WEBVTT 00:00:00.650 --> 00:00:03.149 Hello, you are listening to Second City Sermons, 00:00:03.270 --> 00:00:06.209 a ministry of Second City Church in Midtown Harrisburg. 00:00:06.870 --> 00:00:08.750 It's our hope that these sermons will draw you 00:00:08.750 --> 00:00:11.169 more into the life of following God, Father, 00:00:11.330 --> 00:00:14.150 Son and Holy Spirit. Please consider coming and 00:00:14.150 --> 00:00:16.469 joining with us each Sunday morning at 10am in 00:00:16.469 --> 00:00:18.809 the heart of Midtown Harrisburg. You can find 00:00:18.809 --> 00:00:22.329 us online at SecondCityChurch .org and on Facebook, 00:00:22.609 --> 00:00:25.030 Instagram and YouTube. We hope you enjoy this 00:00:25.030 --> 00:00:30.300 sermon. God Bless. Lord, thank you for your word. 00:00:30.420 --> 00:00:33.679 Thank you for your commandments. God, I do pray 00:00:33.679 --> 00:00:37.500 that we ask once again that we would find them 00:00:37.500 --> 00:00:40.539 to be life, that we would find them to be something 00:00:40.539 --> 00:00:43.859 we desire, because we see them most fully lived 00:00:43.859 --> 00:00:46.299 in the Lord Jesus himself, who kept the law perfectly, 00:00:46.560 --> 00:00:49.219 but also because they were given out of salvation, 00:00:49.320 --> 00:00:51.119 out of a resurrection life, were even brought 00:00:51.119 --> 00:00:53.780 near to you, and you desire to teach us, Lord. 00:00:53.840 --> 00:00:55.520 And so we pray that that would be what happens 00:00:55.520 --> 00:01:00.049 today. That the law would be something that is 00:01:00.049 --> 00:01:03.789 more to be desired than gold that passes away. 00:01:04.349 --> 00:01:06.170 That's sweeter to us than the honey from the 00:01:06.170 --> 00:01:10.390 honeycomb. Something to be delighted in and treasured. 00:01:10.829 --> 00:01:12.890 God, would now the words of my mouth and the 00:01:12.890 --> 00:01:14.689 meditations of our hearts be pleasing in your 00:01:14.689 --> 00:01:18.150 sight. The Lord our rock and our Redeemer. Amen. 00:01:20.290 --> 00:01:23.310 All right, I will say that this illustration 00:01:24.519 --> 00:01:27.180 Has Robert and Will in mind, but it's for all 00:01:27.180 --> 00:01:32.359 of you It's in their honor December 2001 George 00:01:32.359 --> 00:01:36.459 O 'Leary Was named the next head football coach 00:01:36.459 --> 00:01:42.519 at Notre Dame Growing up as I did watching Rudy 00:01:42.519 --> 00:01:45.280 I don't have to be Will or Robert to think that's 00:01:45.280 --> 00:01:49.260 a big deal and neither do you It's the kind of 00:01:49.260 --> 00:01:53.250 position that coaches dreams are made of Leading 00:01:53.250 --> 00:01:55.269 one of the most history prestigious football 00:01:55.269 --> 00:01:59.230 teams Two days later, which was actually his 00:01:59.230 --> 00:02:04.569 first actual day on the job. He got a call He 00:02:04.569 --> 00:02:09.270 got a call a reporter had Contacted some of the 00:02:09.270 --> 00:02:11.509 people who had supposedly played with O 'Leary 00:02:11.509 --> 00:02:17.409 at the University of New Hampshire He the reporter 00:02:17.409 --> 00:02:21.620 had called them up and None of them remembered 00:02:21.620 --> 00:02:26.960 the name George O 'Leary. Not a one. And so this 00:02:26.960 --> 00:02:29.360 call that George O 'Leary received was from the 00:02:29.360 --> 00:02:31.699 athletic director saying, what's going on here? 00:02:32.840 --> 00:02:36.000 He reluctantly admitted that he didn't really 00:02:36.000 --> 00:02:40.979 play college football. According to him, he had 00:02:40.979 --> 00:02:44.580 a bad knee one year, mono the next, you know, 00:02:44.740 --> 00:02:49.080 someone, something. So anyway, the reporter phones 00:02:49.080 --> 00:02:52.580 back The next day and he actually has some documentation. 00:02:52.780 --> 00:02:56.060 He found out what happened Years earlier earlier 00:02:56.060 --> 00:02:58.979 O 'Leary applied for the job at Syracuse not 00:02:58.979 --> 00:03:01.419 not the head position But a lower position coaching 00:03:01.419 --> 00:03:03.960 job at Syracuse and he was asked about his athletic 00:03:03.960 --> 00:03:06.400 background and it's true He actually was on one 00:03:06.400 --> 00:03:08.639 of the state championship teams, but he thought 00:03:08.639 --> 00:03:12.400 that's not enough. I Got a pad this I got a pad 00:03:12.400 --> 00:03:15.099 this and so he wrote down college University, 00:03:15.139 --> 00:03:19.710 New Hampshire lettered three years It's a small 00:03:19.710 --> 00:03:24.430 lie, just a little amendment, right? Just something 00:03:24.430 --> 00:03:28.389 to pad the papers, a little falsehood, a little 00:03:28.389 --> 00:03:31.110 witness that could sway maybe his future employer. 00:03:33.270 --> 00:03:36.590 It was that that led to one of his dreams becoming 00:03:36.590 --> 00:03:41.030 one of his nightmares because he lost not only 00:03:41.030 --> 00:03:43.449 his job, right, but his reputation. Here's one 00:03:43.449 --> 00:03:46.789 of the wild things. And actually, I think what 00:03:46.789 --> 00:03:49.270 I love about this in some ways is that it begins 00:03:49.270 --> 00:03:53.370 to invite us into thinking that lying is so utterly 00:03:53.370 --> 00:03:57.009 pervasive in our world. His brother in response 00:03:57.009 --> 00:04:00.150 to this says, is anyone trying to tell me that 00:04:00.150 --> 00:04:04.590 resumes are truthful? In the America we live 00:04:04.590 --> 00:04:06.789 in, the willingness to lie on a resume is an 00:04:06.789 --> 00:04:12.810 indication of how much you want the job. And 00:04:12.810 --> 00:04:15.729 actually, He, for one, isn't lying. There's a 00:04:15.729 --> 00:04:17.629 study done, three million different Americans. 00:04:18.149 --> 00:04:19.930 I guess, I don't know how you do a study with 00:04:19.930 --> 00:04:22.389 three million Americans. And they found that 00:04:22.389 --> 00:04:31.509 50 % of the resumes contained lies. 50%. Last 00:04:31.509 --> 00:04:33.889 night, Mumford and Sons played at Hershey Stadium. 00:04:34.410 --> 00:04:38.310 If you're wondering, it was awesome. But this 00:04:38.310 --> 00:04:39.670 sermon was on my mind, so there were a number 00:04:39.670 --> 00:04:40.970 of times where I'm taking out my phone and jotting 00:04:40.970 --> 00:04:45.540 down little notes. Okay. And because a number 00:04:45.540 --> 00:04:48.800 of the songs that Marcus Mumford sang had to 00:04:48.800 --> 00:04:52.379 do with truth -telling and with lies, because 00:04:52.379 --> 00:04:54.199 he's living in the world that you and I are living 00:04:54.199 --> 00:04:57.379 in. And also about actually the difficulty of 00:04:57.379 --> 00:04:59.360 belief because it is the world that we are living 00:04:59.360 --> 00:05:01.379 in. And so he's saying his song, Believe. Let 00:05:01.379 --> 00:05:03.540 me, I'm not gonna sing some for you, okay? I 00:05:03.540 --> 00:05:04.800 won't do any singing this morning. Let me read 00:05:04.800 --> 00:05:07.560 it to you. I don't even know if I believe. I 00:05:07.560 --> 00:05:09.360 don't even know if I believe. I don't even know 00:05:09.360 --> 00:05:13.000 if I believe. everything you're trying to say 00:05:13.000 --> 00:05:16.860 to me. Verse two says, I have the strangest feeling 00:05:16.860 --> 00:05:20.000 your world's not all it seems, so tired of misconceiving 00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:22.100 what else this could have been. I don't know 00:05:22.100 --> 00:05:23.319 if I believe, I don't know if I believe, I don't 00:05:23.319 --> 00:05:24.459 know if I believe everything you're trying to 00:05:24.459 --> 00:05:26.000 say to me. Some people think that he's actually 00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:29.240 speaking to God. The reality of living in a world 00:05:29.240 --> 00:05:31.800 that is so chock full of lies actually has to 00:05:31.800 --> 00:05:34.579 do even with just not even being able to receive 00:05:34.579 --> 00:05:36.959 the truth because we're so used to living in 00:05:36.959 --> 00:05:40.220 a lie. Which is say that lying is so pervasive, 00:05:40.500 --> 00:05:44.459 so ubiquitous, so present. Which is also why 00:05:44.459 --> 00:05:47.680 it is so present in so many other songwriters. 00:05:49.860 --> 00:05:51.660 The Eurythmics, the Black Keys, Chuck Berry, 00:05:51.819 --> 00:05:54.000 Depeche Mode, Elvis Costello, Elvis Presley, 00:05:54.240 --> 00:05:55.699 blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I could just keep 00:05:55.699 --> 00:05:59.959 going on. I don't know many meatloaf songs. Maybe 00:05:59.959 --> 00:06:04.100 you do. But I know the song, I'd Lie For You, 00:06:04.139 --> 00:06:08.740 and that's the truth. It's just every it's just 00:06:08.740 --> 00:06:12.639 all over from football coaches to boyfriends 00:06:12.639 --> 00:06:20.160 to meatloaf to politicians to courtrooms Where 00:06:20.160 --> 00:06:23.819 we say hand on the Bible Tell the truth the whole 00:06:23.819 --> 00:06:26.120 truth and nothing but the truth. So help me God 00:06:26.120 --> 00:06:32.540 to pastors Seeking to save face to lift themselves 00:06:32.540 --> 00:06:39.180 up to Morgan Wallen admitting that he often lies 00:06:39.180 --> 00:06:44.500 to himself in his song. Lies, lies, lies. Y 'all 00:06:44.500 --> 00:06:47.779 don't know that one. Well, all right. But what 00:06:47.779 --> 00:06:50.160 all this says is that the Ten Commandments, there's 00:06:50.160 --> 00:06:52.339 no way you can take the Ten Commandments and 00:06:52.339 --> 00:06:58.959 just say, antique, passe, pass it off. No, at 00:06:58.959 --> 00:07:00.660 the very least we must admit that they speak 00:07:00.660 --> 00:07:05.790 to our world, to our lives, to our words. And 00:07:05.790 --> 00:07:07.649 so today we come to this ninth commandment, right? 00:07:08.069 --> 00:07:10.430 You shall not bear false witness against your 00:07:10.430 --> 00:07:13.870 neighbor. Don't bear false witness against your 00:07:13.870 --> 00:07:16.970 neighbor, don't lie. And the Bible is replete, 00:07:17.170 --> 00:07:20.389 it's well -stocked with telling us how the Lord 00:07:20.389 --> 00:07:22.189 hates lies. Let me read a few of these passages 00:07:22.189 --> 00:07:25.649 to you, Proverbs 6, 16 to 19. There's six things 00:07:25.649 --> 00:07:28.009 that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination 00:07:28.009 --> 00:07:31.189 to him, which by the way is the complete number 00:07:31.189 --> 00:07:36.240 in scripture. Hottie eyes, pride. A lying tongue. 00:07:36.680 --> 00:07:40.279 Hands that shed innocent blood. Murder. Heart 00:07:40.279 --> 00:07:44.819 that devises wicked plans. Sounds like something 00:07:44.819 --> 00:07:49.519 that's conceit, maybe. Desires to take something 00:07:49.519 --> 00:07:51.720 else from somebody else. Something from somebody 00:07:51.720 --> 00:07:54.360 else. Feet that make haste to run to evil. A 00:07:54.360 --> 00:07:59.180 false witness. Who breathes out lies. And one 00:07:59.180 --> 00:08:03.279 who sows discord among brothers. Isn't that interesting? 00:08:03.899 --> 00:08:06.019 There's this list of the things that God says, 00:08:06.040 --> 00:08:09.360 I hate these things. These are not for the good 00:08:09.360 --> 00:08:13.420 of the world. And there's this list, one of them 00:08:13.420 --> 00:08:18.759 is repeated. One of them is repeated, lying. 00:08:20.699 --> 00:08:24.879 A lying tongue, verse 17, 19, a false witness 00:08:24.879 --> 00:08:30.529 that breathes out lies. So it shouldn't be surprising 00:08:30.529 --> 00:08:32.389 that we find this kind of thing elsewhere. Proverbs 00:08:32.389 --> 00:08:36.309 11 tells us a false balance. Lying in your business 00:08:36.309 --> 00:08:39.149 dealings with others is an abomination to the 00:08:39.149 --> 00:08:42.669 Lord. Proverbs 12 tells us lying lips are an 00:08:42.669 --> 00:08:44.610 abomination to our Lord. So it's not just lying 00:08:44.610 --> 00:08:47.830 with our words, but also with our practice, our 00:08:47.830 --> 00:08:51.350 life. Psalm 101 says that he who practices deceit 00:08:51.350 --> 00:08:54.860 will not dwell in the house of the Lord. And 00:08:54.860 --> 00:08:56.519 if we, you know, I could keep going, but if we 00:08:56.519 --> 00:08:58.419 just get to the end of the Bible, Revelation 00:08:58.419 --> 00:09:03.440 21, for you who are astute, yes, there's one 00:09:03.440 --> 00:09:07.639 more chapter, but it's near the end, okay? Liars 00:09:07.639 --> 00:09:11.379 are among those who it says will find their place 00:09:11.379 --> 00:09:19.750 in the lake of fire. So is it any wonder? that 00:09:19.750 --> 00:09:21.870 we are also told that to live in light of the 00:09:21.870 --> 00:09:23.889 resurrection, to be a resurrection people, to 00:09:23.889 --> 00:09:26.230 be a people who have been brought from death 00:09:26.230 --> 00:09:31.409 to life means that we are people of the truth. 00:09:32.429 --> 00:09:35.549 And also as Ephesians chapter four verse 25 told 00:09:35.549 --> 00:09:39.929 us, to put away falsehood. Put it away from you. 00:09:42.070 --> 00:09:45.929 To let each one of us speak the truth with his 00:09:45.929 --> 00:09:48.509 neighbor. And it says, for we are members of 00:09:48.509 --> 00:09:52.730 one another. Or as James tells us, the book of 00:09:52.730 --> 00:09:55.870 James later on in the New Testament, do not boast 00:09:55.870 --> 00:10:01.610 and be false to the truth. Don't do that. But 00:10:01.610 --> 00:10:03.889 so anyway, so what's clear in the Bible is that 00:10:03.889 --> 00:10:07.809 we don't want to practice falsehood. Lying tends 00:10:07.809 --> 00:10:11.909 towards destruction, lying in our actions, unjust 00:10:11.909 --> 00:10:14.940 balances, lying with our words. These are not 00:10:14.940 --> 00:10:17.379 things for resurrection people. But this morning 00:10:17.379 --> 00:10:19.639 I wanna just pose a couple of questions, okay? 00:10:19.960 --> 00:10:25.740 One is why do we lie? And then the other one 00:10:25.740 --> 00:10:30.559 is why does God love truth? Okay, so why do we 00:10:30.559 --> 00:10:33.779 lie? Why do we lie to ourselves? Why do we lie 00:10:33.779 --> 00:10:38.440 to and about our neighbors? The first word I'm 00:10:38.440 --> 00:10:43.850 gonna give you is malice. Part of why we lie 00:10:43.850 --> 00:10:47.110 is malice, which is to say part of why we lie 00:10:47.110 --> 00:10:51.889 is the intent for harm. Maybe let me put it this 00:10:51.889 --> 00:10:53.450 way. Part of why we lie is we like to put others 00:10:53.450 --> 00:10:57.549 down. Just something about putting somebody else 00:10:57.549 --> 00:11:03.070 down. And I think we start here because I think 00:11:03.070 --> 00:11:05.049 that's actually part of what's going on in the 00:11:05.049 --> 00:11:08.110 first lie in the Bible. You come to the snake 00:11:08.110 --> 00:11:11.590 in the garden, the snake who loves death. putting 00:11:11.590 --> 00:11:16.110 others down. Who loves destruction? Who loves 00:11:16.110 --> 00:11:20.149 to harm? Who loves it when marriages are a wreck? 00:11:20.490 --> 00:11:22.470 Who loves it when teenagers aren't talking to 00:11:22.470 --> 00:11:25.269 their parents, right? Who loves it when things 00:11:25.269 --> 00:11:32.029 are not right? When deceit runs rampant? When 00:11:32.029 --> 00:11:37.629 promises are empty? Serpent loves this kind of 00:11:37.629 --> 00:11:42.370 thing. He loves destruction. And Jesus tells 00:11:42.370 --> 00:11:45.590 us, as we heard in John chapter 8, they were 00:11:45.590 --> 00:11:49.250 of our father, the devil, when we do not stand 00:11:49.250 --> 00:11:52.169 for the truth. We lie, we're actually of this 00:11:52.169 --> 00:11:55.509 sort of practice of malice, harm -seeking in 00:11:55.509 --> 00:11:59.830 the world. And Jesus actually tells us in that 00:11:59.830 --> 00:12:01.669 passage that that is accompanied, that kind of 00:12:01.669 --> 00:12:04.789 action is accompanied by murder, the intent to 00:12:04.789 --> 00:12:07.690 cause harm. So one reason why we do not practice 00:12:07.690 --> 00:12:10.169 truth is because we do not love life, actually. 00:12:11.540 --> 00:12:14.519 One reason is out of malice. But here's my guess, 00:12:14.679 --> 00:12:16.539 is that when I said malice, some of you started 00:12:16.539 --> 00:12:18.100 to glaze over. You're like, that's not really 00:12:18.100 --> 00:12:19.720 a word I use that often. It's not really something 00:12:19.720 --> 00:12:24.200 I think I do very much. This preacher feels a 00:12:24.200 --> 00:12:28.379 little out of touch this morning. Sure, he can 00:12:28.379 --> 00:12:30.840 quote Morgan Wallace and Mumford Sons, but he's 00:12:30.840 --> 00:12:38.480 using a word like malice. Whatever. But I want 00:12:38.480 --> 00:12:40.480 you to think about this for a moment, okay? Isn't 00:12:40.480 --> 00:12:42.759 it interesting that this command, so the last 00:12:42.759 --> 00:12:44.500 three commands were those two words, right? We 00:12:44.500 --> 00:12:46.320 looked at them, low blah blah blah, low blah 00:12:46.320 --> 00:12:48.399 blah blah. There were two words, and this one 00:12:48.399 --> 00:12:51.679 gets a little bit longer. So this is not just 00:12:51.679 --> 00:12:58.980 don't lie, right? It's not what it says. Instead, 00:12:59.120 --> 00:13:02.340 the command is do not bear false witness, don't 00:13:02.340 --> 00:13:09.110 lie, against your neighbor. Which, you know, 00:13:09.370 --> 00:13:11.610 so often we think of the commands as governing 00:13:11.610 --> 00:13:14.690 our individual lives, right? How does this speak 00:13:14.690 --> 00:13:16.809 to me personally? And there's actually, that's 00:13:16.809 --> 00:13:19.409 super important. That's really true. We kind 00:13:19.409 --> 00:13:21.210 of think of it maybe as a code of ethics for 00:13:21.210 --> 00:13:23.529 our individual personal kind of, how do we engage 00:13:23.529 --> 00:13:26.830 with those about us? But all of these commands 00:13:26.830 --> 00:13:30.269 are social. All of these have to do with how 00:13:30.269 --> 00:13:32.269 you interact with others. Honor your father and 00:13:32.269 --> 00:13:34.500 your mother. And we talked about how that's not 00:13:34.500 --> 00:13:36.100 just your father and mother, but it's actually 00:13:36.100 --> 00:13:39.799 kind of the social structures of the world. Don't 00:13:39.799 --> 00:13:43.440 murder. That's a social dynamic. Don't steal. 00:13:43.580 --> 00:13:46.580 That's the social thing. Don't lie. It's not 00:13:46.580 --> 00:13:48.759 just don't lie. It's don't bear false witness 00:13:48.759 --> 00:13:52.360 against your neighbor, which means that bearing 00:13:52.360 --> 00:13:58.600 false witness does harm. It's a malice dynamic. 00:13:58.740 --> 00:14:06.139 It harms the world. And of course obviously when 00:14:06.139 --> 00:14:08.600 we think of bearing witness we think of the courtroom, 00:14:08.879 --> 00:14:14.860 right a place where justice is determined Truth 00:14:14.860 --> 00:14:17.460 -telling has to do with the care and the fate 00:14:17.460 --> 00:14:21.360 of your neighbor. So this is saying Truth -telling 00:14:21.360 --> 00:14:24.259 has to do with the care of your neighbor lying 00:14:24.259 --> 00:14:28.960 has to do with the harm of your neighbor The 00:14:28.960 --> 00:14:34.120 good name of our neighbor is so often not honored 00:14:34.120 --> 00:14:39.299 with our speech. And the farther away we actually 00:14:39.299 --> 00:14:43.080 put people, the more easily we kind of harm them. 00:14:44.799 --> 00:14:48.059 I hope not many of you are in the cesspool that 00:14:48.059 --> 00:14:52.500 is Twitter. If you are, or maybe Facebook or 00:14:52.500 --> 00:14:54.879 any of the other kind of things in which we engage 00:14:54.879 --> 00:14:57.480 with people from a distance, you know how quickly 00:14:57.480 --> 00:15:03.129 it is malice, lying. Not seeking the others well 00:15:03.129 --> 00:15:06.610 -being rumors spreading innuendos increasing 00:15:06.610 --> 00:15:11.970 false accusations abounding slander running rampant 00:15:11.970 --> 00:15:14.450 Which is just to say that part of the reason 00:15:14.450 --> 00:15:18.929 why we lie is we actually do harm the world Part 00:15:18.929 --> 00:15:21.169 of living out of sin is living towards the harm 00:15:21.169 --> 00:15:25.230 of the world. It's malice But I do actually think 00:15:25.230 --> 00:15:26.830 that for the most part you're like, I don't think 00:15:26.830 --> 00:15:31.059 I practice lying like that So give me another 00:15:31.059 --> 00:15:33.120 reason, Peter. I have two more for you. Don't 00:15:33.120 --> 00:15:35.720 worry. Okay. The second one, I actually think 00:15:35.720 --> 00:15:39.539 why we lies out of pride. I think the second 00:15:39.539 --> 00:15:42.580 reason we lie is out of pride, which is to say 00:15:42.580 --> 00:15:45.639 that we think of ourselves more highly than we 00:15:45.639 --> 00:15:48.419 ought to. There's a good pride that you have, 00:15:48.659 --> 00:15:50.860 but oftentimes pride leads to sin. It's over 00:15:50.860 --> 00:15:53.100 thinking more highly of yourself than you ought 00:15:53.100 --> 00:15:58.100 to. And of course this goes back to the garden. 00:15:58.330 --> 00:16:02.509 into buying into the first lie. The devil wants 00:16:02.509 --> 00:16:07.769 to place himself as God, working against the 00:16:07.769 --> 00:16:11.730 good creation of God towards its harm. But the 00:16:11.730 --> 00:16:14.850 fact is that we actually do the same, right? 00:16:15.090 --> 00:16:17.289 We say, oh, God may have said this, but you know 00:16:17.289 --> 00:16:20.230 what? I'm gonna buy that lie and I'm gonna persist 00:16:20.230 --> 00:16:24.460 in lies because I think I'm better. I'm gonna 00:16:24.460 --> 00:16:28.100 elevate myself above my proper place in the world, 00:16:28.179 --> 00:16:32.659 which is say we puff ourselves up. So often our 00:16:32.659 --> 00:16:34.639 malice is done for the sake of ourselves because 00:16:34.639 --> 00:16:36.600 we actually puff ourselves up by pushing others 00:16:36.600 --> 00:16:41.620 down. Think with me, some of you will know the 00:16:41.620 --> 00:16:44.419 story of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts chapter 00:16:44.419 --> 00:16:48.039 five. Ananias and Sapphira have a piece of property 00:16:48.039 --> 00:16:52.399 and they sell it. And from the proceeds of that 00:16:52.399 --> 00:16:54.659 sale of property, which was theirs, Peter says, 00:16:54.700 --> 00:16:56.080 was it not yours when you sold it? You could 00:16:56.080 --> 00:16:58.139 have kept it. They go to the church leaders and 00:16:58.139 --> 00:16:59.620 they're like, hey, we're gonna give it all to 00:16:59.620 --> 00:17:06.359 you. Lying. And Ananias dies and then Sapphira 00:17:06.359 --> 00:17:08.559 comes and she's like, oh, we gave it all to you. 00:17:09.940 --> 00:17:13.599 She dies. And what Peter says is it's not just 00:17:13.599 --> 00:17:15.819 that you have lied to man, but you've lied to 00:17:15.819 --> 00:17:19.819 God. But why did they do that? Why would they 00:17:19.819 --> 00:17:23.160 do that? If Peter says that all their property 00:17:23.160 --> 00:17:24.920 was theirs and they could have given some of 00:17:24.920 --> 00:17:27.799 it away because it was theirs to do that, why 00:17:27.799 --> 00:17:30.799 did they just do that? Because socially, can 00:17:30.799 --> 00:17:35.160 you imagine how we gave it all away, puffing 00:17:35.160 --> 00:17:38.720 themselves up? How great will we look in this 00:17:38.720 --> 00:17:41.299 community if we can just tell them we gave it 00:17:41.299 --> 00:17:48.650 all away? Pride. They wanted others to think 00:17:48.650 --> 00:17:54.109 well of them. O 'Leary wanted others to go, wow, 00:17:54.410 --> 00:17:57.029 three years lettered. We should consider this 00:17:57.029 --> 00:18:00.569 guy. And man, how often do we just want others 00:18:00.569 --> 00:18:09.049 to think well of us? So, pride. And now I think 00:18:09.049 --> 00:18:10.930 the third one is actually in some ways the flip 00:18:10.930 --> 00:18:13.190 -flop of that. And the third reason I wanna say 00:18:13.190 --> 00:18:17.579 that we lie is actually out of shame. We lie 00:18:17.579 --> 00:18:21.099 because of shame. We lie to shield ourselves 00:18:21.099 --> 00:18:24.380 from exposure of who we are, of what we've done. 00:18:26.319 --> 00:18:28.460 We often don't even really like who we are, which 00:18:28.460 --> 00:18:30.339 is why it feels like the flip -flop of pride. 00:18:31.319 --> 00:18:33.740 We aren't often proud of actual the real accomplishments 00:18:33.740 --> 00:18:38.640 that we have done. We actually aren't often really 00:18:38.640 --> 00:18:41.059 proud of the gifts we've been given and who we 00:18:41.059 --> 00:18:45.289 are. And so we lie. So we lie out of malice and 00:18:45.289 --> 00:18:50.289 out of pride, out of shame. But if these are 00:18:50.289 --> 00:18:52.650 some of the reasons why we lie, what I also think 00:18:52.650 --> 00:18:54.910 is really important to look at this morning is 00:18:54.910 --> 00:18:56.769 this reality that there's also reasons why God 00:18:56.769 --> 00:18:59.309 loves truth, which I think commend it to us. 00:19:01.289 --> 00:19:04.029 We can say just kind of blankly that God loves 00:19:04.029 --> 00:19:06.710 truth because He is truth. Jesus says, I'm the 00:19:06.710 --> 00:19:10.519 way, the truth and the life. God's the author 00:19:10.519 --> 00:19:12.880 of truth. When he speaks, they are true words, 00:19:12.920 --> 00:19:14.900 but because it is coming out of his character. 00:19:15.980 --> 00:19:18.099 So one of the reasons why God loves truth and 00:19:18.099 --> 00:19:20.319 God loves truth in us is because it's actually 00:19:20.319 --> 00:19:23.700 a reflection of who he is. But beyond this, beyond 00:19:23.700 --> 00:19:25.539 this sort of character of God, why does God love 00:19:25.539 --> 00:19:27.900 truth telling? So the first thing I want to suggest 00:19:27.900 --> 00:19:30.900 to you is that God, one of the reasons is because 00:19:30.900 --> 00:19:35.000 God loves justice. God loves justice. This is 00:19:35.000 --> 00:19:38.200 just replete throughout the scriptures. And again, 00:19:38.359 --> 00:19:40.660 This is courtroom language that is used in the 00:19:40.660 --> 00:19:44.559 Ten Commandments. We're not just called to bear 00:19:44.559 --> 00:19:48.839 truthful witness to our neighbor because we love 00:19:48.839 --> 00:19:52.359 our neighbor. We're not just supposed to do that 00:19:52.359 --> 00:19:54.519 because we love our neighbor, but it's because 00:19:54.519 --> 00:19:58.480 God actually loves your neighbor. God desires 00:19:58.480 --> 00:20:00.839 the truth to be spoken about the people about 00:20:00.839 --> 00:20:03.099 you, about who they are, about what they've done. 00:20:03.180 --> 00:20:07.640 God loves your neighbor. Now I'm not gonna read 00:20:07.640 --> 00:20:10.640 for you all of the Westminster larger catechism 00:20:10.640 --> 00:20:14.480 as I did last week Which you were all riveted 00:20:14.480 --> 00:20:17.480 by which is fantastic. And of course I commend 00:20:17.480 --> 00:20:20.740 it to you again But consider this the first sentence 00:20:20.740 --> 00:20:24.759 that it's that it's taught that that it has when 00:20:24.759 --> 00:20:27.619 it's asking the question, what are the sins forbidden 00:20:27.619 --> 00:20:29.440 in the ninth commandment? Listen to this. It 00:20:29.440 --> 00:20:31.740 begins like this. It says, the sins forbidden 00:20:31.740 --> 00:20:34.660 in the ninth commandment are all prejudicing 00:20:34.660 --> 00:20:38.940 of the truth and the good name of our neighbors, 00:20:41.200 --> 00:20:45.980 as well as our own. And then it says, especially 00:20:45.980 --> 00:20:50.410 in public juridicure. They're saying there's 00:20:50.410 --> 00:20:55.130 a special place where justice is at play, where 00:20:55.130 --> 00:21:01.250 truth -telling must happen. We call them the 00:21:01.250 --> 00:21:02.970 Westminster divines, the people that wrote the 00:21:02.970 --> 00:21:05.170 Westminster Confession in larger catechism, shorter 00:21:05.170 --> 00:21:08.230 catechism. They said there's a special place 00:21:08.230 --> 00:21:12.349 for truth -telling because God loves justice. 00:21:12.930 --> 00:21:16.369 He loves justice. God hates wickedness and He 00:21:16.369 --> 00:21:20.700 loves justice. The second reason I wanna suggest 00:21:20.700 --> 00:21:22.619 to you of why God loves truth -telling is that 00:21:22.619 --> 00:21:27.740 because God loves life. So the fact is that when 00:21:27.740 --> 00:21:29.920 our first parents, they bought into the lie of 00:21:29.920 --> 00:21:31.839 the serpent and they began to perpetuate that 00:21:31.839 --> 00:21:35.200 lie, they died. They died spiritually, but actually 00:21:35.200 --> 00:21:37.460 right afterwards, right? We know that their progeny 00:21:37.460 --> 00:21:39.819 died by murder. So death comes into the reality 00:21:39.819 --> 00:21:44.539 of the world. But beyond this, they actually 00:21:44.539 --> 00:21:47.539 die relationally with one another. Right, they're 00:21:47.539 --> 00:21:50.839 no longer naked and unashamed We're going to 00:21:50.839 --> 00:21:53.619 cover up they're beginning to say I'm gonna present 00:21:53.619 --> 00:21:56.779 myself just so that you kind of like me Living 00:21:56.779 --> 00:22:00.240 out of pride and living out of shame They're 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:04.099 covering themselves up and Here's the truth, 00:22:04.240 --> 00:22:07.759 right? You all know this one lie breeds another 00:22:07.759 --> 00:22:15.259 lie breeds another lie Lies compound and when 00:22:15.259 --> 00:22:18.579 lies compound You have to cover yourself up more. 00:22:19.019 --> 00:22:22.559 You have to hide more. And when you do that, 00:22:22.619 --> 00:22:25.640 you are living into death because that is not 00:22:25.640 --> 00:22:30.640 what you were made for. Lies kill. That's what 00:22:30.640 --> 00:22:33.900 I'm suggesting to you. And God loves life. We 00:22:33.900 --> 00:22:35.920 know that lives can actually quite literally 00:22:35.920 --> 00:22:39.359 kill in the courtroom, right? They can lead towards 00:22:39.359 --> 00:22:42.700 death. Maybe death of somebody is wrongly accused. 00:22:44.460 --> 00:22:51.420 We know that lies kill marriages. They utterly 00:22:51.420 --> 00:22:56.279 kill marriages. Lying on tests can not only kill 00:22:56.279 --> 00:22:58.660 the possibility of a grade that you do deserve, 00:22:58.720 --> 00:23:03.220 but also they can kill your knowledge and just 00:23:03.220 --> 00:23:06.519 the reality that you can grow and learn and understand 00:23:06.519 --> 00:23:08.259 the world better. If you're living into that 00:23:08.259 --> 00:23:12.480 lie, you're not going to do that. Lies on a resume 00:23:12.480 --> 00:23:15.500 like O 'Leary's. can kill a dream and make it 00:23:15.500 --> 00:23:20.880 a nightmare. Lies kill, God loves life. So God 00:23:20.880 --> 00:23:24.440 loves justice, God loves life. And another reason 00:23:24.440 --> 00:23:26.140 this is related to these things, but God loves 00:23:26.140 --> 00:23:30.480 your neighbor. God loves your neighbor. God commands 00:23:30.480 --> 00:23:32.579 us not to bear false witness against our neighbor 00:23:32.579 --> 00:23:37.420 because he loves your neighbor. Why? Very simply, 00:23:37.680 --> 00:23:40.140 if we go back, your neighbor was made in his 00:23:40.140 --> 00:23:46.759 image, just like you were. and slander and deceit 00:23:46.759 --> 00:23:52.059 and false accusations, they are like throwing 00:23:52.059 --> 00:23:56.019 something at the very image of God, that God 00:23:56.019 --> 00:24:00.920 made me say good, the cut against an image bearer 00:24:00.920 --> 00:24:04.579 of God. Many of you know who Martin Luther is, 00:24:04.660 --> 00:24:07.640 the great 16th century German reformer. He said 00:24:07.640 --> 00:24:10.660 that the ninth commandment requires that we put 00:24:10.660 --> 00:24:14.720 the best construction on everything regarding 00:24:14.720 --> 00:24:17.859 our neighbor. Meaning give your neighbor the 00:24:17.859 --> 00:24:22.680 benefit of a doubt. Act towards their good with 00:24:22.680 --> 00:24:29.200 your words. God loves your neighbor. Finally, 00:24:29.240 --> 00:24:32.019 I've got a fourth reason for you. This is something 00:24:32.019 --> 00:24:37.299 that God loves you. God loves you. God's love 00:24:37.299 --> 00:24:41.480 is for you. See, we lie out of pride and we lie 00:24:41.480 --> 00:24:45.460 out of shame. For one, because we do not understand 00:24:45.460 --> 00:24:49.720 sin enough. And we don't understand the goodness 00:24:49.720 --> 00:24:52.720 of God's creation and his creation of us enough. 00:24:54.819 --> 00:24:56.880 Which is to say, we think of ourselves too highly 00:24:56.880 --> 00:25:00.700 so we diminish our sin. And we think of ourselves 00:25:00.700 --> 00:25:02.359 too low in a way, so we live out of pride. We 00:25:02.359 --> 00:25:05.579 also live out of shame. And we diminish God's 00:25:05.579 --> 00:25:09.440 very image in us. We don't understand our own 00:25:09.440 --> 00:25:16.660 value. Father's, it's Father's Day. I had a lot 00:25:16.660 --> 00:25:19.160 of different ideas of how to wrap Father's Day 00:25:19.160 --> 00:25:22.819 into this sermon, but it was getting too long. 00:25:25.980 --> 00:25:28.119 There's so much that this command has to do with 00:25:28.119 --> 00:25:30.039 how we how we train our children how we talk 00:25:30.039 --> 00:25:35.819 to our children how we love our children Think 00:25:35.819 --> 00:25:38.839 of a couple right? I mean we're told Us fathers 00:25:38.839 --> 00:25:40.759 are told specifically in the Bible. They were 00:25:40.759 --> 00:25:45.779 not to provoke our children to anger right Which 00:25:45.779 --> 00:25:49.400 is to say don't continue malice Don't treat them 00:25:49.400 --> 00:25:52.750 in a way that's not honest When you're adjudicating 00:25:52.750 --> 00:25:56.029 a conflict in the life of your family do so with 00:25:56.029 --> 00:25:59.730 truth and proper justice Then justice will breed 00:25:59.730 --> 00:26:05.130 anger But I found this basic insight so helpful 00:26:05.130 --> 00:26:08.809 kind of in in my life And that's this that children 00:26:08.809 --> 00:26:11.089 want to know to quit the answer to two questions 00:26:11.089 --> 00:26:19.170 It's kind of basic one is Do you love me and 00:26:19.170 --> 00:26:24.529 the other one is Can I do whatever I want? And 00:26:24.529 --> 00:26:28.769 getting this right is very, very important. Because 00:26:28.769 --> 00:26:32.509 you have to address your children always, always 00:26:32.509 --> 00:26:37.509 with a resounding yes. The first one. I utterly 00:26:37.509 --> 00:26:40.970 love you. There's nothing that can separate my 00:26:40.970 --> 00:26:44.490 love from the love between me and you. Nothing. 00:26:45.369 --> 00:26:47.230 Neither height nor depth or anything else in 00:26:47.230 --> 00:26:50.160 all creation maybe to use. Paul's language, right? 00:26:50.799 --> 00:26:53.079 And then the answer to the other question, can 00:26:53.079 --> 00:26:54.700 I do whatever I want? What do you think that 00:26:54.700 --> 00:27:00.200 answer is? No, I can't. Not good for you to get 00:27:00.200 --> 00:27:02.859 your way all the time. It's actually very harmful 00:27:02.859 --> 00:27:05.859 for you. But in some ways, these questions have 00:27:05.859 --> 00:27:08.880 to do with pride and with shame, right? Our parents 00:27:08.880 --> 00:27:12.039 in the garden believed the lie and perpetuated 00:27:12.039 --> 00:27:15.460 the lie that they could do whatever they want. 00:27:16.889 --> 00:27:19.730 that God might've said, hey, don't do this. And 00:27:19.730 --> 00:27:20.789 they said, you know what? We should probably 00:27:20.789 --> 00:27:26.150 do it. We should probably decide that we understand 00:27:26.150 --> 00:27:28.210 what should be done in the world more than he 00:27:28.210 --> 00:27:30.730 does. He might be a liar when he's telling us 00:27:30.730 --> 00:27:33.190 what we should and shouldn't do. Maybe we should 00:27:33.190 --> 00:27:37.029 be the ones that determine our life. But they 00:27:37.029 --> 00:27:39.849 also didn't understand just how valued and how 00:27:39.849 --> 00:27:44.690 perfectly loved they already were, right? They 00:27:44.690 --> 00:27:53.400 were totally cared for. And of course, all that 00:27:53.400 --> 00:27:56.259 led to the huge question about shame. The huge 00:27:56.259 --> 00:27:59.440 question of shame is, am I loved? And what did 00:27:59.440 --> 00:28:01.619 they do after they bought into the lie of saying, 00:28:01.660 --> 00:28:04.240 I can do whatever I want, they hid, right? They 00:28:04.240 --> 00:28:05.940 covered themselves up. They were no longer naked 00:28:05.940 --> 00:28:07.759 and unashamed, but they were clothed and full 00:28:07.759 --> 00:28:13.319 of shame. What you need to hear and what your 00:28:13.319 --> 00:28:18.940 children need and what the world needs is an 00:28:18.940 --> 00:28:24.799 answer to this pride. and this shame. And the 00:28:24.799 --> 00:28:29.279 answer to our pride and our shame is addressed 00:28:29.279 --> 00:28:35.339 in this idea that God loves truth. God loves 00:28:35.339 --> 00:28:41.599 truth. The answer to why you cannot do just whatever 00:28:41.599 --> 00:28:44.519 you want or that you do do whatever you want 00:28:44.519 --> 00:28:46.539 and the answer to the idea that I am actually 00:28:46.539 --> 00:28:51.109 not totally loved is in the God who tells truth. 00:28:52.130 --> 00:28:53.269 Now I want you to think with me for a moment, 00:28:53.349 --> 00:28:56.990 okay? This actually hit me after I already kind 00:28:56.990 --> 00:29:00.529 of printed out my sermon this morning. Did it 00:29:00.529 --> 00:29:02.509 ever strike you as weird? Let me pull this up, 00:29:02.690 --> 00:29:06.950 okay. I actually marked it earlier. John chapter 00:29:06.950 --> 00:29:13.029 18, Jesus is before Pilate. And he's talking, 00:29:13.150 --> 00:29:16.920 right, he's talking with Pilate. And Pilate says 00:29:16.920 --> 00:29:19.440 to him, this is verse 37, chapter 18 of John, 00:29:19.579 --> 00:29:21.720 he says, then Pilate said to him, so you are 00:29:21.720 --> 00:29:24.279 a king? Jesus answered, you say that I'm king 00:29:24.279 --> 00:29:26.000 for this purpose I was born and for this purpose 00:29:26.000 --> 00:29:28.440 I've come into the world to bear witness to the 00:29:28.440 --> 00:29:33.039 truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to 00:29:33.039 --> 00:29:36.700 my voice. And then Pilate asks him a question. 00:29:36.900 --> 00:29:39.640 What's the question that Pilate asks him? What 00:29:39.640 --> 00:29:43.140 is truth? Did it ever strike any of you that 00:29:43.140 --> 00:29:46.460 it's odd that Jesus doesn't say, that's a great 00:29:46.460 --> 00:29:51.339 question. Let's talk about this. I'm the way, 00:29:51.400 --> 00:29:54.099 the truth and the life. You know, whoever comes 00:29:54.099 --> 00:29:56.000 to the Father, when no one comes to the Father 00:29:56.000 --> 00:29:57.759 except through me, I mean, what an opportunity 00:29:57.759 --> 00:30:02.779 to share the good news, Jesus. And that's the 00:30:02.779 --> 00:30:06.299 end of their dialogue. Pilate saying, what is 00:30:06.299 --> 00:30:14.039 truth? I want to suggest to you this morning, 00:30:15.240 --> 00:30:18.000 you know, why do we, you know, why do we lie? 00:30:18.180 --> 00:30:20.859 Okay, malice, but shame and pride. What about, 00:30:21.039 --> 00:30:24.000 why is God love truth -telling? Because he ultimately, 00:30:24.000 --> 00:30:27.660 because he loves you. But what is the, what's 00:30:27.660 --> 00:30:30.700 really the answer in a way towards to Pilate's 00:30:30.700 --> 00:30:32.559 question? Here's what I want to suggest to you. 00:30:32.779 --> 00:30:36.519 It is the cross. It is. It's Jesus going to the 00:30:36.519 --> 00:30:39.779 cross. Jesus is answering Pilate's question there 00:30:39.779 --> 00:30:42.559 on the cross, because what is the big truth of 00:30:42.559 --> 00:30:48.240 the world? That actually we are absolutely loved, 00:30:49.900 --> 00:30:52.640 utterly loved, completely loved. God Himself 00:30:52.640 --> 00:30:58.539 will die for you. That's the message of Christianity. 00:30:59.599 --> 00:31:01.680 You know, image bearers who run away from Him, 00:31:01.680 --> 00:31:04.740 who don't believe His Word. God goes, I will 00:31:04.740 --> 00:31:06.960 hang on the cross for you. That's how much I 00:31:06.960 --> 00:31:11.059 love you. What's the other part of the truth 00:31:11.059 --> 00:31:16.740 telling? Can I do whatever I want? No, sin has 00:31:16.740 --> 00:31:20.400 to be dealt with. And that happens also on the 00:31:20.400 --> 00:31:24.240 cross. And the cross is like the big answer to 00:31:24.240 --> 00:31:27.920 what's truth. God's love is utterly expansive. 00:31:28.099 --> 00:31:31.190 How bad is your sin? Absolutely horrible beyond 00:31:31.190 --> 00:31:36.029 your imagination. It is so bad that God has to 00:31:36.029 --> 00:31:38.509 die. God himself has to take on flesh and die 00:31:38.509 --> 00:31:44.930 for you. That's truth telling. That is the message 00:31:44.930 --> 00:31:47.190 of Christianity that God's not shirking away, 00:31:47.190 --> 00:31:51.549 right? And what's that doing for us, right? What 00:31:51.549 --> 00:31:54.809 that is doing is that it is addressing our pride 00:31:54.809 --> 00:31:57.670 in a proper way. It's bringing us low because 00:31:57.670 --> 00:32:01.069 our sin is so bad. And it's addressing our shame. 00:32:01.789 --> 00:32:04.690 It's lifting us up because God's love is so great. 00:32:05.529 --> 00:32:09.670 It's so great. And it's addressed right there. 00:32:09.690 --> 00:32:12.750 What is truth? Let me show you on the cross. 00:32:13.710 --> 00:32:18.890 Truth is a God who gives, who loves, who dies, 00:32:19.109 --> 00:32:22.549 who redeems. Truth is a people that are made 00:32:22.549 --> 00:32:25.609 in the image of God, full of dignity and life 00:32:25.609 --> 00:32:29.640 and wonder and beauty. who are running away from 00:32:29.640 --> 00:32:32.000 God, who are deciding that they are the arbiters 00:32:32.000 --> 00:32:34.420 of what is right and wrong in the world, who 00:32:34.420 --> 00:32:37.900 are living into lies. And truth is that God will 00:32:37.900 --> 00:32:42.359 love those people, forgive those people. That 00:32:42.359 --> 00:32:49.799 is truth. Let me end with a few more words from 00:32:49.799 --> 00:32:55.930 Marcus Mumford. So one of the last songs Melissa 00:32:55.930 --> 00:32:58.809 and I left unfortunately quite early from what 00:32:58.809 --> 00:33:00.849 I understand because there were some other wonderful 00:33:00.849 --> 00:33:03.589 things that happened But I like to say that Saturday 00:33:03.589 --> 00:33:08.049 night for me is a school night And if I stay 00:33:08.049 --> 00:33:10.490 up too late, I don't show up as I ought to for 00:33:10.490 --> 00:33:16.210 you So any one of the last songs that we heard 00:33:16.210 --> 00:33:19.890 Them saying with their song here that he sings 00:33:19.890 --> 00:33:25.519 on the recording with Chris Stapleton And some 00:33:25.519 --> 00:33:28.079 of the lyrics, let me read some of them for you. 00:33:29.259 --> 00:33:31.599 He says, here's my final serenade. That's how 00:33:31.599 --> 00:33:34.880 it begins. Here's my gun. Here's my blade. Here's 00:33:34.880 --> 00:33:38.420 a picture that I saved for too long. Here's my 00:33:38.420 --> 00:33:41.500 credit card and my keys. And the reason I won't 00:33:41.500 --> 00:33:44.420 find peace. He's just laying it all out. Here's 00:33:44.420 --> 00:33:46.220 all the stuff that I used to defend myself. Here's 00:33:46.220 --> 00:33:48.339 the stuff I used to harm other people. Here's 00:33:48.339 --> 00:33:50.539 the thing that I used to buy so that I look good, 00:33:50.559 --> 00:33:54.130 whatever, right? Here's all these reasons I won't 00:33:54.130 --> 00:33:58.230 find peace and Then here's the course it says 00:33:58.230 --> 00:34:01.150 here. Well, here's my pride and here's my shame 00:34:01.150 --> 00:34:05.190 Here's the trophy that bears my name like the 00:34:05.190 --> 00:34:08.170 pride thing Here's all the mistakes. I made the 00:34:08.170 --> 00:34:12.670 shame stuff for too long Here's the answer. I 00:34:12.670 --> 00:34:14.570 never give here's the calls. I should have made 00:34:14.570 --> 00:34:17.230 here's the substances I crave the ways that we 00:34:17.230 --> 00:34:20.329 try to hide our pride in our shame, right? all 00:34:20.329 --> 00:34:23.769 along He says, here it is. Here's my pride and 00:34:23.769 --> 00:34:25.929 here's my shame. Brothers, sisters, be truth 00:34:25.929 --> 00:34:31.429 tellers. And go to the cross and say, here it 00:34:31.429 --> 00:34:33.150 is. Here's my pride and here's my shame. God, 00:34:33.170 --> 00:34:36.769 would you speak your truth over me? Will you 00:34:36.769 --> 00:34:39.929 tell me again how much I am loved? How great 00:34:39.929 --> 00:34:42.170 a sinner I am? How much I run from you? How much 00:34:42.170 --> 00:34:45.550 I believe the serpent flies? And would you speak 00:34:45.550 --> 00:34:49.809 your truth, Lord, over me? And would we be truth 00:34:49.809 --> 00:34:53.539 tellers? Amen. Amen. God, thank you for your 00:34:53.539 --> 00:34:56.139 commands. Would we hide them in our hearts that 00:34:56.139 --> 00:34:58.719 we would not sin against you? And would we love 00:34:58.719 --> 00:35:02.659 your ways? Would we be people of the truth and 00:35:02.659 --> 00:35:05.760 not people of the lie? Would we be honest with 00:35:05.760 --> 00:35:09.519 our sin? Would we be honest with how destructive 00:35:09.519 --> 00:35:11.900 it is against our neighbor, against ourselves? 00:35:11.960 --> 00:35:13.739 And then also as we lay it before you, would 00:35:13.739 --> 00:35:16.539 we receive your love? That we would see you as 00:35:16.539 --> 00:35:20.190 the God who who loves justice, the cross where 00:35:20.190 --> 00:35:25.710 justice and mercy kiss, embrace. Would we see 00:35:25.710 --> 00:35:28.030 you as the one who loves our neighbors, Lord, 00:35:28.309 --> 00:35:30.369 that you died not just for us, but for those 00:35:30.369 --> 00:35:34.230 around us, that you took our sin upon yourself 00:35:34.230 --> 00:35:36.969 on the cross and you are remaking us with the 00:35:36.969 --> 00:35:42.389 very image of love itself. You, Lord God, do 00:35:42.389 --> 00:35:45.010 all this we pray for us, for our good and for 00:35:45.010 --> 00:35:53.650 your glory. Amen. Thank you for listening to 00:35:53.650 --> 00:35:56.349 Second City Sermons podcast. We hope this sermon 00:35:56.349 --> 00:35:58.630 has encouraged you to worship God and to celebrate 00:35:58.630 --> 00:36:01.489 the gospel of Jesus. Please consider subscribing 00:36:01.489 --> 00:36:04.349 to this podcast and joining us in person each 00:36:04.349 --> 00:36:07.230 Sunday at 10 a .m. You can find us online at 00:36:07.230 --> 00:36:10.369 SecondCityChurch .org and on Instagram, Facebook, 00:36:10.630 --> 00:36:13.130 and YouTube. Thanks again for listening. God 00:36:13.130 --> 00:36:13.469 bless.