September 8 - LD 36, Day 6: Sinful Silence
by Pastor Steven Key
Leviticus 5:1: “And
if a soul sin, and hear the voice of swearing, and is a witness, whether he
hath seen or known of it; if he do not utter it, then he shall bear his
iniquity.”
Scripture reminds us that
even our silence can involve us in profaning God's name. By silence or
connivance we become partakers of this horrible sin in others. Connivance is
faking ignorance of a sin, acting as if nothing is wrong when God's name is
under attack.
The issue in sinful
silence is the question of neutrality. Can we be neutral toward God? The Bible
says, “Impossible!” The words of our Lord are unmistakably clear (Matt 10:32,33): "Whosoever therefore shall confess me before
men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever
shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in
heaven." We are called to confess the holy name of God with
fear and reverence.
Obedience to the third
commandment is not merely a matter of obligation to say something to the one
who openly abuses God's name in our hearing. Yes, we must tell such a person
that we are offended because of our love for God Whose
name he profanes. But we must also understand that the third commandment
requires that we glorify God in all that we do and say! To ignore God and His
Word is simply intolerable wickedness. If we have any spiritual life within us,
how can we possibly ignore the God of our salvation or pay Him less attention
than a common pet? How can we possibly say, "Let us declare His name in
the Church;" but ignore Him when it comes to school or job or home or life
in general?
To walk in such
neutrality toward the great name of God is sin which proves that love is
lacking. And, don't forget, love is the fulfillment of the law! To the Church,
to us, comes the call of Isa 40:9: "O