In the sermon titled 'Learning to Speak the Truth in Love', Jason Dohm emphasizes the importance of living truthfully in accordance with the ninth commandment, which forbids bearing false witness. The sermon underscores how Jesus exemplifies perfect truthfulness and love, encouraging believers to emulate Him. Dohm elaborates on the broader sense of the commandment, highlighting that it forbids any form of falsehood or slander against one's neighbor, both in and out of the courtroom. The sermon identifies common forms of deception, such as 'safe lies' and half-truths, and uses the biblical story of Ananias and Sapphira to illustrate the severe consequences of lying. Dohm challenges the congregation to confront areas of self-justification and pride that lead to dishonesty, urging them to cultivate a culture of truth within their homes and communities. By walking closely with Jesus, believers can develop a deeper love for truth, thereby resisting the temptation to lie. The sermon concludes by reassuring believers that God's promises are trustworthy and are guaranteed by Jesus, the embodiment of truth.

The title of the sermon this morning is Learning to Speak the Truth in Love. It's drawing on that phrase that Paul uses in Ephesians 4.15 where he exhorts us to speak the truth in love. And it goes to the point that commandment keeping is really just learning how to walk with Christ, how to follow Him. He's the perfect commandment keeper. So if you want to know how to live out any of the Ten Commandments, you just learn to walk alongside Jesus and you'll find yourself keeping those commandments.

So he always spoke the truth, he always did it in love, and we need to learn to be like him. Last week, we covered off the first three parts of the pattern that we've been holding to for every one of the Ten Commandments. We talked about what it forbids. And in a literal narrow sense, it forbids falsehood in court, false accusation, or false testimony against your neighbor. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor." So it has this narrow sense that would be limited to a courtroom, but the commandment itself isn't limited to a courtroom.

It has a more broad sense that has to do with truth, truth telling. And so any falsehood, any telling of a falsehood or slander against your neighbor, whether it's inside or outside a courtroom, is forbidden. We talked about what the commandment requires. It does require speaking the truth in love. We'll talk a lot more about that today.

And then we talked about what it teaches about God. I acknowledge that it undoubtedly teaches more than I brought forward. But I brought two things forward that it clearly teaches about God. One that God cares about protecting your reputation and good name by putting it in writing and by writing it on the heart of every man, woman, child that it's not right to do these things. God is protecting you against slander, against false accusation inside and outside of a courtroom, against false testimony inside and outside of a courtroom.

Secondly, it teaches about God that God is only capable of truth so his promises are sure. We'll come back to that as well. God is a God of truth. God loves truth so we should be people who learn to love truth more than we ever have. This week is for us to consider us and for us to consider Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith.

So as we come to our topic let's ask the Lord to help us. Oh God, we come to you with this request this morning that you would please make us a people of truth. We do find falsehood in our hearts. We Find pride that drives us to lie in our hearts as if that could ever be an excuse. And we see Jesus just this perfectly pure truth teller.

And we do want to walk beside him in that. Teach us how to be like your son. We pray in Jesus name, Amen. Okay, Last week was major point one, two, and three. Major point number four now, how we have failed to obey the ninth commandment.

We know we have a knack for whittling down each of the commandments. We know that Both from Matthew 5 where Jesus says, if you hate your brother in your heart, you're guilty of the law against murder. And if you lust after a woman, you're guilty against the law against adultery. But even If Jesus hadn't said that, I think we would know that by experience. We tend to like to define very precisely the laws, force them out into external things only so that they don't include our thoughts and our words so that we can have some feeling of being self-righteous even though if our thoughts are drug out into the light or the things that we've said we know we wouldn't pass the test.

So we're good at whittling it down. So This is our week to peel back the layers and try to get at areas of self-justification. So that's the purpose this morning. How do we get at the areas that you've talked yourself into not being one who embraces falsehood in ways that you actually have. So I'm going to ask six questions of you to try to get at your and mine areas of self-justification.

Self-justification. Number one, do you ever tell a quote-unquote safe lie in order to keep from looking as dumb as you've actually been? You ever do that? You ever tell a safe lie? In order to keep from looking like what you are, you did something dumb.

But your pride won't let you own it. And so you tell a safe lie. Now let me define safe lie and then let me tell you why there is no such thing. A safe lie is something false that is low risk from the standpoint of discovery. In other words, because only you know the truth, No one is going to be able to out you about the falsehood.

So from the standpoint of discovery, it's really low risk. So it's safe. No one will know. Listen to Hebrews 4.13. I'm quoting it again.

I don't remember whether I quoted it last week or a couple of weeks ago, but we've been here recently. Hebrews 4.13, and there is no creature hidden from his sight, But all things are naked and open to the eyes of him to whom we must give account." So now we know that there are no safe lies. Now we know that there isn't such a thing as a lie which is low risk from the standpoint of discovery. Lies, every falsehood is 100% discoverable because all things are naked and open to the one before whom we must give an account. That's God.

He knows every one of your thoughts, every one of your words, every one of your actions. So it may be true that you did something dumb that will make you look dumb and that you don't want to own that, but it is not true that even if you're the only one who knows about it, that it's safe to cover your tracks because of your pride. This is one of many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many cases of one sin leading to another. You're too proud to have people know How dumb you were, so you double down on the sin by lying. That happens with all sorts of sins.

To cover one sin, you commit another. So it is often our pride leads us into a second and third and fourth sin. There are no safe lies. There are no lies which are low risk from the standpoint of discovery. God knows them all and at the end God is the only one who will matter.

Do you believe that? You have to matter or this point is irrelevant. You have to think that matters. You have to care that God is really the only one who matters or this means nothing to you. Turn your Bibles to Acts 5.

We're going to look at one of the most famous lies in the Bible. I don't know how to rank the lies in the Bible, but this has to make the top 10 list of lies in the Bible. It's Ananias and Sapphira. It's a beautiful time in early church history because there's need and the needs are met by people selling their property and giving to meet the needs of the early church. So it's a wonderful time in early church history.

Chapter 4 ends with Barnabas, the son of encouragement, Selling a piece of property and bringing it and putting it at the Apostles feet so that those resources can be given to meet the needs of the saints. Then Ananias and Sapphira decide that they'll do the same thing, sort of. So that's where we pick it up in the beginning of Acts chapter 5. I'll read 1 through 11 follow along as I read. Acts chapter 5 verses 1 through 11.

But a certain man named Ananias with Sapphira his wife sold the possession. And he kept back part of the proceeds, his wife also being aware of it and brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles feet. But Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself. While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, Was it not in your own control?

Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You've not lied to men, but to God. Then Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and breathed his last. So great fear came upon all those who heard these things. And the young men arose and wrapped him and carried him out and buried him.

Now it was about three hours later when his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. And Peter answered her, tell me whether you sold the land for so much. And she said yes for so much. And Peter said to her, how is it that You have agreed together to test the spirit of the Lord. Look the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door and they will carry you out." Then immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last.

And the young men came in and found her dead and carrying her out buried her by her husband. So great fear came upon all the church and upon all who heard these things. I bet it did. I bet you would be afraid to lie the next day too. So Ananias and his wife, they had a piece of land.

It was fine that they owned that land. Peter says that. It was fine that they sold the land. It would have even been fine had they sold the land and said truly that they kept part for themselves and gave part to the church, but they represented that all that they got for the land was going to the church. That's clear from the context.

It makes no sense any other way. So it wasn't the dividing up of what the price of the land was that was the problem. It was that they represented all that we got for the land we're giving to the church when that was not true. Look again at verses 3 and 4. But Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself.

While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God. All things are open.

All things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give an account. There are no safe lies. You can't ask him, he's dead. Can't ask him he's dead. Our rule of thumb, our rule of thumb in our home for spanking, We got this tip from a white haired, wonderful Christian couple.

They said, we always spanked for three things in our home. We spanked for disobedience, we spanked for disrespect, we spanked for dishonesty. The three dis's. Disobedience, disrespect, and dishonesty. So dishonesty is lying.

Lying is one of the big three at the dome house because of that counsel we got from some white-haired saints. It was one of the big ones in the dome house. We came up with this saying really early on. All my all my children know what I'm getting ready to say. This is a dome-ism.

A dome would rather have five spankings than tell one lie. Anna's saying it was ten. Have I reduced the number? I think it was five. Anna's lying.

A dome would rather have, a dome would rather get five spankings than to tell one lie. Why is one reason that a lot of children lie? Because they don't want the repercussions of the lie. What we were trying to tell them is that in our house we wanted to be a kind of people who would not bow to that. Who would not bow to being so afraid of the repercussions that we would lie.

We'd rather have the repercussions, whatever they were, tell the truth and let the chips fall where they may. Whatever happens, we'd rather have five times of whatever happened than to tell one lie because one lie is so bad in our home. What are we trying to do? We're trying to build a culture of truth. So hey, parents should do that.

I think lying, falsehoods should be one of the big ones in your home, whatever your list of big ones are that should get the harsh penalties, the harsh punishments in your home. Lying should be among, You should be building a culture of truth. And your children should know that you understand that there's something in the heart that wants to duck the consequences and that will lie. That will bow down to that inclination to duck the consequences by lying and you want to arm them with a lungquist-ism or an or-ism or a Gukkavan-ism to build a culture of truth in your home that says, as for us, we'd rather get the repercussions times five than to tell one lie because God is a God of truth and He hates lies. And we want to serve him.

That's number one. Do you ever tell a safe lie? In order to keep from looking as dumb as you've actually been? Here's my counsel. Just own it.

Don't be so afraid of looking dumb. We shouldn't. I hate looking dumb and I'm tempted to lie to not look dumb to this day. So Jason, quit it. Just stop it.

Own it. When you've been dumb, then you should look dumb. You were dumb. Own it and don't let pride force you into another sin. Don't let your sin of pride force you into another sin.

Number two, do you ever shade the truth in order to steer things in the quote-unquote right direction? Do you ever do that? Do you ever shade the truth? It's technically true in order to steer things in the right direction. I mean if I told everything I might not get exactly the outcome that needs to happen here.

So maybe I'll just say what's technically true so we get to get the right outcome. Half truths are not the truth. Do you buy that proposition? I hope you do. Half truths are often much more devastating than an out and out lie.

Oh, when people find out you just told them a half-truth, now you're really in for it. Half-truths are not the truth. Shading the truth isn't telling the truth. Shading the truth isn't telling the truth. Gary helped us with this last week and additional teaching time after the sermon.

My brother hit me. So you interrogate the brother. Why'd you hit him? He hit me first. My brother hit me was technically true.

Brother did hit him. That's shading the truth to get the outcome that you're angling for. That's not telling the truth. Half-truths are not true. Shading the truth isn't telling the truth.

Here's the remedy. Stop trying to manipulate people to get a certain outcome. You know that's just manipulating people. It's hard to think of something that makes people more angry when they found out that they've been manipulated. This is toxic to relationships.

On top of being dishonoring to God, it is toxic to relationships. Don't ever let yourself do that. Again, people appreciate it so much more when you Just say what you think should happen and why you think it should happen. Don't play fast and loose with the truth to get the outcome. Just tell them, I think this is the direction we should go in and here's why I think that.

Just be upfront. Don't shade the truth because it's not telling the truth. Now, can we talk about broken down walls? What do I mean by that? When you allow yourself to play fast and loose with the truth, when you tell half truths and you shave the truth, you make it easier again to do it the next time.

If you've been alive very long at all, You know that's absolutely true. When you allow yourself to play fast and loose with the truth, it's easier next time, which makes it even easier the next time, which makes it even easier the next time. And actually you make it harder not to play fast and loose with the truth next time. You're breaking down the wall and pretty soon there's no barrier between you and telling falsehoods. It's easy for you because the wall is broken down.

Maybe that's true. Maybe sitting here listening to that just being said makes you think, oh yes that's happened. It's easy for me. It used to be hard. I used to have sharp pangs of conscience and now my conscience doesn't say a word when I play fast and loose with the truth.

If that's true, build the wall back as fast as you can. Every day is a brick. Every opportunity is a brick. You make yourself tell the truth. You make yourself not play fast and loose with the truth.

You make yourself not shade the truth, not tell half-truths, and every time you do that you just tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. You're putting a brick back into the wall. Build that wall back so your conscience is sharp when you don't. That's the way you want it to be. I've had areas of my life where the wall is broken down and there's nothing for it but just to start like to draw a new line in the sand and start laying bricks at every opportunity.

You say, okay, my pattern is lying but right now I'm not lying, I'm laying a brick And you build that wall back. Start today being very careful to be very honest. You know what that feels like? Being very careful to be very, oh there's two ways I could say this, one is technically true and the other is the truth, I'm telling the truth. Be very careful to be very honest.

Don't be technically honest, Be honest. Number three. How many are there? There was one Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ that you see in the gospels is the Jesus Christ who was and is and will be through all eternity.

So There's one Jesus. How many Rileys? How many Britneys? How many Jims are there? Are you hiding a darling sin?

And there are really two yous. The you that everybody else knows and the real you. Because you're hiding a darling sin, you know, that's a favorite saying of J.C. Ryle, one of my disciplers. He talks about darling sins.

I love the phrase because when you hear it, you know exactly what that means. Oh, a darling sin. It's sinful, but yet I love it. It's my darling. So even though it's sin, I'll hide it, I'll protect it, I'll nurture it.

No one can know that I have it, but I do love it and I will protect it. Darling sins make there be more than one you. Darling sin, people would be shocked if they knew all that was to be known. Here's my counsel, betray it. Betray it.

Betray your darling sin. You've been treating it as a friend, it's not your friend. Your darling sin will betray you. It'll take from you the things that you should love and hold dear. Betray it first.

Drag it out into the light and treat it like an enemy. It's your enemy. Treat it like an enemy. I know a couple of people who have recently betrayed their darling sin. They didn't have to.

It could have been, it could have remained a safe lie. Because no one else knew. They didn't have to, but they figured it out. They figured out that it wasn't their friend at all, that it shouldn't be their darling. And so they treated it like an enemy.

They drug it by the ear out into the open, and now they're free. Praise God for that. Number four. Do you ever break the ninth commandment by being silent? Silence isn't always golden.

You ever break the ninth commandment by being silent? Listen to Leviticus 5, 1. Leviticus chapter 5 verse 1. If a person sins in hearing the utterance of an oath and is a witness whether he has seen or known of the matter if he does not tell it he bears guilt. So what is this about?

Okay, an oath is taken between two people and you're a witness to it and then there's a dispute about it later and you know the real answer and you keep quiet that sin okay that's it that's lying but you never said a word it's still it's still a violation of the ninth commandment. Sometimes truth requires speaking up. Sometimes truth requires speaking up. You know there's two sides to this coin. There's lying on one side and truth on the other.

But there's no, I mean it's one coin. It's one coin. Sometimes truth requires more than just not speaking falsehood. Sometimes truth has to be served by speaking up, saying what you know. Sometimes people are bringing to you a tale, a story, tale bearing, and truth requires that you say, you know what, why are you telling me this?

You know that's, you don't have evidence for that. You know that's just speculation. You know what? You just slandered him. You should stop.

It's really awkward and uncomfortable to do that. Yeah, that's better than falsehood. You having an awkward moment is better than falsehood continuing down a chain of people who pass it on down the chain. You should stop the chain in its tracks right there on the spot. Truth requires it.

Number five, are you a listening ear? With the eighth commandment, the last commandment that I studied, that we studied, you shall not steal, I said, if you knowingly receive stolen goods, you participate in the theft and break the Eighth Commandment. I hope you buy that proposition. I hope you think that's true. I mean, if you know it's stolen goods and you willingly receive those stolen goods, then you've participated in that breaking of the Eighth Commandment.

So if that's true, if you willingly listen to half-truths and innuendos and insinuations, you participate in the slander and you break the ninth commandment. Now if you willing listen to what I So if you willingly listen to insinuations, lies and falsehood can take very sophisticated, nuanced forms. Often it isn't just an out and out bald faced lie. Most of us have gotten beyond that. We imply.

We insinuate. We drop innuendos. Do you have a reputation of being passive when that's happening? Then earn a new reputation. Earn a reputation for one who'd rather have an awkward moment and say, you know what, I don't think this is even an appropriate discussion when there's innuendo and insinuations and you think that there might be half-truths.

Is it okay to quote VeggieTales? Did you hear the one about Alfred? Alfred in the rumor weed. That one doesn't have any Bible character, so I'm saying that one is an OK veggie tale. Insinuation, innuendo, half-truths.

There's actually a lot to glean from that one. There are rumor weeds out there and they do wreak the kind of havoc that you see in that episode. Number six. Do you speak the truth but it's far from being in love? You know the truth can be a weapon.

Some people can slay you with the truth. It's like a club in their hands. God does love truth. He doesn't love it when truth gets used as a club to bludgeon people. In Ephesians 4.15, Paul exhorts us to speak the truth in love, so important, makes it so much harder.

And then in the same chapter, 10 verses later, listen to Ephesians 4.25. This is a really good one on the topic Ephesians 4 25 Paul says therefore putting away lying So here we are on one side of the coin putting away lying let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor. There's the other side of the coin. Putting away lying, speak truth with his neighbor, for we are members of one another." This picks right up on the language of the ninth commandment. You shall not bear false witness against another person.

No. Against your neighbor. Oh, so I only have to pay attention if there's somebody I like? No. Other people are to be people you like and have some sense of connection with and obligation towards.

Are you with me? I'm convinced that the language of the ninth commandment reflects that. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. But I never met him. How can he be my neighbor?

God wants you to consider every human on earth to be a person that you have some connection to and obligation towards. Think of him as your neighbor. I think Jesus's definition of neighbor in the New Testament would fit just fine with that. Or, hopefully, what I said would fit just fine with Jesus's definition. The Westminster Catechism says this.

I've been looking at the Westminster Catechism as we go along the whole time. It's questions and answers. What is the ninth commandment? The ninth commandment is you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. What does the ninth commandment forbid?

All this stuff. What does the ninth commandment require? All this stuff. So I've been doing it. They give really long lists and so I haven't been reading them typically because I find myself sort of getting lost in the long list and I just want to be more pinpointed than that is.

But I'm gleaning a few things out of the Westminster Catechism every time we hit a new commandment. Listen to the Westminster Catechism and again, I am picking out of the list here. I'm picking and choosing. So it's not all that the answer has. The sins forbidden by the ninth commandment.

Speaking the truth unseasonably or maliciously to a wrong end. Using it as a club. Misconstructing intentions, words, and actions. Aggravating smaller faults. Aggravating smaller faults.

You can speak the truth unseasonably. You have no call to say everything that you know. You know that it will harm the person. And you say it anyway. That is speaking the truth unseasonably.

When Peter says, love covers a multitude of sins. The ninth commandment does not mean you should blurt out everything you know every moment. It doesn't mean that. Listen to what the Westminster Catechism says about what the Ninth Commandment requires. The preserving and promoting of truth between man and man.

A charitable esteem of our neighbors. Sorrowing for and covering of their infirmities, freely acknowledging their gifts and graces. So If you're not to slander them about their smaller faults or make a big deal of their smaller faults, the other side of that is freely acknowledging their gifts and graces. Don't be stingy to acknowledge the things that are good about them. A ready receiving of a good report and an unwillingness to admit of an evil report concerning them, discouraging tale bearers, love covers a multitude of sins.

Major point number five, how the Lord Jesus has perfectly obeyed the ninth commandment. Listen to Psalm 31 verse 5. Psalm 31 is a psalm of David. Psalm 31 verse 5. David says this, into your hand, he's talking to God, into your hand God, I commit my spirit.

You have redeemed me, O Lord God of truth." So the first part of that you'll notice Jesus quotes this as he's dying on the cross, into your hand I commit my spirit but listen to the rest of what David says here in this verse you have redeemed me oh Lord God of truth David calls God God of truth God has eternally loved truth. God has eternally been truth, told the truth. Or Psalm 33 verse 4. Psalm 33 verse 4. For the word of the Lord is right and all his work is done in truth.

That's true of God. The psalmist speaks exactly as it is. All God's work is done in truth. I'm not going to spend any time developing this. There is a category for God deceiving people who love falsehood.

There is a category for that. That doesn't nullify him being a God of truth and that all his work is done in truth Turn to John 1 Back to John 1 John 1 I'll be reading John 1, 14 through 18. John 1 is the gospel writer setting the theological framework for the whole gospel. So in a sense it's a summary at the beginning of the gospel. Gives you the great theological themes of the whole gospel and then he starts in to the accounts of Jesus' life.

John 1, 14 through 18 And the Word, capital W, Word, Jesus, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Full of grace and truth. John bore witness of him and cried out, saying, This was he of whom I said, He who comes after me is preferred before me, for he was before me. And of his fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.

For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. Jesus came full of grace and truth. If you want to know about grace, you look at Jesus.

If you want to know truth, you look to Jesus. The law came through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus. Jesus is the ultimate revelation of truth and the ultimate revelation of God. Jesus was what? Well, he was a miracle worker but not occupationally.

He was a preacher. He He was a preacher. He was a preacher. God had one son and He made him a preacher. Listen to John 8 verse 26.

Jesus says, John 8 26, Jesus says, I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but he who sent me is true. And I speak to the world those things which I heard from him." This is Jesus as a preacher taking words from God in heaven who is true and speaking them to the world so that we would know truth. Jesus was fundamentally a preacher of truth. If you could only pick a little portion of scripture could you let anyone tear the Gospels out of your hands? Why is that?

I mean it's so full of truth in the plainest terms, the fullest plainest terms are those red letters and words. The rest is perfectly true but the plainest fullest truths are there in the gospel. So if you can only give me a little slice of the Bible, you'll have to pull Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John out of my cold dead fingers. Dead fingers. John 14 verse 6.

You could quote it once I started. John 14 verse 6. Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Jesus is the truth.

You can hope to earn a reputation for telling the truth. Probably nobody's going to say, he's the truth. No, no, no, that's Jesus. Jesus, it is the truth. He does tell the truth, but that just is because he is eternally, Truth is part of His essence.

You could never separate Jesus from the truth. It is unbreakably part of who He is. Jesus is the truth. Listen to 1 John 20. Listen to 1 John 20.

So it's John our Gospel writer, but now writing a letter, 1 John chapter 5 verse 20. And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding that we may know Him who is true. And we are in Him who is true, in His Son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. The eyewitness, This man who lived with Jesus for three years saw Him, heard Him at the end and comes to say He's the revelation of truth.

All that is true is bound up in the Lord Jesus Christ. Friends, I hope you know this, we're betting everything. We're betting everything for time and eternity. Are we building on bedrock? Friends, if we're not building on bedrock, we are wasting our lives.

John says, 1 John 5 20, by the way, that's one verse from the very end of the book. That's his parting shot in the letter. His parting shot is, you're building on bedrock. You can bet your life. That's John's parting shot.

Jesus is bedrock. Jesus is truth. You won't bet your life on this and then find in the end that you've bet it all on a lie. The eyewitness says it's bedrock. You have to know that.

Otherwise, if you don't know that, your Christianity is just a game. It's just a game. Two applications. Number one, follow Jesus. You can walk around repeating the mantra in your mind, Don't lie, don't lie, I'm not supposed to lie, I'm not supposed to lie, I'm not supposed to lie, don't lie.

It's not a bad mantra. What we really need is a close walk with the Lord Jesus. We'll become truth loving people. We won't lie because we love truth, because we're walking closely with Jesus who is truth. That's what we really need.

We don't need the don't lie mantra to be just said over and over and over again in our minds, we shouldn't lie. But to walk closely with Jesus is to have an ever increasing love for truth that makes it hard to lie. That's what we really need. Becoming like Him is what we really need. Number two, rejoice.

I'm going to leave you with such a sweet text of scripture. You can go there if you'd like. It's 2 Corinthians 1 verses 18 through 20. 2nd Corinthians 1 verses 18 through 20. Listen to what Paul writes, Listen to what Paul writes.

But as God is faithful, our word to you was not yes and no. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, by me, Silvanus, and Timothy, was not yes and no, but in him was yes. For all the promises of God in Him are yes, and in Him amen to the glory of God through us. Mind blowing promises have been made to you in scripture. But a promise is only as good as the one who stands behind it.

Paul is telling you every one of The great and precious promises in scripture are yes and amen backed by Jesus. Backed by Jesus who is truth. You can bet your life on these great and precious promises. You're building on bedrock. You will not get to the end and say, I've wasted my life.

I built it on a falsehood. God is a God of truth. He loves truth. He revealed truth to us through His Son. Our God, we close praying what I prayed at the beginning, just help us to love truth.

It's so good that there's a God who loves truth. God, I pray that we would walk so closely with Your Son that day by day we'd be loving truth a little more. It would just get hard to shade the truth, to tell half truths, to drop innuendos, just because it's so out of step with the one we love, our Lord. Make us people like that, we pray in Jesus name, Amen.