Episode Transcript
Proverbs 14 5, the title of the message tonight is a faithful witness.
A faithful witness.
So we'll begin with the first part of the proverb, which says, a faithful witness.
Pro Now the word uh the Hebrew word translated faithful here, it's a it's a beautiful word.
My daughter recently sent me a photo of her uh newborn son.
Resting comfortably up here on her chest as she was leaned back and her little baby was asleep and had his little head on her.
And the root word that this Hebrew word translated faithful here comes from, it has the idea of something that holds you and supports you.
Like she was holding and supporting her little boy.
So and because of that, it's sometimes used to describe a mother or a nursemaid that an infant depends on.
Because the mother or nursemaid holds that child up and supports and nourishes it.
In the book of Ruth, chapter 4, verse 16.
It says, and Naomi took the child and laid it in her bosom and became nurse unto it.
That word nurse is the same word translated faithful here in our text tonight.
She became nurse unto it, faithful unto it.
She propped that little baby up on her chest and her bosom and held that baby up. and uh supported it.
And that's a very beautiful thing when you think of it.
So if we're thinking of a faithful witness, then uh if a faithful witness tells you something, then you can depend like a child, right?
You can depend on the testimony of that witness.
And put your confidence in his or her words just as a child confidently lays its head on his mother's bosom.
When a faithful witness speaks, therefore, you can be sure of what that witness is telling you.
Now there's two ways that we can apply this truth And first we must apply it personally.
We must apply it personally.
That is, we need to be a faithful witness.
In the book of Exodus, chapter 23, verse 1.
Exodus 23 verse 1.
God said, Thou shalt not raise a false report.
Put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.
Don't raise a false report.
Don't tell something that's not true.
Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could be sure of everything That people told us.
Could you imagine being sure if someone says something, you don't ever have to question it.
You can be sure of everything that they said. 100% of the time, no matter who it was.
One day it'll be like that.
But sadly, our experience with people in the last 20 years, it's actually changed. how we interact with our fellow man.
I was thinking about that as I was studying this particular passage.
We have grown accustomed to not trusting people.
We have learned to not trust our doctors, our news media, and our politicians.
The fact is the vast majority of communication between people, whether it's text messaging, email, phone calls. is one person trying to scam another.
Not too long ago, the gold standard of truth was video.
That was the gold standard.
I remember when we first got videos in our patrol cars, we were some of the first in the state to get them in Cherokee County.
And uh boy, it was it was something.
People weren't used to us.
Well, ours were ours were small.
They actually got us small ones.
But the the very first ones to go in were big.
Yeah, I remember those.
But uh ours were were kind of small.
The county bought them for us And uh then we fabricated our own little, you know, to make those little home cameras work.
But people weren't used to there being videos in a patrol car.
And so they were used to lying on the police.
And it was wonderful when they'd tell a lie on you.
And then they later learned all of that was on videotape.
And it made them look so silly.
Um but that was the gold standard.
When somebody denied doing something or somebody denied uh saying something, then we could always say there's no sense in denying it.
We got you on video and it's like, ah I'm caught.
But today, we can't hardly even tell if the video is real anymore.
I see people, intelligent people, share stuff on social media, put share stuff on Facebook all the time.
It's just as fake as they as it can be, and they don't realize it's fake.
And then but they share it.
It's not real.
And so we can't hardly tell what's real anymore because people are manipulating the videos with artificial intelligence to deceive us.
People are longing today for faithful witnesses.
They need people whom they can depend on to tell them the truth Every time.
So first, we need to apply this personally and be faithful witnesses.
Second, We need to apply this objectively.
Despite all the deception that's in this world, we need to know that there is a faithful witness.
That can we can rely on 100% of the time.
And I tell you what, that is so comforting to me to know.
That with all the lies and the scams and the selfish deceptions that are out there, always trying to be perpetrated on me and everybody else.
It's always nice to know that I can always open God's Word and know that everything I read there is with given to me with the right motive, with my best interest in mind.
And it's 100% pure, open, and forthright.
And I never have to worry about what's in God's word.
There is a faithful Witness who has and who is the reliable truth that man has been searching for.
God is a faithful witness.
Psalm 111, verse 7.
Psalm 111, verse 7 says, the works of his hands are verity.
You know what verity is, it's truth.
And judgment.
All his commandments are sure.
That means they're faithful.
You can rely on them like that child on the nurse.
So the works of his hands are verity, and all his commandments are sure So we're looking at those words, works and commandments.
That means everything God does and everything God says. is said and done in truth and righteousness.
And we can depend on it every time.
God is a faithful witness.
Speaking of the gospel of Jesus Christ Which God promised King David.
If you've been in the Genesis to Jesus class, then you know of the Davidic covenant where God promised that the Savior would descend from King David.
And speaking of that gospel that God gave King David, the Lord said in Psalms 89, verse 35 through 37.
Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David.
His seed shall endure forever. and his throne as the sun before me, it shall be established forever as the moon and as a faithful witness in heaven.
A faithful witness.
The gospel of Jesus Christ is a faithful witness.
Jesus Christ himself, therefore, is a faithful witness unto us when sending greetings to the seven churches in Asia The Apostle John said in Revelation 1, 5a, he said, and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness.
And the first begotten of the dead and the prince of the kings of the earth.
Isn't that something?
Jesus Christ is the faithful witness.
Now the word witness here. in the Hebrew uh has the idea of duplicating something.
I like that, duplicating something.
And uh when when I grew up, teachers didn't use photocopy machines And maybe y'all remember what it was.
When they duplicated something, they used mimeograph machines.
Y'all remember though that mimeograph?
How many of y'all remember what it smells like?
I do too.
How many of y'all liked how it smelled?
Mo most I did too.
Most of us did.
We liked it.
All the kids would take it and go, ah, yeah, I don't know why But we did.
But they were used for duplicating documents in the classroom.
And every document that came off that press looked like the original So when we looked at those duplicated copies, we were looking at an exact replicas of the original copy in a faithful witnesses like that mimeograph machine.
Whatever they tell you, if Brother Shepherd told me something, and then I were to go tell you what Brother Shepherd said, if I was a faithful witness, it would be a duplication of what he told me.
When what you heard from me would be a replica of what I heard from him.
So that's a faithful witness.
Here's how God is a faithful witness, because God doesn't hear something from someone and then go tell it to us.
God is truth.
And so because God is truth, when he tells us truth, then what he declares is an exact replica of what he is.
You see?
The reality that he reveals to us is an exact duplicate of what is, the reality that is.
And so that's what the word witness means.
It means to duplicate, not to counterfeit.
When you counterfeit, that's when you're a false witness.
But to duplicate the truth and make sure and portray that so when someone's listening to you or reading whatever you wrote, they're reading a an exact copy. of reality or what you heard or what you saw.
So we don't add to or take away from or distort the truth. that we're bearing witness to if we are a faithful witness.
And thank God he's a faithful witness to us.
And so the Bible says here in Proverbs, a faithful witness what?
Look back in your text.
Will not lie.
A faithful witness will not lie.
And that word lie means to deceive, to deceive, not simply to tell something that is not true.
But it means to deceive.
A faithful witness will not deceive.
By the way, by this we learn That if we deceive, then we lie.
If we deceive, then we lie.
You see, there's ways that we can be technically true and practically false, right?
The other night my wife couldn't find a certain small colander that she was looking for, and so she asked me, did you take my colander outside?
And she knows that every now and then if I were to go outside and pick peppers or berries or whatever, we've got goji berries at our house and they grow this they're still on on this time of year.
And uh whatever it is, sometimes I'll take uh uh a container out and I'll pick and put it in that container.
So she said, Did you take my colander outside?
And on this particular occasion, I had not taken the colander outside.
But let's suppose that I had taken the colander outside, but I didn't want her to know it.
Let's just say that was the case.
When she asked me, did you take the colander outside?
Suppose I were to reply by saying, now why would I want to take your colander outside, Tammy?
And then she would think, oh, well, of course you didn't take it outside.
Now I didn't tell her I didn't take it outside, right?
I I didn't tell her I didn't take it outside at all.
That would be a lie if I took it outside and I told her, oh, I didn't take it outside.
But if I say, now why would I want to take your colander outside?
And then I make her think That, oh, well, he must not have taken it outside.
Then I've deceived her, right?
And so I'm not a faithful witness, am I?
I'm creating something in her mind that's not a replica of reality, of the truth.
So I didn't say I took it technically, but practically I'm deceiving, I'm lying.
So a faithful witness will not deceive someone like that, but will tell them the truth.
A faithful witness will not deceive, look back in your text, but a false witness A false witness.
So we have two types of witnesses.
You can either be a faithful witness and duplicate that truth, or you can be a false witness and convolute the truth And we know that false means not true, but the word translated false here has the idea of cheating.
Cheating.
When you lie to someone, you are cheating them out of the truth.
That's rightfully owed to that person.
If my wife said, Did you take my colander outside and she's trying to find her colander?
And I know I took it outside.
I know I left it outside, but I don't want her upset with me.
And so I say, well, why would I want to take your colander outside?
Or if I just come out in lie and I say, well, of course I did not take your colander outside.
Well, do I owe her the truth?
Yes.
Because God told me to not raise a false witness.
I cannot be a false witness to someone.
And if God tells me to not be a false witness, then he's telling me that I owe my fellow man the truth.
Right?
I owe them the truth.
And so if I don't give her the truth, then I she's being cheated out of what God has ordained that is rightfully due to her.
See, if I don't love someone, And God tells if God tells me to love my wife as Christ loves the church, and I don't love my wife as Christ loves the church, then am I not cheating her out of the love that's due to her?
Yes In the same way, when you lie to someone, you're cheating them out of the truth that God has ordained is due to them.
So the word false here has the idea of Cheating.
When you lie to someone, you're cheating them out of the truth.
Cheating is when we use deception to create a dishonest advantage.
Couldn't help but think about card players, you know?
We watch a lot of Westerns, and uh couldn't help but thinking about card players when they cheat.
They're trying to make someone think, well, this these are the cards that I originally had in my in my hand here, you know, the hand that I'm playing.
And uh and so these are the cards and look I've got three aces And you're creating a deception that gives you an unrighteous advantage.
And suppose we are playing Monopoly.
My my family used to play Monopoly when I grew up.
My dad always won.
And uh and I tell you it was it was evil.
Because when he would start winning, he would get the most menacing smile on his face and start laughing.
It was terrible.
But uh but he always won.
But suppose we're playing Monopoly, and suppose that I was the banker, and uh and I happen to slip some extra money from the bank when you're not looking.
And I didn't tell you a lie.
I never said, you never said, uh, Richard, is all that, did you start off with all that money?
Uh you never asked me that.
I never told you a lie.
I just slipped the money from the bank into my little stash over here without telling you.
So I didn't lie to you verbally.
But did I deceive you?
Yeah.
By slipping that money over into my pile, I was telling a lie.
Because I was creating The idea in your mind that that's my money there and that belongs to me, not to the bank.
And that's my my money righteously, that's the money I gain playing by the rules.
But I've deceived you.
I created an unrighteous advantage by deception, by making you think that I earned that money.
So, in conclusion, by cheating I lied to you.
You see how that works?
By cheating, I lied to you.
So here's a kingdom truth for you tonight.
A person who lies to you will also cheat you.
And a person who cheats will also lie.
Boy, if you'll get that, young people, older people pretty much figure that out.
Some of them may never figure it out and they just keep getting scammed.
But younger people, you listen, if you run across the per a person, if you ever catch a person in a lie.
Then you better know if they'll lie to you, they'll also cheat you.
They'll owe you money, they'll steal from you.
If they'll lie, they'll cheat you.
And a person who cheats will also lie.
If you catch a person cheating you, you won't be able to trust what they tell you either.
Okay?
A false witness, look back in your text as we begin to wrap this up.
Will utter lies.
They will utter lies.
A cheater will tell lies.
They will say things that are meant to deceive you.
They will do things that are meant to deceive you.
It's part of their selfish cheating nature.
And it won't bother them to do so.
There are people who uh are the are false witnesses, they utter lies so naturally That it's really difficult to tell if they're telling the truth or if they're lying.
Isn't that right, Brother Shepard?
Yeah.
Brother Shepherd was an expert at it.
But did you ever find it difficult sometimes?
Challenging?
Sure.
Because some people, that that polygraph machine, it works off of A little bit of conscience in there, a little bit of something in there, and some people they're just they're not they're not good liars.
They're just bad people.
And being bad people, they utter lies, and it just flows naturally.
They'll smile at you.
Speak with a reassuring voice.
Even act morally offended if you question their honesty.
But they'll lie to you, so don't be surprised when they do.
So based on what we've learned tonight in our text, Here's these three things.
We'll sum it up.
Number one, speak the truth personally Number two, trust God objectively.
Number three, believe people cautiously.
Speak the truth personally Trust God objectively.
He's a faithful witness.
Believe people cautiously, because a false witness will utter lies.
With that, we'll go ahead and close tonight.
And uh take back up in the next verse next Wednesday.
Good practical truth from God's Word.
Father, we thank you so much for your precious word, and thank you for these dear people tonight.
Thank you for the encouragement of our church.
What a privilege it is to gather here tonight, to listen to people's concerns, then to bow our heads together as a family, as a body of believers.
And lift those concerns up to our Creator.
And then to open your word, Father, after you've heard us.
In us be able to listen to you.
What a privilege it is.
Thank you for giving us a church.
Thank you, Father, most of all, for being a faithful witness.
In Jesus' wonderful name we pray.
Amen.
