Telling the Truth

The Gospel According to Matthew
Jesus for President (Part 16: Telling the Truth)

"Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.' But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God's throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.

When NOT to Tell the Truth
When delaying the truth, SERVES the truth (2 Sam. 12:1-7)
When your listeners aren’t READY for it (Heb. 1:1-2)
When your listeners aren’t WORTHY of it (Matthew 7:6)
When you can’t say it in LOVE (Ephesians 4:15)

The Language of Lies (John 8:44)
There are MANY dialects (Jeremiah 8:8)
It includes worship without HEART (1 John 1:6)
It includes hate, even without WORDS (Prov. 10:18)
God HATES lying (Proverbs 12:22)

The Defeat of Deceit (John 1:14)
Jesus came full of grace and TRUTH (John 1:14+17)
Jesus came saying ‘I tell you the TRUTH’ (79 times)
Jesus believes the God’s Word is TRUTH (John 17:17)
Jesus said He is TRUTH (John 14:6)

The Victory of Honesty (John 16:13)
The truth paints a brighter FUTURE (Proverbs 12:19)
The truth FREES us from fear (John 8:32)
The truth maximizes JOY (3 John 1:4)
The truth holds everything TOGETHER (Ephesians 4:15)

Will You Be a Pillar of Truth? (1 Timothy 3:15)