Sermon Series
Ten Truths that Show Us How to Love – Part 9
“Telling the Truth”
Pastor Jerry
Matthew 12:33-37 (NIV); Exodus 20:16 (NIV)
————————————- Message Synopsis ————————————-
Today is week nine of our sermon series concerning, “Truth!” We only have one more week left. We will conclude this series next Sunday.
During this series we have been emphasizing how crucial it to know “What’s the Truth?”
That’s why God gave us ten truths for living; they are called The Ten Commandments; to teach us truth on how to show love.
Today we’re going to look at the 9th commandment. The message today is titled, “Telling the Truth.”
-So, here is Truth number 9 in our series! Exod. 20:16 “ You shall not bear false witness…”
Some time back Time magazine did a cover story called “Lying, Everybody’s Doing It”.
Let me ask you a personal question: “When you hear reports today about the conronavirus? about the government? about the medical research? do you know what’s the truth?” A recent survey of Americans said 66% of Americans say it’s not wrong to tell lies.
How can we be honest in a dishonest world?
I. HOW TO TELL THE TRUTH
There are three things God says about telling the truth:
- Tell the truth completely.
- Tell the truth consistently.
- Tell the truth lovingly.
- TELL THE TRUTH COMPLETELY.
Proverbs 10:10 “Someone who holds back the truth causes trouble.” He’s talking about concealing. When you hold back the truth, even some of the truth, you cause resentment, mistrust, superficiality. You get into trouble by not saying what you mean and not meaning what you say.
- TELL THE TRUTH CONSISTENTLY.
Being honest some of the time is not integrity. Eventually you don’t know whether the person’s telling the truth or not so you don’t believe them at all. They may be telling you the truth some of the time but if they’re not truthful all the time, how do you know if this is not in the time that’s false. So you must tell the truth consistently. Prov. 11:3 “People who can’t be trusted are destroyed by their own dishonesty.” Dishonesty destroys.
- TELL THE TRUTH LOVINGLY.
Eph 4:15 “Speak the truth in a spirit of love.” Don’t use the truth as a club. Don’t beat people over the head with the truth. How do I know if I’m speaking the truth in love? Ask yourself the question, “Who am I trying to benefit from this?” If I’m doing it for their benefit then that’s speaking the truth in love.
But when you speak the truth you must speak it completely, consistently, lovingly. If you’ll do these three things, the Bible says you will begin to be an honest person. The problem is we don’t do that. Why don’t we do that?
Matthew 12:34 “For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.” Jesus is saying the real problem is not my mouth but my heart. It’s not what comes out that matters it’s what’s inside of me.
Matthew 15:19 “For out of the heart comes evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, lying and slander.” The heart of the issue when it comes to lying is an issue of the heart. This is
the problem.
II. WHY DO WE LIE?
Once you understand the motivation behind your lying, then you can deal with the real issue. I’ve listed just five of them, What are the primary motivations for each of these lies?
- The cruel lie. This is the kind of lie that is intentionally destructive and malicious. You tell it to get revenge. You don’t like somebody. They’ve hurt you. They’ve hurt you for some reason so you’re going to get even. You misrepresent them. You make up some lie about them. This is called slander. The Sadducees did this to Jesus. They just made up charges so they could hang Him on the cross. What is the motive behind that kind of lie? Jealousy, revenge, hurt, anger, hate, resentment.
- The cowardly lie. This is the kind of lie you tell to escape consequences. You want to avoid punishment. You’re trying to protect yourself, prevent pain. Adam told this kind of lie in the Garden of Eden, when he sinned. What is the motive behind that kind of lie? Fear.
- The conceited lie. This is when you lie to impress. You’re trying to create an image or cover up low self-esteem so you brag. When you exaggerate and prop yourself up that’s a conceited lie. What is the motive behind that kind of lie? Insecurity.
- The calculated lie. This is the kind of lie used to manipulate other people. We want our way. When we think I need to get what I want to get when I want to get it. It can be motivated by greed or selfishness. This lie says, “This is what I want therefore I’m going to do whatever it takes to get it even if it means lie.”
- The convenient lie. The convenient lie we tell because it takes effort to tell the truth. It takes energy, time to tell the truth. Or you don’t want to get involved with something so you tell the officer, “I didn’t see anything” when you really did. What is the motive behind that kind of lie? Laziness.
Jesus said that what’s in your heart is what’s going to come out of your mouth. So the heart of the issue is the issue of the heart — if my heart is filled with resentment then I’m going to find myself telling lies. If my heart is filled with fear and worry then I’m going to find myself telling cowardly lies. If my heart is filled with insecurity then I will find myself easily telling conceited lies. If my heart is filled with selfishness I will end up telling calculated lies to get what I want. If my heart is filled with laziness I will find myself telling convenient lies.
So what’s the solution? The only way to be a person of integrity, is to get a new heart. Jesus says, Let me fill your heart with love instead of selfishness and joy and peace instead of hate and confidence instead of insecurity and energy and power instead of laziness. Jesus said I am the truth. The closer you get to Jesus Christ the more you’re going to love the truth and speak the truth, the more you’re going to live the truth. Because Jesus said I am the truth.
So how do I get a new heart?
In the first place, the beginning of honesty is the confession of dishonesty. That’s the starting point. Start with first saying “God, I admit it, I have not always been truthful.” You ask Christ to forgive you and give you the power to change and say put a new heart in me. He will begin to replace the deception with truth as you begin to let Christ more and more control your heart.
When you say God I’m more interested in character than reputation, then you’ll tell the truth even if it’s not good for your reputation because you know in the long run for eternity its building my character. You ask God to help you, put a new heart inside of you.