Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

What is meant by this commandment?

We should so fear and love God as not deceitfully to belie, betray, slander, nor raise injurious reports against our neighbor, but apologize for him, speak well of him, and put the most charitable construction on all his actions.

THE OBJECT of this commandment is to secure truthfulness, [Eph. 4:25+] and to guard our good name. [Prov. 22:1+] Without truthfulness we could not believe anything we heard, and the utmost confusion would prevail in the affairs of men. A good name is one of our most precious earthly possessions.

This commandment forbids all lying. It commands perfect truthfulness and a charitable judgment of others.

ALL LYING is forbidden. [Ps. 34:13+] False witness against other persons is the worst form of lying. All lesser forms of lying are forbidden along with the greater.

1. False Witness against our Neighbor. We must not tell a falsehood about another person either in court or in every-day life. We must not

BELIE him, that is, tell an untruth about him.

BETRAY. [Prov. 11:13+, Prov. 24:28] We must not abuse our neighbor's confidence by revealing his innocent secrets, and thus annoying or harming him. One who pretends to be another's friend, and yet betrays him, is acting a lie. We dare not, however, hide crime; and we must tell what we know about others if the court, or parents, or persons who have a right to know, inquire of us.

SLANDER NOR RAISE INJURIOUS REPORTS. [Exod. 23:1+, Lev. 19:16, Ps. 15:1-3] We must not invent nor repeat false reports concerning our neighbor. We must not say behind his back what we fear to say to his face. We must not magnify his faults, [Matt. 7:3-5] nor impute evil motives to him, nor make his words and conduct look as bad as possible. The slanderer is worse than a thief and causes incalculable suffering and misery. [Prov. 25:18+, Jas. 3:5-8] We should remember that words once spoken live on for good or evil, and cannot be unsaid; and that we must give an account to God for every word we speak. [Matt. 12:36]

2. Lying of Any Kind. A lie is a conscious falsehood uttered with the purpose of deceiving. It may be acted as well as spoken. [Prov. 6:13] We must not deceive nor try to deceive others by telling an untruth, by hiding the truth or a part of it, by hypocrisy, flattery, boasting, broken promises, conventional lies, "white lies," "lies of necessity," guesses given as facts, etc.

1. Truthfulness. Truth is of God; [Deut. 32:4] lying is of the devil. [John 8:44] As children of God we must be truthful. [Col. 3:9+] A liar is an abomination in God's sight. [Prov. 12:22, Prov. 17:15] If necessary, we should be ready to suffer and die for the truth.

2. A Charitable Judgment of Others. We should

APOLOGIZE FOR OUR NEIGHBOR, and defend him when his character is unjustly assailed. [Matt. 7:12, Prov. 31:8, 9] We must be careful, however, not to excuse or make light of sin. [Isa. 5:20+] We should

SPEAK WELL OF HIM whenever we can do so truthfully. We should speak of his virtues rather than of his faults. [Matt. 7:1, 2+, Jas. 4:11] If we cannot speak well of him, then, unless it is absolutely necessary, we had better not speak of him at all. We should

PUT THE MOST CHARITABLE CONSTRUCTION ON ALL HIS ACTIONS. [I Pet. 4:8+, I Cor. 13:4-7, Gal. 6:1] We should, as far as possible, make the best and not the worst of what our neighbor says and does. We should think and speak of him only in kindness.

QUESTIONS.—1. What a the object of this commandment? 2. What does it forbid? 3. What does it command? 4. What is the worst form of lying? 5. What is included under false witness? 6. What is meant by belying our neighbor? 7. What is to be said about betraying him? 8. What is to be said about slander and the slanderer? 9. Define a lie. 10. In what ways do men speak and act lies? 11. Why should we be truthful? 12. What is to be said about apologizing for our neighbor? 13. What rule should we follow in speaking of others? 14. How should we think and speak of our neighbor?

SCRIPTURE VERSES.—Eph. 4:25. Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.

Prov. 22:1. A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold.

Ps. 34:13. Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.

Prov. 11:13. A talebearer revealeth secrets: but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter.

Exod. 23:1. Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.

Matt. 7:3-5. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.

Prov. 25:18. A man that beareth false witness against his neighbour is a maul, and a sword, and a sharp arrow.

Col. 3:9. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds.

Is. 5:20. Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

Matt. 7:1, 2. Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

I Pet. 4:8. And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.

READING.—The False Witnesses against Stephen, Acts 6:8-15.

ILLUSTRATIONS.—False Witness: Against Christ, Matt. 26:60; against Naboth, I Kings 21:10; against Paul, Acts 25:7. Slander: Absalom against David, II Sam. 15:1 seq.; Lying: Jacob, Gen. 27:19; Jacob's Sons, Gen. 37:32. Betrayal: Judas. Speaking well: Jonathan, I Sam. 19:4.