations that I'll miss and many other matters are   flying around today. And a lot of it is speaking hastily. Sometimes it's done on both sides   or all sides. But we need to be very cautious   in doing that, especially before we begin to say, this person   is evil, this person is wicked, this person is somebody to mark   and avoid. You better be sure there's a   true witness about somebody. Remember, we're in Psalm 15 here.   If you're backbiting with your tongue, if you're speaking evil   against your neighbor, taking up a reproach against somebody   whom you claim to be a friend and it's false, that's not good. That's not a good place to be.   That's not a healthy thing to do for a church either. Now again, we also know that   when there is slander, when there are lies, when there is twisting   of the truth, that is something that needs to be brought to light.   That's why it takes great care and discernment to do this. You   can't just play it safe and never say something, especially if   you're in a position of authority. You have to speak the truth to   the best of your ability. carefully. And if you do wrong,   then confess it, repent, correct it, and trust the Lord to forgive   it. But don't triple, double, and   triple down. This happens in so many ways.   I can give a silly, kind of maybe a silly example. Your children,   let's say, have fought over the same toy for the 50th time in   the same day, and you're exhausted, you're tired, you're busy, you   have other things going on, and of course both the children Or   maybe in our case, it's several four children fighting over the   same toy, or whatever. And, you know, everybody's accusing   everybody else of having done wrong here. And you don't know   who's who and what is what. And you can think about your   child and his personality. He probably would do this in   this situation. He's probably the guilty one. But you don't   know. You don't know. And sometimes   you have to administer the best justice that you can in a situation   like that. Are we the only family that has   to do that? I mean, I'm assuming other parents and their children have   to do that as well, where you don't really know what is going on, and you're   trying to do the best you can. You want to be like Solomon and   just cut the toy in half, right? See how they like that. See who   fesses up at that point, and so on. Even there, though, we   have to take great effort to know our children, to know their   hearts, to know Who's telling the truth? Who's lying here?   Who's bearing false witness? So that we can administer justice,   if you will, the proper correction to punish the right children   in this situation, to turn them from that error. That's a difficult   thing to do at times, even in smaller matters like that, but   it's what we are called to do as best as we can. Well, then   that leads us to our final point here, that we are to live by   the truth no matter the consequences. the truth, what trouble speaking   and living the truth may get us into and whatever convenience   we may think lying would provide for us. We're not to do that.   We're to speak the truth and bear testimony to the truth.   So, look at verse four of Psalm fifteen and whose eyes a vile   person is despised but he honors those who fear the lord. I'll   think about that for a second especially in terms of truth You have to have a righteous   assessment and judgment of other people, even if we don't like   to do that. Now, to be clear, we're hating   the sin of that sinner. And insofar as the sinner is   the one who commits the sin, we're hating the sinner and his   sin. We're despising the sinner for his sinful actions. And if   you don't cultivate that, that is unrighteous. You need to repent   of that. Now, you've got to understand that rightly. We still desire   their good. We still desire that they would   come to repentance. We still desire that they would   be called out of their vileness and their wickedness. committing that wickedness. So   you can't say, I hate the sin but love the sinner. That means   I don't find you guilty of the sin, I just hate what you're   doing. No, you despise the source of the sin, and yet you call   that person to repentance. They are our fellow man, they   are made in the image of God as well. We do have a care for them,   a pity for them in that sense, but that does not remove And of course, that has to be   in our own hearts, in our own sin, in our own sinful actions, and   despising yourself in your sin, and looking to God for cleansing,   and loving God, and loving who He is making you into, loving   yourself insofar as God is cleansing you and renewing you in His image.   So, a righteous man, a true Christian, will find repulsive what God   finds repulsive, and he will honor those whom the Lord honors.   Again, if you don't do this, you're not bearing a true witness. If you say, well the person surely   isn't that bad, or that's not disgusting, or that's not vile,   or I don't have to despise this person for what he has done,   that's false. That's false. And that's therefore a false   witness. Now that may not be comfortable to think about, but   it's true. If you saw somebody, I don't know, butchering children   and burning innocent people alive and tearing them to pieces, I   think we would and that would be a righteous   testimony of such persons who, you know, committed such atrocities   and so on. I want to apply this in other ways.   A humble, poor, meager Christian is to be honored above a proud,   wealthy, worldly, wise, and famous unbeliever. And of course, we   know the proud, wealthy, worldly, wise, seeking their own glory,   that is so we should have the rights   over assessment of others to have a good witness, true witness   about them. Having this right regard of persons,   despising the wicked and loving the righteous will help us not   to envy the wicked. We will see them for what they   are. It will help us to serve and   aid the righteous as well and to encourage sinners to come   and be righteous through Christ also. The latter part of verse   four, he who swears to his own hurt and does not change, yourself to someone. This could   be marriage, you know, until death do us part, through thick   and thin, health and sickness. Are you going to keep that vow? Are you going to keep that obligation   that you have now to that person? Maybe you quickly find out the   person you married isn't exactly who you thought they were going   to be. Well, you've made that promise, you've made that vow,   and you're called to keep that under almost virtually all circumstances.   that? Are you gonna bear witness to   the truth of the covenant that you have made? Will you swear   to your own hurt even if staying in the marriage is painful and   hurtful to you? Well, this could also be applied   to business endeavors. I mean, it could be anything   from a work situation to promising your child if he washes all the   dishes, he can have a cookie or something like that. Are you   going to keep your word in that? Are you going to say, you know   what, on the second thought, I'm not going to actually give you this cookie   because I realized you had a cookie yesterday? Well, maybe you forgot   about that, but you should probably still give them the cookie because   you promised the cookie, right? That's what we're called to do.   If you promise somebody a promotion, you should do the best that you   can to give them that promotion within the means that you have   as an employer. We talked about some of those   things in do not steal and so on, but it's also being a man   of your word, right? Or a husband of your word, or   a wife of your word, or whatever the case may be. Keep your word.   Bear a true witness. Let your yes be yes. come up. If you promise the kids,   you know, next week we're going to go to Disney World and then   your house burns down, you haven't broken your promise if you have   to deal with your literal house, you know, burning down. That's,   you know, what they call that kind of stuff, an act of God   or whatever, you know, things that are just completely out   of the realm of what you expected. Sometimes things like that happen   where it's simply not going to work out. Everybody gets sick.   I'm sorry, we can't take this trip now. whatever the case may   be. But under normal circumstances,   if you've made a promise to someone, whether it's a small thing or   a great thing, even if it's hard to do it, or puts you at some   degree of disadvantage, God's word says you should still do   that. You should swear to your own hurt. You should keep your   word. truth and your word and bearing   that true witness is more important than your inconvenience or your   temporary loss of, you know, some measure of goods or whatever   the case may be. So the one who does that will   dwell the Lord in glory forever. Well then, verse 5. He who does   not put out his money at usury or exorbitant interest. And you   know the Old Testament, there's different laws. You can't charge   I don't believe any interest. To your brother in the Old Testament,   your fellow Israelite, you can charge interest to foreigners   and others and so on. But really the idea that used   to be here is you're just abusing people by charging so much interest   and they're in such a difficult situation, especially the foreign   needy. that, yes, they'll take out the loan of exorbitant interest   just to survive, but then you put them further and further   in debt because of that. You're taking advantage of them.   That's a sin. That's not what you're called to do. Further,   nor does he take a bribe against the innocent, right? You're holding   out something. In a way, this is even also bearing   false witness insofar as you're where maybe salesmen can get   into trouble if you're presenting something better, a product better   than it actually is. Now, hopefully you are selling   a good product, so what you're saying is true, and you can actually   say it with a clean conscience, but you can't fudge up the details   in something like that either. Or you can't make somebody think,   yes, if you go into this debt, it's not gonna be that bad. Think   of all the good stuff you're gonna get now. Think about the   swindle of colleges, right? Take out these student loans   with this high interest rate because you're gonna get a great   job when you're done. Well, I know my generation has   seen the fraud of that, And we've been, I think, our generation   in many ways defrauded because of that. That's not to say that   there's been culpability for the person who took out the loan   as well to search out the matter, but things can also be presented   and you can bear a false witness even when it comes to money and   taking out loans and things like that. Also, we're not to do that. We're to be honest about debt   and its dangers and we're not to charge great interest to others.   Well then it concludes and it says, he who does these things   shall never be moved. Why is that? Well, these things   are hard to do. He who can control his anger,   who can tame his tongue is greater than he who takes a city. It   speaks of the man who can control his wrath, his anger, his mouth,   his actions to speak the truth and live faithfully is a whole   man, a perfect man, not a sinless man, but a blameless person,   a blameless Christian who has that self-mastery and that self-control. Now, none of us are going to   achieve that perfectly in this life, but that is what we are   going after. And the one who is living that   way and growing in that day by day, that indeed is the one who   will abide in the house of the Lord forever. And so again, we're   looking at Psalm 15, especially through that lens of the ninth   commandment of not bearing false witness. And a lot of it is directly   about that. Perhaps some of this is more   indirectly about that, but regardless, we know the importance of living   the truth, speaking the truth, believing the truth in our heart   at root if we do that. And we have a conviction about   what is right and good and true. That's gonna help us in all the   commandments, right? Think about the goodness of living   and upholding the truth and the pain and suffering that is inflicted   when you do not. Not only for your own life, when I would do   that to you, when you do that to others, but throughout history.   It was the ninth commandment that introduced, the breaking   of it, that introduced sin into this world. The devil did so. He bore a false witness against   his neighbor, against God. the God of heaven, regarding   the forbidden fruit. And it was through that deception,   as it's called, that Eve was deceived, and she gave the fruit   to Adam, and he ate it as well. Right? False witness is what   plunged the world into sin. Believing that false witness   that Satan put out there, that bait, and so on. Well, you need   to think about how the world, and our churches even, can put   a false witness or twist on Christ and His Word and sound doctrine,   and how that is enticing to others, and leads them astray, thinking   they have true knowledge, when they do not. raised against him. Judas betrayed   him, he was a false friend, gave him a false kiss. But we know   he was put on trial by the Jews and before Pilate, and they all   had these trumped-up false charges brought against him. So Christ   himself was crucified through the false witness. So then it   hung Christ on the cross and Satan to this day still is leading   countless souls into and through sinful lust and enticements.   So we have vipers, serpents, telling lies all over the world,   such as the multiplication of sin and evil. But the good news,   of course, that Christ the truth has come. He is the way, the   truth, and the life. He's reigning on high at the   right hand of the Father. The gospel of truth is being   spread. of the earth, Satan is bound, the light is shining all   the more brightly, but that comes and that ebbs and flows insofar   as the church is pure and true light in our faithfulness and   our testimony. There is much truth to know and   to defend and to recover and error to refute and to expose   and to destroy. In our own hearts and lives,   among our communities, friends, families, neighbors, we're to   uphold the truth and live righteously And even, of course, in our government   and the lies that are there as well. All of this truth, all   the truth needs to be revealed. All the lies need to be refuted   and exposed. Ignorance is not bliss. is foolishness. No man comes   to the Father except through Christ the Son. So then be transformed   by the renewing of your mind, so that you may know what is   good and true and acceptable in the sight of God. Yes, we   fall short of this, but let us strive for such godliness to   honor the Lord, to speak the truth, to keep the ninth commandment,   and indeed all the commandments. Let us pray. Father, again, we thank you for   your mercy to us. We thank you that you do give   us the truth of everything at root, of the world, why you made   it, what it's for, of your glory, of our sinfulness, yet of your   goodness and holiness and the grace that you give us through   Christ to forgive and pay for our sins through the cross. Let   us live by that truth and let us speak correct that sin. It's a private   matter to address it privately. It's a public matter to bring   it to the light of day. As much of this in our nation   and our churches today, God, help us to be wise in this, to   be discerning, to not be hasty, and yet also not to be fearful   or silent. Lord, let us not think that if   we're just quiet that we've not lied. When we know the truth   and we know the May we bear a true witness, and   so keep your commandment. We ask this in Jesus' name, amen.   Now let us respond in song to what we have heard from God's   holy word, and prepare as well for the Lord's Supper. We'll   stand together and sing 196 at the Lamb's high feast, 196. at the Lamb's high feast we sing   praise to our victorious king who has washed us in the tide   flowing from his pierced side raising him who's the divine gives his body for the feast. Christ the victim, Christ the   priest. Where the vascal blood is poured,   death's dark angel sheathes his sword. Israel's oaths triumphant   go, ♪ Through the wave that drowns the foam ♪ ♪ Praise be Christ,   whose blood was shed ♪ ♪ Paschal victim, paschal bride ♪ ♪ With   sincerity and love ♪ ♪ Lead we men up from above ♪ ♪ Mighty   victim from the sky ♪ praise to thee we raise With the Spirit ever be. Please be seated. You should see in the back of your   bulletins there, the readings for the time here for the Supper, the   form, the recitations there. And as we come to celebrate the   supper of our Lord to our comfort, let us consider how we're to   take Christ and his benefits in this sacrament. This is a   section from Calvin's sermon on Acts chapter 7. As we come   to the table seeking nourishment for our souls, will we find it   in the bread and wine? No, but we must come to Jesus   Christ. who is the substance and fullness   our souls need. These elements well instruct   us that our Lord teaches us how we are spiritually nourished   and sustained through the sacrament of the supper. But we must not   stop there, as if the fullness of the sacrament were incorporated   within it. We must look beyond it to the   one who is its infallible truth. Do we wish to profit from the   supper of our Lord Jesus Christ? We must not, as I said, seek   Him in what we have seen with our eyes. When we see the bread   and wine, we must lift up our hearts on high and say, it is   God who is speaking. The supper declares that we have   our spiritual nourishment in the body and blood of our Lord   Jesus Christ, His Son, and that we are so united with Him that   we live in Him and He in us. Therefore, inasmuch as we cannot   truly commune using the Holy Supper of our Lord Jesus Christ,   unless we cleave to Him, Let us be careful not to bring with   us our hatreds, our rancor, our usury, our thefts, our filthiness,   our lechery and villainy, our blasphemies, our backbiting,   our perjury. Think about the lies and the   stealing and all the sin of the Ten Commandments that we've been   talking about. Confess those. Our union with Christ, our clinging   to Him, is how we feed in true faith. It's not a magic PEZ dispenser   here, right? We're coming in faith to the   Lord to be nourished in our souls at His table. If we're coming   for our sin on our hearts, well, it's poison to us. But if we're   coming confessing our sins, it is Christ and His life being   fed to us and being nourished by Him from heaven above. So   it says, but let us be careful to renounce the world and all   the wicked affections of our flesh so that there will be a   true unity which joins us together in such a way that we possess   him and he possesses us as his heritage. And in such a way that   we no longer live into ourselves, but that he lives in us by his   Holy Spirit. And so that we may obtain these   blessings, let us humble ourselves before God and with true faith   implore him for his grace and prayer. Let us pray. Merciful   Father, we do ask now that you would strengthen us and nourish   us through these elements, these symbols of bread and wine that   you have appointed for this very purpose. As you remember the   death of your son and give him for the life of your people,   cleanse us from all of our sins. Indeed, comfort us knowing your   forgiveness that you give through Christ. Help us to rely on these   means, these visible signs of simple bread and wine Knowing   at this table that we're about to partake of, we feast by faith   on a spiritual meal. It puts to shame all earthly   meals. It puts to shame everything else,   the way that you strengthen us in you. So let us come eager   for that. By your spirit, your son dines   with us at the heavenly table, and he's prepared this heavenly   meal to nourish our souls into life everlasting. So feed us   now, Father, and guide us into righteousness through Jesus Christ,   your Son, who taught us to pray together, saying, Our Father   who is in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come,   your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this   day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our   debtors. And lead us not into temptation,   but deliver us from evil. For yours is the kingdom, and   the power, and the glory forever. Amen. As we draw near to the   table of our Lord, let us confess our common Christian faith together   by reciting the Apostles' Creed. I believe in God the Father,   Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ,   his only begotten Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy   Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate,   was crucified, dead, and buried. He descended into hell. The third   day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits   at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From there he   shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the   Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints,   the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and   the life everlasting. Amen. Beloved, hear these gracious   words of promise spoken by our Lord. If anyone does sin, we   have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He   is the propitiation for our sins. And so, beloved, in the Lord   Jesus Christ, let us give up our hearts to the Lord. Blessed   be the God of our salvation. Lord Jesus, the night when he   was betrayed, he took bread, and when he had given thanks,   he broke it and said, this is my body given for you. Do this   in remembrance of me. Beloved in the Lord, take, eat,   remember, and believe that the body of Christ was broken for   the complete forgiveness of all of our sins. After this, our Lord took a cup,   and when given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, Drink of   it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, poured   out for many for the forgiveness of sins. And the outer two rings are in   line. Okay. Brothers and sisters, take, drink,   remember, and believe that the precious blood of our Lord Jesus   Christ was shed for the forgiveness of our sins. Let us now go to the Lord in   prayer once more. Our gracious Heavenly Father,   we thank you for the blessing of this holy meal. But we know   we're unworthy to receive it, and yet in your grace and kindness   through Christ and his righteousness, you have nourished us now and   you have brought us into your presence and you have strengthened   us in you. Instead of your wrath, we receive   your pardon. in the place of fear we have been given hope.   Our high priest and mediator of the new covenant has reconciled   us to you and even now intercedes for us at your right hand. Please   strengthen us by these gifts so that, relying only on your   promise to save sinners who call on Jesus' name, we may, by your   Spirit, honor you with our souls and bodies to the honor and glory   of your holy name. Amen. Let us conclude by singing 275,   Arise, My Soul, Arise. We will sing, do we have time   to sing all four verses? What time, what time is it? Okay, we'll sing all four.   We'll just set up quickly. Okay, we'll sing all four together   of Arise, My Soul, Arise. Everybody ready? Arise, my soul,   arise. Shake off your guilty fears. The bleeding sacrifice in my   behalf appears. Before the throne my surety stands,   Before the throne my surety stands, My name is written on His hands. He ever lives above, For me to   intercede, His all-redeeming love. His precious blood to plead,   His blood atoned for every race, His blood atoned for every race,   And sprinkles now the throne of grace. Fine bleeding wounty   bears, Received on Calvary, They pour effectual prayers. They strongly plead for me. Forgive him, O forgive, they   cry. Forgive him, O forgive, they   cry. Nor let that ransom sinner die. My God is reconciled. This pardoning voice I hear,   He owns me for His child, I can no longer fear. With confidence I now draw nigh,   With confidence I now draw nigh, And the Father above, Father,   cry. Beloved congregation, lift up   your hearts once more to the Lord and receive this parting   word of blessing. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,   and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit   be with you all. Amen. Amen. Praise the Lord.