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Our Gospel reading this morning is from the Gospel of John chapter 8 verses 39 through 47. This is God's Word. And they answered him, Abraham is our father. Jesus said to them, if you were Abraham's children, you would be doing the works Abraham did. But now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God, that is not what Abraham did. You are doing the works your father did. They said to him, we are not born of sexual immorality, we have one father, even God. Jesus said to them, if God were your father, you would love me. For I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of your father, the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God. Father as we come to your word, open our hearts and minds. In Jesus name we pray, Amen. We come to the ninth commandment in our series on the ten commandments, which is you shall not bear false witness. Now commonly people translate that as you shall not lie. But the ninth commandment is not against lying in general. Although there are many commands which are against lying of all kinds. But lying of all kinds are included in the command when it comes to applying it. But what is in view here is a special kind of falseness, a certain kind of lying that seeks to harm or results in the harm of others. Either individual persons or many people or entire cultures or even nations. When Moses returned from the mount with these commands, they were for the purpose of teaching Israel who had been enslaved for 400 years, teaching Israel how to live like free people. They had been enslaved in Egypt which is a polytheistic, superstitious culture. And now God had called them out of Egypt and they needed to learn how to be people free from the bondage of sin and idolatry. There were going to be a nation. There would be disputes between people. And in order to judge fairly, witnesses would be called upon. And those witnesses would have to tell the truth. Or justice would be perverted. In courts today, witnesses promise to tell the truth under penalty of law. It used to be, I promise to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God. I don't think we say so help me God anymore, but we still promise to tell the truth. Lying as a witness can put someone in harm or even cost them their freedom or their life. But being a false witness encompasses more than a courtroom or a legal situation. The Isaiah passage that we read, we see a people that have become so sinful that they celebrated their sin. It was a different kind of false witness. I'll read again from Isaiah 5, 21. Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and shrewd in their own sight. Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine and valiant men and mixing strong drink. Who acquit the guilty for a bribe and deprive the innocent of his right. Therefore as the tongue of fire devours the stubble and his dry grass sinks down in the flame, so their root will be his rottenness and their blossoms will go up like dust. For they have rejected the law of the Lord of hosts and have despised the word of the holy one of Israel. This kind of falseness where as Isaiah said earlier, they call good evil and evil good, had taken hold of Israel, had taken hold of the entire culture. It can do that still. This kind of false witness can take hold of a people, a culture, a nation. So much so that people sometimes in a culture like this, even though they know something isn't true, they're forced to say that it is. They're forced to call evil good and good evil. That was the case here in Isaiah's time. Martin Lohan Jones makes the point that people are always sinful. Since the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, people have been sinful. But there are times when sin becomes so bad, so egregious, so pervasive, so ugly that God visits calamity on people. From the beginning Adam and Eve sinned. How did the serpent deceive Eve? By being a false witness. How did he do it? By calling what is good evil and what is evil good. Listen to what he says. He said to the woman, this is in chapter 3 of Genesis, did God actually say, you shall not eat of any tree in the garden? He's a false witness. He's lying. The woman said to the serpent, we may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said you shall not eat of the fruit that's in the midst of the garden. Neither shall you touch it, lest you die. But the serpent said you surely will not die. Again, a false witness. And the point of being a false witness here is to bring harm to God's people, to God's reputation. He says God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God knowing good and evil. See what he's doing. He's calling good evil and evil good. He calls God, who is the ultimate good, evil. And he calls sin disobedience to God, good. So that's from the beginning. And what followed was disaster for all mankind because all of us were plunged into sin and since then all of us have been born sinful and we all sin. And there's the sort of everyday sin that people are used to. But there have been times, as I said a minute ago, when people have sinned in such a manner that's so terrible that God visits calamity on his people. The example of Noah, for instance, in Genesis 6, verse 5, it says, the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. That's as bad as it gets. And so what followed, what followed was God visited mankind with the flood and all mankind was destroyed except for Noah and his family. Look forward just a few chapters in the days of Abraham. Sodom and Gomorrah were so sinful that God threatened to destroy the city and Abraham pleaded with God. What if 50 righteous are found? I will not destroy it because of the 50, God replied. What if 40 righteous are found? I will not destroy it because of the 40. And he kept going. 30, 20, 10. And he said, I will not destroy it because of 10 righteous, but there were not 10 righteous found. And so God rained down fire and brimstone on Sodom and Gomorrah and destroyed the city. Now when Israel sinned in such a horrible way as described in Isaiah, such to call good evil and evil good, God sent the Babylonians to capture them. We see in Daniel chapter 1 that the Lord gave Jehoiakim, king of Judah, into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. Much forward to the time of Jesus. And we see that the earthly minister of Jesus, the Jews, especially the leaders, were so sinful they refused to believe anything he said. They refused to believe the gospel. They were threatened by his ministry. He was healing. He was doing good. He was preaching. And they hated him. So much so that if we read further in the John chapter 8 passage in verse 48, the Jews said, are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon? They even conspired with the Roman authorities to have him killed. Even though Pilate said, I can find no just cause to punish him. And then there was a custom that on this certain feast day that Pilate or whoever was the governor in charge would release a criminal. And so Pilate thought, well, certainly they will ask for Jesus since I found that he's done nothing wrong. I find no reason to punish him. Certainly they'll ask for Jesus, but they didn't. They called for Barabbas. Barabbas was guilty of murder and an uprising against Rome. Here's the story in Mark 15 verse 6. Now at the feast he used to release for them one prisoner for whom they asked. And among the rebels in prison who had committed murder in the insurrection, there was a man called Barabbas. And the crowd came up and began to ask Pilate to do as he usually did for them. And he answered saying, do you want me to release for you the king of the Jews? We can only surmise that this is what Pilate desired. He perceived that it was out of envy that the chief priest had delivered him up. They were false witnesses. They called good Jesus evil and evil good. But the chief priest stirred up the crowd to have him released for them, to have released for them Barabbas instead. And Pilate said, now what shall I do with this man you call king of the Jews? And they cried out, crucify him. And Pilate said, why? What evil has he done? But they shouted all the more, crucify him. So Pilate wishing to satisfy the crowd released for them Barabbas. And having scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. The chief priests were the ones who called evil good and good evil. They were false witnesses asking instead for the murderer Barabbas. But even after the resurrection, they continued in their sin to such an extent that Paul wrote this. Since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They were full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malicious. Their gossip, slanders, haters of God, insolent, haughty. Boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents. If there are any kids in here, you should see, disobedient to parents is on a list of some pretty bad sins. Foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. And here's where they call evil good and good evil. Though they know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them, but give approval to those who practice them. Even after the resurrection, the chief priest made up a lie that the disciples took the body. Of course the problem with that is if they said to the soldiers, tell everybody that you fell asleep and the disciples stole the body while you were sleeping. The problem with that is if soldiers fell asleep, they were executed. And the disciples were nowhere near the body. They were hiding in the upper room because they thought they were next. A few years later, Paul wrote in the last letter of his life before he was executed, Second Timothy chapter three. There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to parents. There it is again. Ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power, have nothing to do with such people. So what happened just four years after Paul wrote this and was soon after this executed? Jerusalem was raised to the ground, surrounded by the Romans and leveled. And for centuries, the Jews had no place to call home. What is it that brings about the judgment of God against our sin? All sin will be judged. We all sin and all sin will be judged. And if you're a Christian, your hope is that your sin was already judged on the cross when Jesus was crucified. If you're not a Christian, you will be judged for your sin. But while we're here on earth, there are degrees of sin. And what reveals the degree of sin is the openness with which people sin. It's one thing to commit sin and be ashamed of it. That's a normal reaction. That's why people try to cover up their sin. Years ago, when Bill Clinton was accused of adultery with Monica Lewinsky, they asked him about it and he lied. Of course he did. He was ashamed of it, so he lied about it. I never understood the people being upset with him lying, but not with the adultery. Of course he lied. He was trying to cover it up. He was ashamed. That's the normal reaction. Even Adam and Eve hid themselves because they'd sinned. They hid themselves from God when they heard walking in the garden in the cool of the day and they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves because they knew they were naked. But to call evil good and good evil is to bear false witness to the truth and there's perhaps nothing more obvious in regard than our attitude toward sexual immorality. It used to be scandalous, for example, for someone to be involved in a sexual relationship without being married. I don't know if you've heard of the actress, excuse me, Ingrid Bergman. Long time ago, she was married to somebody else. She was in a movie directed by Roberto Rossellini and while the movie was taking place, she had an affair with him and became pregnant. Now the affair caused such a huge scandal in the United States that it led Bergman to being denounced on the Senate floor. On March 14, 1950, Senator Edward Johnson insisted that his once favorite actress had perpetrated an assault upon the Institute of Marriage. It went so far as to call her a powerful influence for evil. Now a similar incident today, whether in Canada or the United States or anywhere, wouldn't even raise an eyebrow. Wouldn't even cause a second glance, wouldn't even, it would be talked about on television talk shows. When Tracy and I were on staff at the campus crusade at Kent State University, this is in the 80s, homosexuality even then was considered sinful by most people. It's always been considered sinful by all the major religions in the world. But it was being promoted by the administrative staff of Kent State University to the extent that there were these two gay bodybuilders who were going around different campuses and promoting homosexuality. The idea was look at us, we look like big strong men and we're not the typical stereotypical gay person. So in the last 40 or 50 years, homosexuality has gone from being viewed negatively, universally, to being tolerated, to being accepted, to being approved of, to being promoted or even celebrated. And now if you express an opinion other than that, you are denounced. Immorality of all kinds now has been called good and objecting to it is called evil. This is what the Soviet Union under Stalin and henchmen after him and communist China under Mao, that people were forced to say things that they knew were not true. Another area of immorality is the acceptance of having children outside of marriage. Single motherhood is now celebrated by some. Those are considered unnecessary or even viewed negatively. But homes without a father have a disastrous effect on children. And I know there are single mothers who are single mothers not by their own choice because the fathers have left and many of them have done an admirable job, but statistically speaking, it's a disaster. Children without fathers are nine times more likely to end up in prison. They're six times more likely to drop out of high school. They're 12 times more likely to lead a life of poverty. Again widespread acceptance of immorality leads to disastrous results for the entire society. And it's one thing to be merciful and gracious towards someone who sins, especially if they own it and they repent, but it's another thing to celebrate and call evil good and good evil. In Isaiah's prophecy, this was the condition of the people of Israel such that they celebrated sin, calling good evil and evil good. Ask yourself, is that far different from our culture today? We have to say things that we know are not true to avoid being denounced or losing our jobs or in some cases violating the law. It's especially sinful for leaders to call evil good and good evil. In your service folder, there's a quote from John Calvin who it says, if woe is pronounced on private individuals when they say of evil that it is good and good that it is evil, how much more on those who have been raised to any elevated rank and discharge a public office whose duty it is to defend what is right and honorable. Those who hold positions of leadership and are tasked with promoting what is right and good, God's people must hold leaders accountable when they endorse evil. So what are we to do? The Westminster larger catechism in explaining our duties in obeying the ninth commandment says this in part, appearing and standing for the truth and from the heart sincerely, freely, clearly and fully speaking the truth and only the truth in matters of judgment and justice and in all other things whatsoever. Ephesians 4.25 Paul wrote, therefore having put away falsehood, let each of you speak the truth with his neighbor for we are members of one another. What does it mean to speak the truth with your neighbor? Certainly it means at least in part telling them about the gospel. To not share the truth of the gospel with your neighbor is to bear false witness by withholding the truth. Instead as Zacharias says in chapter 8, these are the things we shall do. Speak the truth to one another, render your gates in your gates judgments that are true and make for peace. Do not devise evil in your hearts against one another. Have no false oath for all these things I hate declares the Lord. Now if you're like me you could say well what if I've fallen short? What if I haven't always declared the truth? What if I haven't spoken the truth in love? What if I haven't talked to my neighbor about the gospel? What if I, well Jesus paid the price even for this sin, even for this. I'll close with this. Last summer on vacation Tracy and I a couple of times stopped at one of her favorite restaurants. It's called the Cracker Barrel. I don't know if you've ever been to the Cracker Barrel. I've never seen one in Canada, maybe they're in Canada. They're generally a breakfast place. We had stopped at Cracker Barrel a few times. At this particular time the waitress was friendly and young and as usual Tracy engaged during conversation if you ever have a meal with Tracy you're going to get to know the waitress. And so while they were talking I noticed a tattoo on her forearm, the waitress. It said I am Barabbas. So I said to her, are you a Christian? She said yes and smiled. I asked her about her tattoo and she explained what it meant. I thought I knew but I wanted to ask her her reasoning which her explanation was exactly what I thought. She was guilty and she had been released and Jesus was in her place. When she was done explaining it I said I'm Barabbas too. I'm guilty of violating God's law. This one included. And yet I am still loved, accepted, forgiven and I will be with him forever if I believe the gospel. And so will you. Are you Barabbas? I hope you are. Doesn't it make you want to obey him and be a witness for him? Not to bear false witness but to speak the truth in love out of gratitude of all that he has done for you. Let's pray. Lord thank you for the truth of the gospel. We pray that you would burn it into our hearts in Jesus name. Amen. Please stand.