Show video clip: Heart2Heart [Take A Look At Me]
People hide their true selves. It's been said that honesty is the best policy.
• It sounds like the simplest thing in the world; but being truly honest – with God, with others and even with ourselves - is a real challenge.
In the courtrooms, you can hear this one line repeated over and over again, every day - “I will tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.”
• A person in the witness stand is made to say this before the judge – with one hand on the Bible (or whatever he believes in) and the other raise in the air – he makes this pledge.
• It is man’s attempt at making sure that the person will speak the truth, and nothing but the truth.
A store manager heard his clerk tell a customer, “No, ma’am, we haven’t had any for a while, and it doesn’t look as if we’ll be getting any soon.”
Horrified, the manager came running over to the customer and said, “Of course we’ll have some soon. We placed an order last week.”
Then the manager drew the clerk aside. “Never,” he snarled, “Never, never, never say we’re out of anything - say we’ve got it on order and it’s coming. Now, what was it she wanted anyway?”
The clerk said, “Rain!”
Jesus says, “I am the way and the truth and the life.” (John 14:6)
• In the Gospels, you read this line often. Jesus starts his sentences many times with “I tell you the truth…” - 30 times in the book of Matthew alone.
• He does not just say the truth, but lives it. What you see is WHO He is. What you hear is WHAT is true. No hypocrisy, no camouflage. No mask.
Heb 6:16-19
Men swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. 19We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.
This is one thing God CANNOT do. He cannot lie. God’s Word cannot be false.
• Yet He took an oath to confirm it, making a covenant to affirm it, so that by TWO unchangeable things – His Word and His Oath, we can be very sure of the hope we have.
• God speaks the truth. He is the truth. ‘What you see is what you get, the real thing!’
In the OT there is this incident. Prophet Balaam was asked by the King of Moab, King Balak to curse the people of Israel when they were encamped along Jordan (opposite Jericho), in Numbers 23.
• But instead of curses, the prophet ended blessing Israel, because God puts words of blessings in his mouth.
• And then God had this message for King Balak: “19God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does He speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill? 20I have received a command to bless; he has blessed, and I cannot change it.” (Num 23:19-20)
We are called to be just like Christ. We are witnesses of the truth.
• Imagine being called to the witness stand. Your job is to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
• You are not to expand upon it nor dilute it. Just present it as it is.
• The judge may be unseen, the bench may be vacant, but the world is watching. The world is the jury.
There is, however, one difference between the witness in court and the witness for Christ.
• The witness in court eventually steps down from the stand after a few minutes.
• You are under strict scrutiny, but that last only for a few minutes.
• We as witnesses for Christ today, never do step down. The court in our life is perpetually in session, and we remain under oath.
• We must stay truthful and faithful to God, until the end.
For the Christian, deception is never an option.
• It wasn’t an option for Jesus, and it is never an option for us.
• Max Lucado says, God’s desire is not to decrease or minimize deception in our life but to eliminate it altogether.
• Prov 12:22 “The LORD detests lying lips, but he delights in men who are truthful.” The ninth commandment says: “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.” KJV (Exo 20:16)
Why? Why is the Lord so harsh on this? Why the tough stance? Why so important?
• One reason is dishonesty is completely opposed to God’s character, because it is impossible for God to lie.
• It’s not that God will not lie or that He has chosen not to lie – He cannot lie.
• Max Lucado says, “For God to lie is for a dog to fly and a bird to bark.” It simply cannot happen.
• You are most UNLIKE Him when you lie.
Jesus always speaks the truth. When He makes a statement, He means it. When He prophesies, it will come true.
• Therefore when He says something, we can BELIEVE it, without reservation, without second thoughts. We can TRUST Him.
• 2 Tim 2:13 “If we are faithless, He will remain faithful, for He cannot disown himself.” He lives the truth. There is nothing fake in Him.
Satan, on the other hand, finds it impossible to tell the truth.
• According to Jesus, the devil is “the father of lies” (John 8:44).
• The very first introduction we have of him is deception, in the Garden of Eden. His first act was to lie.
We see a proliferation (increase) of this lying spirit in our world today.
• It is not just telling a lie. It expresses itself in bribery, corruption, fraud, scam, hypocrisy, match fixing, embezzlement, forgery, stealing, pretense, or deceit.
• All these are just different fruits of the same root.
• Listen to how Webster defines honesty: “honorable; characterized by integrity and straightforwardness in conduct, in thought and in speech; free from fraud; genuine, fully unadulterated; open; frank; sincere.”
Why is being truthful so difficult? One reason is - we DON’T LIKE THE TRUTH.
• Why? Because the truth hurts. The truth brings with it consequences.
The mother walked into the room and asked her 3-year-old son, “Did you hit your little brother?”
He knew then that honesty had its consequences. So he learned to cover up.
“No, I did not. I just touched him.” We mince our words, we make everything relative.
Dad stepped in. “What happened? Did you hit your baby brother?”
“No. He is making too much noise and I’m just trying to get him to keep quiet.”
We re-direct the blame. It’s the circumstances. It is situational.
Telling the truth has a price, and we are not willing to pay it.
• Studies show most of us learned to be dishonest as children. They learn very quickly when they are young that different behaviors result in different outcomes.
• To say something (or not to say something) or to do something (and not to do something) will bring either approval and praise, or angry response and a scolding, if not punishment.
• Soon children learn to cover up their behavior to get the desired results.
With time the thought processes behind such actions get so entrenched in our subconscious mind that they become second-nature to us.
• And soon dishonesty becomes a tool we use.
Second reason why being truthful is difficult is that we DON’T TRUST THE TRUTH.
• We want our bosses to like us, so we flatter. We want people to admire us, so we exaggerate. We want people to respect us, so we put up a front.
• It is not the true ME or the real ME, but it’s OK because people like the IMAGE of me. [Frankly, they like the REAL you too, but we don’t trust it. It’s a risk.]
• So we have this front and we have to keep it up; we have to uphold this image. For how long? For as long as it takes.
• No wonder people are living under stress. They are living a LIE, and over time, they will crumble. Falsehoods are termites in the trunk of the tree.
Many years ago a man conned his way into the orchestra of the emperor of China although he could not play a note. Whenever the group practiced or performed, he would hold his flute against his lips, pretending to play but not making a sound. He received a modest salary and enjoyed a comfortable living.
Then one day, the emperor requested a solo from each musician. The flutist got nervous. There wasn’t enough time to learn the instrument. He pretended to be sick, but the royal physician wasn’t fooled. On the day of his solo performance, the impostor took poison and killed himself.
He cannot face the music.
… Paul Lee Tan, Encyclopaedia of 7700 Illustrations, 562-63.
Jesus puts it very well: “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32).
• It refers to the truth of God’s revelation, but the principle is the same.
• Just face the music. Be truthful. Be real. Be honest. Be authentic. You will be a happy person. No worries about covering up, or putting up a front. You enjoy life the way God meant it to be.
• The Lord, who hates lies, who cannot lie, loves you to be just like Him.
I just like to sum it up with these 3 lines:
(1) LOVE THE TRUTH
• This is a heart change. You have to be convicted in your heart that the truth pays. Ask God to change your heart and help you love the truth.
(2) LEARN THE TRUTH
• It means cultivating a desire to seek and present only the truth, not to bend it, expand it or dilute it.
• It will prevent me from wrongful judgment, slander, gossip, or prejudice.
• I want to be CONFIDENT in what God has to say about me – I am His beloved child, highly favored, deeply loved and greatly blessed. I don’t need to lie to get man’s favor or the world’s applause.
(3) LIVE THE TRUTH
• Don’t wear masks (you’re giving yourselves lots of stress; you’ll die young.)
• Examine your heart. Ask yourself some tough questions: Am I being completely honest with my parents or spouse? Are my relationships marked by transparency? Am I candid in my behavior?
• Be honest to yourself. Admit your mistakes. Confess your sins.
If we neglect today’s lie, the ripple of today’s lie will become tomorrow’s wave and the next year’s flood.
• Let us speak and live the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
